Evolution of Island Mammals

Evolution of Island Mammals PDF Author: Alexandra van der Geer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111967574X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description
EVOLUTION OF ISLAND MAMMALS Evolution on islands differs in a number of important ways from evolution on mainland areas. Over millions of years of isolation, exceptional and sometimes bizarre mammals evolved on islands, such as pig-sized elephants and hippos, giant rats and gorilla-sized lemurs that would have been formidable to their mainland ancestors. Evolution of Island Mammals, Second Edition, provides an updated and expanded overview of the current knowledge on fossil island mammals worldwide, ranging from the Oligocene to the onset of the Holocene. The book addresses evolutionary processes and key aspects of insular mammal biology, exemplified by a variety of fossil species. Readers familiar with the first edition will find here a host of updated and enhanced material, including: An entirely new chapter on the island rule Updated and expanded theoretical chapters Updated and improved taxonomic information Extensive coverage of new discoveries Body masses or body size indices for most extinct island mammals New figures visualizing the richness of the fossil record This accessible and richly illustrated textbook is written for graduate level students and professional researchers in evolutionary biology, palaeontology, biogeography, zoology, and ecology.

Evolution of Island Mammals

Evolution of Island Mammals PDF Author: Alexandra van der Geer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111967574X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 576

Get Book

Book Description
EVOLUTION OF ISLAND MAMMALS Evolution on islands differs in a number of important ways from evolution on mainland areas. Over millions of years of isolation, exceptional and sometimes bizarre mammals evolved on islands, such as pig-sized elephants and hippos, giant rats and gorilla-sized lemurs that would have been formidable to their mainland ancestors. Evolution of Island Mammals, Second Edition, provides an updated and expanded overview of the current knowledge on fossil island mammals worldwide, ranging from the Oligocene to the onset of the Holocene. The book addresses evolutionary processes and key aspects of insular mammal biology, exemplified by a variety of fossil species. Readers familiar with the first edition will find here a host of updated and enhanced material, including: An entirely new chapter on the island rule Updated and expanded theoretical chapters Updated and improved taxonomic information Extensive coverage of new discoveries Body masses or body size indices for most extinct island mammals New figures visualizing the richness of the fossil record This accessible and richly illustrated textbook is written for graduate level students and professional researchers in evolutionary biology, palaeontology, biogeography, zoology, and ecology.

Evolution of Island Mammals

Evolution of Island Mammals PDF Author: Alexandra van der Geer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444391283
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
Evolution on islands differs in a number of important ways from evolution on mainland areas. Over millions of years of isolation, exceptional and sometimes bizarre mammals evolved on islands, such as pig-sized elephants and hippos, giant rats and gorilla-sized lemurs that would have been formidable to their mainland ancestors. This timely and innovative book is the first to offer a much-needed synthesis of recent advances in the exciting field of the evolution and extinction of fossil insular placental mammals. It provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on fossil island mammals worldwide, ranging from the Oligocene to the onset of the Holocene. The book addresses evolutionary processes and key aspects of insular mammal biology, exemplified by a variety of fossil species. The authors discuss the human factor in past extinction events and loss of insular biodiversity. This accessible and richly illustrated textbook is written for graduate level students and professional researchers in evolutionary biology, palaeontology, biogeography, zoology, and ecology.

40 Years of Evolution

40 Years of Evolution PDF Author: Peter R. Grant
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691160465
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
An important look at a groundbreaking forty-year study of Darwin's finches Renowned evolutionary biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have produced landmark studies of the Galápagos finches first made famous by Charles Darwin. In How and Why Species Multiply, they offered a complete evolutionary history of Darwin's finches since their origin almost three million years ago. Now, in their richly illustrated new book, 40 Years of Evolution, the authors turn their attention to events taking place on a contemporary scale. By continuously tracking finch populations over a period of four decades, they uncover the causes and consequences of significant events leading to evolutionary changes in species. The authors used a vast and unparalleled range of ecological, behavioral, and genetic data—including song recordings, DNA analyses, and feeding and breeding behavior—to measure changes in finch populations on the small island of Daphne Major in the Galápagos archipelago. They find that natural selection happens repeatedly, that finches hybridize and exchange genes rarely, and that they compete for scarce food in times of drought, with the remarkable result that the finch populations today differ significantly in average beak size and shape from those of forty years ago. The authors' most spectacular discovery is the initiation and establishment of a new lineage that now behaves as a new species, differing from others in size, song, and other characteristics. The authors emphasize the immeasurable value of continuous long-term studies of natural populations and of critical opportunities for detecting and understanding rare but significant events. By following the fates of finches for several generations, 40 Years of Evolution offers unparalleled insights into ecological and evolutionary changes in natural environments.

Evolution in Isolation

Evolution in Isolation PDF Author: Kevin C. Burns
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108422012
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Tests for repeated patterns in evolution of island plants, which together comprise an 'island syndrome' analogous to animals.

Island Bats

Island Bats PDF Author: Theodore H. Fleming
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226253317
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
The second largest order of mammals, Chiroptera comprises more than one thousand species of bats. Because of their mobility, bats are often the only native mammals on isolated oceanic islands, where more than half of all bat species live. These island bats represent an evolutionarily distinctive and ecologically significant part of the earth’s biological diversity. Island Bats is the first book to focus solely on the evolution, ecology, and conservation of bats living in the world’s island ecosystems. Among other topics, the contributors to this volume examine how the earth’s history has affected the evolution of island bats, investigate how bat populations are affected by volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, and explore the threat of extinction from human disturbance. Geographically diverse, the volume includes studies of the islands of the Caribbean, the Western Indian Ocean, Micronesia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Zealand. With its wealth of information from long-term studies, Island Bats provides timely and valuable information about how this fauna has evolved and how it can be conserved.

The Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands PDF Author: Charles Darwin
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 9780146001444
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description


Island Africa

Island Africa PDF Author: Jonathan Kingdon
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780002194433
Category : Africa
Languages : da
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Om Afrikas planter og dyr med vægt på det udviklingshistoriske aspekt

Species Conservation

Species Conservation PDF Author: Jamieson A. Copsey
Publisher: Ecology, Biodiversity and Cons
ISBN: 0521899397
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Biodiversity studied by researching island species recovery and management.

Evolution in Hawaii

Evolution in Hawaii PDF Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309166705
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
As both individuals and societies, we are making decisions today that will have profound consequences for future generations. From preserving Earth's plants and animals to altering our use of fossil fuels, none of these decisions can be made wisely without a thorough understanding of life's history on our planet through biological evolution. Companion to the best selling title Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, Evolution in Hawaii examines evolution and the nature of science by looking at a specific part of the world. Tracing the evolutionary pathways in Hawaii, we are able to draw powerful conclusions about evolution's occurrence, mechanisms, and courses. This practical book has been specifically designed to give teachers and their students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of evolution using exercises with real genetic data to explore and investigate speciation and the probable order in which speciation occurred based on the ages of the Hawaiian Islands. By focusing on one set of islands, this book illuminates the general principles of evolutionary biology and demonstrate how ongoing research will continue to expand our knowledge of the natural world.

Islands in the Cosmos

Islands in the Cosmos PDF Author: Dale A. Russell
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253352738
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
The evolution of life on Earth from its origins to the present day