What Evolution IsAt once a spirited defense of Darwinian explanations of biology and an elegant primer on evolution for the general reader, What Evolution Is has several audiences in mind: those scientists and nonscientists who accept evolutionary thinking but do not know exactly how it works, and those who accept evolution but are not sure the Darwinian explanation is correct.With rare clarity, Mayr poses the questions at the heart of evolution-What is the evidence for evolution on earth? What is the origin and role of organic diversity?-and describes in refreshingly nontechnical language how the search for answers has over the years revealed solutions to the most challenging problems posed by evolutionary theory. In a provocative final section, Mayr considers how our improved understanding of evolution has affected the viewpoints and values of modern man. |
Contents
In What Kind of a World Do We Live? | 3 |
The Rise of the Living World 40 10 | 40 |
PART II | 54 |
Copyright | |
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acquired adaptedness adaptive zone Africa alleles animals apes asexual australopithecines bacteria basic behavior Bilateria bipedal birds body plan brain called Cambrian Chapter characteristics characters chimpanzee chromosomes common ancestor common descent Darwin Darwinian descendants Deuterostomia dinosaurs elimination embryos environment eukaryotes evidence evolutionary change evolutionists evolved existence explained fauna fertilized fishes fossil record founder population function fungi gametes gene flow genetic genome genotype geographical gradual higher taxa hominid Homo homologous Hox genes human hybrid individuals instance interactions isolating mechanisms kinds mammals mass extinction mate Mayr meiosis million years ago molecular clock molecules morphological mosaic evolution multicellular mutation natural selection niche occur organisms origin parental species particularly phenotype phyla phyletic lineage phylogeny plants population thinking produced prokaryotes proteins protists Protostomia reptiles sexual reproduction similar species concept strata structure survival sympatric speciation taxa taxon theories of evolution tion typological variable variation vertebrates zygote