Author: Isa Schön
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 904812770X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 617
Get Book Here
Book Description
Sex is the queen of problems in evolutionary biology. Generations of researchers have investigated one of the last remaining evolutionary paradoxes: why sex exists at all. Given that sexual reproduction is costly from an evolutionary point of view, one could wonder why not all animals and plants reproduce asexually. Dozens of contemporary hypotheses attempt to explain the prevalence of sex and its advantages and predict the early extinction of fully asexual lineages. The major theme of this book is: what is the fate of animal and plant groups in which sex is lost? Initial chapters discuss theory behind asexual life: what major disadvantages do asexual groups have to face, what are the genetic and ecological consequences and what does this theory predict for more applied aspects of asexual life, for example in agricultural pests, diseases as well as in cultural crops such as grapes. Cases studies in many animals (focusing on both invertebrates and vertebrates) and plants reveal parallel, but also singularly novel adaptations to the absence of meiosis and syngamy. And last but not least, are asexuals really doomed to early extinction or do genuine ancient asexuals exist? This book assembles contributions from the most important research groups dealing with asexual evolution in eukaryotes. It is a milestone in research on parthenogenesis and will be useful to undergraduate as well as graduate students and to senior researchers in all fields of evolutionary biology, as the paradox of sex remains its queen of problems.
Author: S.C. Stearns
Publisher: Birkhäuser
ISBN: 3034862733
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Giuseppe Fusco
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108499856
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 491
Get Book Here
Book Description
A look into the phenomena of sex and reproduction in all organisms, taking an innovative, unified and comprehensive approach.
Author: R. S. Singh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521571234
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 738
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book brings out the central role of evolutionary genetics in all aspects of its connection to evolutionary biology.
Author: George Christopher Williams
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691209928
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book explores the relationship between various types of reproduction and the evolutionary process. Starting with the concept of meiosis, George C. Williams states the conditions under which an organism with both sexual and asexual reproductive capacities will employ each mode. He argues that in low-fecundity higher organisms, sexual reproduction is generally maladaptive, and persists because there is no ready means of developing an asexual alternative. The book then considers the evolutionary development of diverse forms of sexuality, such as anisogamy, hermaphroditism. and the evolution of differences between males and females in reproductive strategy. The final two chapters examine the effect of genetic recombination on the evolutionary process itself.
Author: Sir Patrick Geddes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reproduction
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Koen Martens
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Samuel Karlin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069121011X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 333
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book deals with a key area of population genetics: the ratio of the sexes in a population, or the allocation of resources to male versus female reproductive function. Samuel Karlin and Sabin Lessard establish the formal theoretical aspects of the evolution of sex ratio within the constraints of genetic mechanisms of sex determination. Their results generalize and unify existing work on the topic, strengthening previous conceptions in some cases and, in other instances, offering new directions of research. There are two main approaches to understanding the causes and effects of sex ratio. One approach focuses on the optimization and adaptive functions of sex allocation, while the other emphasizes the consequences of genetic sex determination mechanisms. In discussing the utility of these two approaches, Professors Karlin and Lessard examine the principal sex-determining mechanisms and facts involved in sex ratio representations, the various genetic and environmental factors that contribute to adaptive sex expression, and the evolution of sex determining systems and controls. From a population genetic perspective, the authors derive evolutionary properties in support of the high incidence of 1:1 sex ratio in natural populations and investigate the conditions that can explain the occurrence of biased sex ratio.
Author: John Avise
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199708746
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250
Get Book Here
Book Description
Approximately 99.9% of vertebrate species reproduce sexually. The exceptional 0.1% reproduce via asexual or clonal means, which vary wildly and are fascinating in their own right. In this book, John C. Avise describes the genetics, ecology, natural history, and evolution of the world's approximately 100 species of vertebrate animal that routinely display one form or another of clonal or quasi-clonal reproduction. By considering the many facets of sexual abstinence and clonal reproduction in vertebrate animals, Avise sheds new light on the biological meaning and ramifications of standard sexuality.
Author: Alex Mills
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487593376
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Get Book Here
Book Description
This text explains the biological aspects of human sex by using direct and intriguing comparisons with the many variations in sexual systems among non-human organisms.
