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Presents new insights into speciation through an in-depth analysis of extraordinary chromosomal variation in one species written by leading experts.
The house mouse is the source of almost all genetic variation in laboratory mice; its genome was sequenced alongside that of humans, and it has become the model for mammalian speciation. Featuring contributions from leaders in the field, this volume provides the evolutionary context necessary to interpret these patterns and processes in the age of genomics. The topics reviewed include mouse phylogeny, phylogeography, origins of commensalism, adaptation, and dynamics of secondary contacts between subspecies. Explorations of mouse behaviour cover the nature of chemical and ultrasonic signalling, recognition, and social environment. The importance of the mouse as an evolutionary model is highlighted in reviews of the first described example of meiotic drive (t-haplotype) and the first identified mammalian speciation gene (Prdm9). This detailed overview of house mouse evolution is a valuable resource for researchers of mouse biology as well as those interested in mouse genetics, evolutionary biology, behaviour, parasitology, and archaeozoology.
Mankind has evolved both genetically and culturally to become a most successful and dominant species. But we are now so numerous and our technology is so p- erful that we are having major effects on the planet, its environment, and the b- sphere. For some years prophets have warned of the possible detrimental consequences of our activities, such as pollution, deforestation, and overfishing, and recently it has become clear that we are even changing the atmosphere (e. g. ozone, carbon dioxide). This is worrying since the planet’s life systems are involved and dependent on its functioning. Current climate change – global w arming – is one recognised consequence of this larger problem. To...
There are nearly 6,000 mammalian species, among them our own. Research on our evolutionary cousins has a long history, but the last 20 years have seen particularly rapid progress in disentangling the interrelationships and evolutionary history of mammals. The present volume combines up-to-date reviews on mammalian phylogenetics with paleontological, taxonomic and evolutionary chapters and also summarizes the historical development of our insights in mammalian relationships, and thus our own place in the Tree of Life. Our book places the present biodiversity crisis in context, with one in four mammal species threatened by extinction, and reviews the distribution and conservation of mammalian diversity across the globe. This volume is the introductory tome to the new Mammalia series of the Handbook of Zoology and will be essential reading for mammalogists, zoologists and conservationists alike.
Hybrid zones--geographical areas in which the hybrids of two races are found--have attracted the attention of evolutionary biologists for many years, both because they are windows on the evolutionary process and because the patterns of animals and plant variation seen in hybrid zones do notfit the traditional classification schemes of taxonomists. Hybrid zones provide insights into the nature of the species, the way barriers to gene exchange function, the genetic basis of those barriers, the dynamics of the speciation process. Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process synthesizes theextensive research literature in this field and points to new directions in research. It will be read with interest by evolutionary biologists, geneticists, and biogeographers.
Many archaeologists, as primarily social scientists, do not have a background in the natural sciences. This can pose a problem because they need to obtain chemical and physical analyses on samples to perform their research. This manual is an essential source of information for those students without a background in science, but also a comprehensive overview that those with some understanding of archaeological science will find useful. The manual provides readers with the knowledge to use archaeological science methods to the best advantage. It describes and explains the analytical techniques in a manner that the average archaeologist can understand, and outlines clearly the requirements, ben...
Understanding of the origin of species and their adaptability to new environments is one of the main questions in biology. This is fueled by the ongoing debate on species concepts and facilitated by the availability of an unprecedented large number of genomic resources. Genomes are organized into chromosomes, where significant variations in number and morphology are observed among species due to large-scale structural variants such as inversions, translocations, fusions, and fissions. This genomic reshuffling provides, in the long term, new chromosomal forms on which natural selection can act upon, contributing to the origin of biodiversity. This book contains mainly articles, reviews, and an opinion piece that explore numerous aspects of genome plasticity among taxa that will help in understanding the dynamics of genome composition, the evolutionary relationships between species and, in the long run, speciation.
When scholars discuss the medieval past, the temptation is to become immersed there, to deepen our appreciation of the nuances of the medieval sources through debate about their meaning. But the past informs the present in a myriad of ways and medievalists can, and should, use their research to address the concerns and interests of contemporary society. This volume presents a number of carefully commissioned essays that demonstrate the fertility and originality of recent work in Medieval Studies. Above all, they have been selected for relevance. Most contributors are in the earlier stages of their careers and their approaches clearly reflect how interdisciplinary methodologies applied to Med...
Historians spend a lot of time thinking about violence: bloodshed and feats of heroism punctuate practically every narration of the past. Yet historians have been slow to subject 'violence' itself to conceptual analysis. What aspects of the past do we designate violent? To what methodological assumptions do we commit ourselves when we employ this term? How may we approach the category 'violence' in a specifically historical way, and what is it that we explain when we write its history? Astonishingly, such questions are seldom even voiced, much less debated, in the historical literature. Violence and Risk in Medieval Iceland: This Spattered Isle lays out a cultural history model for understan...