Biased Embryos and Evolution [Hardcover]

The first book on Evolutionary Developmental Biology that is for undergraduate and general readership.This is the first book on the new field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology that is aimed primarily at an undergraduate and general readership. It focuses on the question of how embryonic development changes in the course of evolution, thus giving rise to new types of creatures. It takes the controversial view that biases in the ways that embryos can be altered are just as important as natural selection in determining the directions that evolution has taken, including the one that led to the origin of humans.This is the first book on the new field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology that is aimed primarily at an undergraduate and general readership. It focuses on the question of how embryonic development changes in the course of evolution, thus giving rise to new types of creatures. It takes the controversial view that biases in the ways that embryos can be altered are just as important as natural selection in determining the directions that evolution has taken, including the one that led to the origin of humans.Aimed primarily at a general readership and college students of biology, this book focuses on the question of how embryonic development changes in the course of evolution, thus giving rise to new types of creatures. It takes the view that biases in the ways that embryos can be altered are as important as natural selection in determining the directions that evolution has taken, including the one that led to the origin of humans.Preface; 1. The microscopic horse; 2. What 'drives' evolution?; 3. Darwin: pluralism with a single core; 4. How to build a body; 5. A brief history of the last billion years; 6. Preamble to the quiet revolution; 7. The return of the organism; 8. Possible creatures; 9. The beginnings of bias; 10. A deceptively simple question; 11. Development's twin arrows; 12. Action and reaction; 13. Evolvability: organisms in bits; 14. Back to thlc&