How and Why Species Multiply
Subtitle: The Radiation of Darwin's Finches (Princeton Series in Evolutionary Biology)
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: October 22, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9780691133607
Subjects: Birds (ornithology); Popular science; Biological Variation; Organic Evolution; Science; Science/Mathematics; Life Sciences - Evolution; Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology; Biological Sciences; Birds and Natural History; Life Sciences - Biological Diversity; Adaptation; Evolution; Finches; Galapagos Islands
Description: "Charles Darwin's experiences in the Galapagos Islands in 1835 helped to guide his thoughts toward a revolutionary theory: that species were not fixed but diversified from their ancestors over many generations, and that the driving mechanism of evolutionary change was natural selection. In this concise, accessible book, Peter and Rosemary Grant explain what we have learned about the origin and evolution of new species through the study of the finches made famous by that great scientist: Darwin's finches" "Drawing upon their unique observations of finch evolution over a thirty-four-year period, the Grants trace the evolutionary history of fourteen different species from a shared ancestor three million years ago. They show how repeated cycles of speciation involved adaptive change through natural selection on beak size and shape, and divergence in songs. They explain other factors that drive finch evolution, including geographical isolation, which has kept the Galapagos relatively free of competitors and predators; climate change and an increase in the number of islands over the last three million years, which enhanced opportunities for speciation; and flexibility in the early learning of feeding skills, which helped species to exploit new food resources. Throughout, the Grants show how the laboratory tools of developmental biology and molecular genetics can be combined with observations and experiments on birds in the field to gain deeper insights into why the world is so biologically rich and diverse."--Jacket.
Table of contents: title: 1. Biodiversity problem and Darwin's finches; title: Biodiversity; title: The choice of organisms; title: Darwin's finches; title: Diversity of Darwin's finch species; title: Species and populations; title: 2. Origins and history; title: Phylogeny; title: Ancestors; title: The time of arrival; title: Colonization; title: The ecological theater; title: A change of scenery; title: The evolutionary play; title: Recent history; title: 3. Modes of speciation; title: The formation of new species; title: Two groups from one; title: Divergence in allopatry; title: Coexistence in sympatry; title: Sympatric speciation; title: Parapatric speciation; title: Testing the models; title: 4. Colonization of an island; title: Speciation : the initial split; title: Establishment of a new population; title: Founder effects : expectations from theory; title: A colonization event; title: Inbreeding; title: Recurrent immigration; title: An alternative phenology of founder effects; title: Species elsewhere; title: 5. Natural selection, adaptation, and evolution; title: Adaptation; title: Beak sizes and diets; title: Adaptive evolution when the environment changes; title: Natural selection; title: Evolution; title: Oscillating directional selection; title: Extrapolating from short to long term; title: The sources of variation; title: How beaks are formed; title: Depth and width; title: Length; title: 6. Ecological interactions; title: Competition; title: Patterns of coexistence; title: Diets inferred from beaks; title: Interpreting the patterns; title: Character displacement and release; title: Character displacement observed; title: The competitive role of G. Magnirostris; title: Selection under contrasting conditions; title: Evolution of character displacement; title: 7. Reproductive isolation; title: Pre-mating barrier to interbreeding; title: Factors involved in the discrimination between species; title: Beaks; title: Song; title: Learning; title: Song differences between species; title: Song divergence in allopatry; title: Adaptation to habitat; title: Change of songs as a consequence of morphological divergence; title: The role of chance; title: Simulating secondary contact; title: 8. Hybridization; title: Hybridization; title: Why hybridization occurs; title: When hybridization does not occur; title: Hybrid fitness; title: Introgression on Daphne Major; title: Introgression in the archipelago; title: Reinforcement; title: Reproductive character displacement; title: Evolutionary significance of introgression; title: 9. Species and speciation; title: From process to product : what is a species?; title: A working definition; title: How many species of Darwin's finches?; title: Certhidea olivacea : one species or two?; title: Geospiza difficilis : one species or three?; title: From product back to process; title: Fission and fusion; title: 10. Reconstructing the radiation of Darwin's finches; title: The shape of the radiation; title: Speciation and extinction; title: Speciation; title: Extinction; title: Implications for phylogeny; title: Adaptive landscape; title: A pattern of ecological segregation; title: Specialization; title: The buildup of complex communities; title: 11. Facilitators of adaptive radiation; title: Environmental opportunity; title: Geographical suitability; title: Ecological opportunity; title: High diversification potential; title: Behavioral flexibility; title: Introgressive hybridization; title: Hybridization and animal breeding; title: Environmental conditions conducive to introgression; title: Finches versus mockingbirds; title: 12. The life history of adaptive radiations; title: The first stage of adaptive radiation; title: The second stage of adaptive radiation; title: Haldane's rule; title: The third stage of adaptive radiation; title: Synthesis; title: 13. Summary of the Darwin's finch radiation; title: What happened and why; title: What is missing?