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Zusatztext 'A book to be recommended for everyone interested in evolutionary biology.'V.P. Chopra! Anthropologischer Anzeiger! Jahrg. 51! Heft 4 Klappentext From Darwin onward! it has been second nature for evolutionary biologists to think comparatively! because comparisons establish the generality of evolutionary phenomena. Do large genomes slow down development? What lifestyles select for large brains? Are extinction rates related to body size? These are all questions for the comparative method! and this book is about how such questions can be answered. It examines how the comparative method complements other approaches! identifies the biological causes of similarity among species! and discusses methods for reconstructing phylogenetic trees! along with many other topics. The book will interest all students! professionals! and researchers in evolutionary biology! ecology! genetics and related fields. Zusammenfassung Part of the "Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution", this book explains how and when to use the comparative method and shows how this approach complements other approaches to problem-solving in evolution such as optimality theory, population genetic models, and experimentation. It provides a discussion of techniques and also worked examples. Inhaltsverzeichnis The comparative method for studying adaptation; Why worry about phylogeny?; Reconstructing phylogenetic trees and ancestral character states; Comparative analysis of discrete data; Comparative analysis of continuous variables; Determining the form of comparative relationships; Conclusion; References
