Relentless Evolution

At A Glance, Most Species Seem Adapted To The Environment In Which They Live. Yet Species Relentlessly Evolve, And Populations Within Species Evolve In Different Ways. Evolution, As It Turns Out, Is Much More Dynamic Than Biologists Realized Just A Few Decades Ago. In Relentless Evolution, John N. Thompson Explores Why Adaptive Evolution Never Ceases And Why Natural Selection Acts On Species In So Many Different Ways. Thompson Presents A View Of Life In Which Ongoing Evolution Is Essential And Inevitable. Each Chapter Focuses On One Of The Major Problems In Adaptive Evolution: How Fast Is Evolution? How Strong Is Natural Selection? How Do Species Co-opt The Genomes Of Other Species As They Adapt? Why Does Adaptive Evolution Sometimes Lead To More, Rather Than Less, Genetic Variation Within Populations? How Does The Process Of Adaptation Drive The Evolution Of New Species? How Does Coevolution Among Species Continually Reshape The Web Of Life? And, More Generally, How Are Our Views Of Adaptive Evolution Changing? Relentless Evolution Draws On Studies Of All The Major Forms Of Life -- From Microbes That Evolve In Microcosms Within A Few Weeks To Plants And Animals That Sometimes Evolve In Detectable Ways Within A Few Decades. It Shows Evolution Not As A Slow And Stately Process, But Rather As A Continual And Sometimes Frenetic Process That Favors Yet More Evolutionary Change. - Publisher. The Process Of Adaptation. Adaptive Evolution ; Natural Selection -- The Ecological Genetics Of Adaptation. Genes ; Genomes ; Coevolving Genomes ; Conflicting Genomes -- Variable Selection And Adaptation. Adaptive Variation ; Recombination And Reproduction ; Divergence And Selection Across Environments ; Local Adaptation -- The Dynamics Of Coadaptation. Coevolutionary Dynamics ; The Geography Of Traits And Outcomes ; Experimental Evolution -- Diversification. Ecological Speciation ; Reticulate Diversification ; Species Interactions And Adaptive Radiations ; The Web Of Life -- Synthesis. Our Changing Perceptions. John N. Thompson. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [389]-488) And Index.
At a glance, most species seem adapted to the environment in which they live. Yet species relentlessly evolve, and populations within species evolve in different ways. Evolution, as it turns out, is much more dynamic than biologists realized just a few decades ago.
 
In Relentless Evolution, John N. Thompson explores why adaptive evolution never ceases and why natural selection acts on species in so many different ways. Thompson presents a view of life in which ongoing evolution is essential and inevitable. Each chapter focuses on one of the major problems in adaptive evolution: How fast is evolution? How strong is natural selection? How do species co-opt the genomes of other species as they adapt? Why does adaptive evolution sometimes lead to more, rather than less, genetic variation within populations? How does the process of adaptation drive the evolution of new species? How does coevolution among species continually reshape the web of life? And, more generally, how are our views of adaptive evolution changing?
 
Relentless Evolution draws on studies of all the major forms of life-from microbes that evolve in microcosms within a few weeks to plants and animals that sometimes evolve in detectable ways within a few decades. It shows evolution not as a slow and stately process, but rather as a continual and sometimes frenetic process that favors yet more evolutionary change.
Contents Preface Part 1. The Process of Adaptation 1. Adaptive Evolution 2. Natural Selection Part 2. The Ecological Genetics of Adaptation 3. Genes 4. Genomes 5. Coevolving Genomes 6. Conflicting Genomes Part 3. Variable Selection and Adaptation 7. Adaptive Variation 8. Recombination and Reproduction 9. Divergence and Selection across Environments 10. Local Adaptation Part 4. The Dynamics of Coadaptation 11. Coevolutionary Dynamics 12. The Geography of Traits and Outcomes 13. Experimental Evolution Part 5. Diversification 14. Ecological Speciation 15. Reticulate Diversification 16. Species Interactions and Adaptive Radiations 17. The Web of Life Part 6. Synthesis 18. Our Changing Perceptions 19. Conclusions Literature Cited Index Explores why adaptive evolution never ceases and why natural selection acts on species in so many different ways. In this title, each chapter focuses on one of the major problems in adaptive evolution: How fast is evolution? How strong is natural selection? How do species co-opt the genomes of other species as they adapt?