| 1993 | | Kart, F;15,3x24 cm, 582 S., 49 Zeichnungen, 41 Tabellen. | WG: Buch | | Inbreeding, the mating of close kin, and outbreeding, the mating of distant relatives or unrelated organisms, have long been important subjects to evolutionary biologists. Inbreeding reduces genetic diversity in a population, increasing the likelihood that genetic defects will become widespread and deprive a population of the diversity it may need to cope with its environment. Most plants and animals have evolved behavioral and morphological mechanisms to avoid inbreeding. However, today many endangered species exist only in small, very isolated populations where inbreeding is unavoidable, so it has become a concern for conservationists. In this volume, twenty-six experts in evolution, behavior, and genetics examine the causes and consequences of inbreeding. The authors ask whether inbreeding is as problematic as biologists have thought, under what ecological conditions inbreeding occurs, and whether organisms that inbreed have mechanisms to dampen the anticipated problems of reduced genetic variation. The studies, including theoretical and empirical work on wild and captive populations, demonstrate that many plants and animals inbreed to a greater extent than biologists have thought, with variable effects on individual fitness. Graduate students and researchers in evolutionary biology, animal behavior, ecology, and conservation biology will welcome this wide-ranging collection. | [E] | |

| 12 2002 | | Ln/SU, F:22,5x28,5 cm, 562 S, 140 Schwarzweißfotos, 160 Zeichnungen. | WG: Buch | Das Wissen über die Entwicklung der Vögel hat in den vergangenen 15 Jahren, nicht zuletzt durch spektakuläre Funde, stark zugenommen. Das Werk von Luis M. Chiappe und Lawrence M. Witmer vermittelt das aktuelle Wissen über die Evolution der Vögel. Es gliedert sich in vier Kapitel mit insgesamt 20 Beiträgen verschiedener Autoren: Part I »The Archosaurian Hertitage of Birds«, Part II »Taxa of Controversial Status«, Part III »The Mesozoic Aviary: Anatomy and Systematics« und Part IV: »Functional Morphology and Evolution«. | Our knowledge of the origin and early evolution of birds has exploded in the past ten to fifteen years. In the 1990s alone, scientists became aware of approximately three times more species of early birds than were previously known, marking the first 85 million years of avian development as a period of remarkable species diversity. Assembling work by an international group of renowned scientists, »Mesozoic Birds - Above the Heads of Dinosaurs« is the most authoritative and up-to-date source on early avian evolution currently available. This unique resource provides a comprehensive examination of the known fossil record and is also an unparalleled guide to the fast-paced developments in current research. Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs covers a wide range of topics, including discussions of avian origins, the fossil record of feathers and footprints, bone histology, and locomotor evolution. Controversial taxa such as Protoavis, Caudipteryx, and Mononykus receive special treatment. But the heart of the volume presents the anatomy, relationships, and paleobiology of the undisputed Mesozoic aviary. Some of the book's most exciting features are the new definitive descriptions and illustrations of taxa that previously have received only brief notice, such as the alvarezsaurid Shuvuuia; the enantiornithines Sinornis; Eoalulavis, Vorona, and Patagopteryx; and the hesperornithiform Enaliornis. The origin of birds and their relationship to dinosaurs continue to be hotly debated among paleontologists, ornithologists, and evolutionary biologists. This cutting-edge reference will become an essential resource for those interested in this debate and in the many other fascinating topics relating to the evolution of the earliest known birds. | [E] | |

| 1999 | 2. Auflage. | Geb, F:21,2x27,5 cm, 480 S, 534 Abbildungen. | WG: Buch | | This monumental book is a comprehensive and profusely illustrated exploration of all that is known about the origin of birds and of avian flight. Alan Feduccia, a leading ornithologist and evolutionary biologist, draws on fossil evidence and studies of the structure and biochemistry of living birds to present current knowledge and fresh data on avian evolution and to propose a major new model of this evolutionary process. This new edition of the book includes an updated analysis of the latest discoveries and literature pertaining to bird origins, "feathered dinosaurs," and bird evolution's "Big Bang." | [E] | |

| 1999 | 2. Auflage. | Kart, F:21,2x27,5 cm, 480 S, 534 Abbildungen. | WG: Buch | | This monumental book is a comprehensive and profusely illustrated exploration of all that is known about the origin of birds and of avian flight. Alan Feduccia, a leading ornithologist and evolutionary biologist, draws on fossil evidence and studies of the structure and biochemistry of living birds to present current knowledge and fresh data on avian evolution and to propose a major new model of this evolutionary process. This new edition of the book includes an updated analysis of the latest discoveries and literature pertaining to bird origins, "feathered dinosaurs," and bird evolution's "Big Bang." | [E] | Auch als gebundene Ausgabe lieferbar. |

| 1999 | | Geb, F:15x22,5 cm, 280 S, 24 Zeichnungen, 25 Tabellen. | WG: Buch | | The concept of fitness has long been a topic of intense debate among evolutionary biologists and their critics, with its definition and explanatory power coming under attack. In this book, Richard Michod offers a fresh, dynamical interpretation of evolution and fitness concepts. He argues that evolution has no enduring products; what matters is the process of genetic change. Whereas many biologists have focused on competition and aggression as determining factors in survival, Michod, by concentrating on the emergence of individuality at new and more complex levels, finds that cooperation plays even a greater role. Michod first considers the principles behind the hierarchically nested levels of organization that constitute life: genes, chromosomes, genomes, cells, multicellular organisms, and societies. By examining the evolutionary transitions from the molecular level up to the whole organism, the author explains how cooperation and conflict in a multilevel setting leads to new levels of fitness. He builds a model of fitness drawing on recent developments in ecology and multilevel selection theory and on new explanations of the origin of life. Michod concludes with a discussion of the philosophical implications of his theory of fitness, a theory that addresses the most fundamental and unique concept in all of biology. | [E] | |

| 2001 | | Geb, F:15,4x22,5 cm, 264 S, 30 s/w-Abbildungen. | WG: Buch | Die Entstehung und Weiterentwicklung des Lebens auf der Erde hat die Menschen seit eh und je fasziniert. Der Weg, den die Vordenker (seit der Antike) und »Entdecker« der Evolution (wie Lamarck, Wallace und Darwin) gegangen sind - mit all den Widerständen und Auseinandersetzungen, die z. T. sogar bis heute andauern -, wird hier anschaulich und fundiert dargestellt. Bis in unsere Tage wurde die Evolutionstheorie, die zu den bedeutendsten Theorien der gesamten Naturwissenschaften gehört, weiterentwickelt - zum Synthetischen Darwinismus. | | [D] | |

2001 | 3. Auflage. | Geb, F:13,5x21,5 cm, 973 S. | WG: Buch | Das Buch erzählt die Geschichte der Besiedlung völlig neu entstandener vulkanischer Inseln durch Pflanzen und Tiere. Die Evolution treibt auf Inseln besonders kaprizöse Blüten, Inseln sind aber auch eine »Einbahnstrasse«, die den Untergang der dort vorhandenen Fauna und Flora bedeuten kann. David Quammen hat sich 10 Jahre rund um die Welt auf abenteuerliche Reise begeben, eine Reise, auch durch die Evolutionstheorie, die in den Fußstapfen von A. R. Wallace beginnt und bei der Feldforschung einer Wissenschaft endet, die sich heute Inselbiogeographie nennt. | | [D] | TITEL IST LEIDER VERGRIFFEN |

| 1999 | | Geb, F:24x28 cm, 240 S, 20 Abb. und 33 Graphiken. | WG: Buch | Es gibt viele Bücher zur Anhtropologie, aber nur in diesem Buch werden sie wissenschaftlich diskutiert und auf der Basis des Fossilmaterials nüchtern durchgerechnet. Mußte unsere Art sich durchsetzen? In disem Buch lernen Sie mehrere Menschenarten kennen, die gleichzeitig lebten - sie sind die wahren Yetis. Robert Foley ist mit seinem Buch die Beantwortung der Schlüsselfragen der Evolution gelungen. | | [D] | | Thorbecke Species

| 02 2009 | | Kart, F: 15x20 cm, | WG: Buch | In wechselnden Kapiteln wird von Darwins Forschungen und Erkenntnissen und seinem spannenden Leben im 19. Jahrhundert berichtet. | | [E] | |

| 06 2009 | | Kart, F:12,5x19 cm, 272 S. | WG: Buch | Wieviel wir mit den uns entwicklungsgeschichtlich nahestehenden Tierarten gemeinsam haben, ist inzwischen allgemein bekannt. Doch es gibt auch wesentliche Unterschiede. Einer davon: Wir Menschen haben einen merkwürdigen Drang zu gewinnen nur um des Gewinnens willen. Kein Tier käme je auf den Gedanken, an einem Wettlauf nur zu diesem Zweck teilzunehmen, ohne direkten Vorteil für Nahrung, Fortpflanzung oder Lebensraum. Josef H. Reichholf zeigt Entstehung und Folgen dieses Phänomens und vermittelt grundlegend neue Einsichten hierzu wie auch zu unserem Umgang miteinander. | | [D] | |