• Description
• Images (1)
• Contents
• Write a review
• Author Bio

Over the last two decades, the study of speciation has expanded from a modest backwater of evolutionary biology into a large and vigorous discipline. Thus, the literature on speciation, as well as the number of researchers and students working in this area, has grown explosively. Despite these developments, there has been no book-length treatment of speciation in many years. As a result, both the seasoned scholar and the newcomer to evolutionary biology had no ready guide to the recent literature on speciation-a body of work that is enormous, scattered, and increasingly technical. Although several excellent symposium volumes have recently appeared, these collections do not provide a unified, critical, and up-to-date overview of the field. Speciation is designed to fill this gap.

Aimed at professional biologists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, Speciation covers both plants and animals (the first book on this subject to do so), and deals with all relevant areas of research, including biogeography, field work, systematics, theory, and genetic and molecular studies. It gives special emphasis to topics that are either controversial or the subject of active research, including sympatric speciation, reinforcement, the role of hybridization in speciation, the search for genes causing reproductive isolation, and mounting evidence for the role of natural and sexual selection in the origin of species. The authors do not hesitate to take stands on these and other controversial issues. This critical and scholarly book will be invaluable to researchers in evolutionary biology and is also ideal for a graduate-level course on speciation.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Species: Reality and Concepts The Reality of Species Species Concepts Why Are There Species? Studying Speciation The Problem of Speciation Identifying and Measuring Reproductive Isolation Comparative Studies of Isolating Barriers Allopatric and Parapatric Speciation Allopatric Speciation Parapatric Speciation Conclusions Sympatric Speciation Theory Experimental Evidence Evidence from Nature Conclusions Ecological Isolation Habitat Isolation Pollinator (Floral) Isolation Temporal ("Allochronic") Isolation Conclusions Behavioral and Nonecological Isolation Mating System "Isolation" Behavioral Isolation Mechanical Isolation Gametic (Postmating, Prezygotic) Isolation Postzygotic Isolation Extrinsic Postzygotic Isolation Intrinsic Postzygotic Isolation The Frequency of Various Forms of Postzygotic Isolation The Evolution of Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Postzygotic Isolation Genetic Modes of Intrinsic Postzygotic Isolation The Genetics of Postzygotic Isolation Haldane's Rule The Genetic Basis of Postzygotic Isolation Polyploidy and Hybrid Speciation Polyploidy Recombinational Speciation Reinforcement The Data The Theory Alternative Explanations Distinguishing the Alternatives Selection versus Drift Speciation by Selection Speciation by Drift Theoretical Criticisms Recent Peak Shift Models The Data Speciation and Macroevolution Rates of Speciation Factors Affecting Speciation Rates Species Selection Appendix: A Catalogue and Critique of Species Concepts