Evolutionary Biology / Genetics

Animal phylogeny is currently undergoing a major revolution due to the availability of an exponentially increasing amount of molecular data and the application of novel methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, as well as the many spectacular advances in palaeontology and molecular developmental biology. Traditional views of the relationships among major phyla have been shaken up and new, often unexpected, relationships are now being considered. At the same time, the emerging discipline of evolutionary developmental biology, or evo-devo, has offered new insights into the origin and evolvability of major traits of animal architecture and life cycle. All these developments call for a revised interpretation of the pathways along which animal structure and development has evolved since the origin of the Metazoa. This book takes on this challenge, successfully integrating morphological, fossil, and molecular evidence to produce a novel reinterpretation of animal evolution. Central to the book's approach is an evo-devo perspective on animal evolution (with all the fresh insights this has given into the origin of animal organization and life cycles), complementary to the more traditional perspectives of pattern (cladistics, comparative anatomy, and embryology), mechanisms (developmental biology), and adaptation (evolutionary biology). The book advocates the need to approach the study of animal evolution with a critical attitude towards many key concepts of comparative morphology and developmental biology. Particular attention in the book is paid to the evolution of life cycles and larval forms.

This book is an exploration of how the transfer of genes between divergent lineages — through a diverse array of mechanisms — has affected, and continues to affect, humans. In particular, it is a journey into the data that support the hypothesis that Homo sapiens as well as those organisms upon which it depends for survival and battles against for existence are marked by mosaic genomes. This mosaicism reflects the rampant (as reflected by the proportion of organisms that illustrate this process) exchange of genetic material during evolutionary diversification. This is the underlying hypothesis for this book. The book follows in the various chapters that it also reflects the consistent observation made when the genomes of organisms are mined for genetic variation.

Communication is the cornerstone of socially interacting groups. This is self-evident for human societies but not for bacterial biofilms, and super-colonies that span whole continents and transoceanic communication among whales. Since the early beginnings of communication studies, it has always been a stated goal to identify common features of diverse forms of communication (recently also including the internet), but syntheses have been few and historical barriers between sub-disciplines of molecular, evolutionary, chemical, and behavioural biology have been prohibitive stumbling blocks. This book brings together a highly-respected group of authors from a diverse range of fields in biology and beyond, in an attempt to synthesize current understanding of the evolutionary principles of communication, and to identify and explore key directions that will likely be pursued in the coming years. Contributions range from molecular microbiologists untangling the genetic basis of bacterial communication, to behavioural ecologists determining the scope of communication networks among colonial vertebrates. In addition, there are important contributions from theoretical biology (genomic conflict and self organisation), the humanities (linguistics and philosophy), and evolutionary psychology (human mate choice and the evolution of human societies). The book asks — and tentatively answers with some degree of confidence — what the general principles of social communication are.