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  • © 2010

Evolution in Action

Case studies in Adaptive Radiation, Speciation and the Origin of Biodiversity

  • Reveals many aspects among the wide spectrum of current approaches in evolutionary research

  • Presents a colourfully illustrated survey of current evolutionary biology research

  • Use of modern techniques from molecular biology, bioinformatics and systematic phylogeny

  • Allows the reconstruction of the relationships of organisms, the course of evolution and its underlying causations

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (25 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxv
  2. Approaches in Botany

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Rapid Radiations and Neoendemism in the Madagascan Biodiversity Hotspot

      • Harald Schneider, Thomas Janssen, Nadia Byrstiakova, Jochen Heinrichs, Sabine Hennequin, France Rakotondrainibe
      Pages 3-15
    3. Rapid Radiation in the Barley Genus Hordeum (Poaceae) During the Pleistocene in the Americas

      • Frank R. Blattner, Thekla Pleines, Sabine S. Jakob
      Pages 17-33
    4. Key Innovations Versus Key Opportunities: Identifying Causes of Rapid Radiations in Derived Ferns

      • Harald Schneider, Hans-Peter Kreier, Thomas Janssen, Elisabeth Otto, Haiko Muth, Jochen Heinrichs
      Pages 61-75
    5. Evolution of the Mating System in the Genus Capsella (Brassicaceae)

      • Melanie Paetsch, Sara Mayland-Quellhorst, Herbert Hurka, Barbara Neuffer
      Pages 77-100
    6. Pollinator-Driven Speciation in Sexually Deceptive Orchids of the Genus Ophrys

      • Manfred Ayasse, Julia Gögler, Johannes Stökl
      Pages 101-118
    7. Genetic Diversity, Evolution and Domestication of Wheat and Barley in the Fertile Crescent

      • Benjamin Kilian, William Martin, Francesco Salamini
      Pages 137-166
  3. Host-Plant Interaction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 167-167
    2. Mechanisms of Speciation in Southeast Asian Ant-Plants of the Genus Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae)

      • Kurt Weising, Daniela Guicking, Christina Fey-Wagner, Tim Kröger-Kilian, Tina Wöhrmann, Wiebke Dorstewitz et al.
      Pages 169-191
    3. Radiation, Biological Diversity and Host–Parasite Interactions in Wild Roses, Rust Fungi and Insects

      • Annette Kohnen, Roland Brandl, Roman Fricke, Friederike Gallenmüller, Katrin Klinge, Ines Köhnen et al.
      Pages 215-238
    4. Speciation via Differential Host–Plant Use in the Tephritid Fly Tephritis conura

      • Jes Johannesen, Thorsten Diegisser, Alfred Seitz
      Pages 239-260
  4. Approaches in Zoology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 261-261
    2. Solar Powered Seaslugs (Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda, Mollusca): Incorporation of Photosynthetic Units: A Key Character Enhancing Radiation?

      • Heike Wägele, Michael J. Raupach, Ingo Burghardt, Yvonne Grzymbowski, Katharina Händeler
      Pages 263-282
    3. Ongoing Phenotypic and Genotypic Diversification in Adaptively Radiated Freshwater Crabs from Jamaica

      • Christoph D. Schubart, Tobias Weil, Jesper T. Stenderup, Keith A. Crandall, Tobias Santl
      Pages 323-349

About this book

Radiations, or Evolution in Action We have just celebrated the “Darwin Year” with the double anniversary of his 200th birthday and 150th year of his masterpiece, “On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection”. In this work, Darwin established the factual evidence of biological evolution, that species change over time, and that new organisms arise by the splitting of ancestral forms into two or more descendant species. However, above all, Darwin provided the mechanisms by arguing convincingly that it is by natural selection – as well as by sexual selection (as he later added) – that organisms adapt to their environment. The many discoveries since then have essentially con?rmed and strengthened Darwin’s central theses, with latest evidence, for example, from molecular genetics, revealing the evolutionary relationships of all life forms through one shared history of descent from a common ancestor. We have also come a long way to progressively understand more on how new species actually originate, i. e. on speciation which remained Darwin’s “mystery of m- teries”, as noted in one of his earliest transmutation notebooks. Since speciation is the underlying mechanism for radiations, it is the ultimate causation for the biological diversity of life that surrounds us.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Matthias Glaubrecht

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Evolution in Action

  • Book Subtitle: Case studies in Adaptive Radiation, Speciation and the Origin of Biodiversity

  • Editors: Matthias Glaubrecht

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12425-9

  • Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-12424-2Published: 04 August 2010

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-642-42373-4Published: 12 October 2014

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-12425-9Published: 24 July 2010

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXV, 586

  • Topics: Evolutionary Biology, Biodiversity

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access