Overview
"The harsh environment of caves - dark, damp, sparse of food - is home to a variety of ""bizarre"" creatures. Biologists, for their part, often treat these delicate, colourless organisms with no eyes, or at least greatly reduced eyes, as mere oddities with little importance to a topic as grand as evolution. Focusing on one cave-dwelling crustacean, ""Gammarus minus"", this book shows that, to the contrary, cave life can provide a valuable empirical model for the study of evolution, particularly adaptation. Authors David Culver, Thomas Kane and Daniel Fong marshal many years of extensive research into the genetics, ecology, morphology and systematics of ""Gammarus minus"". They explain how these biological factors have been shaped by physical constraints, such as the structure and development of caves and karst terrains, groundwater hydrology and drainage basin patterns. Their work reveals the advantages of caves for studying natural selection: the highly simplified habitats found underground serve as a natural laboratory for the evolutionary biologist, and the distinctive morphological features of cave fauna provide a wealth of data on evolutionary history and natural selection. A detailed evolutionary study of a single organism in a particular environment, this book advances ""Gammarus minus"" as a paradigm for cave colonization and adaptation, and as a general case study of the role of natural selection and adaptation in evolution."
Full Product Details
Author: David C. Culver ,
etc. ,
Thomas C. Kane (Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, USA) ,
Daniel W. Fong (Professor of Biology, American University, USA)
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 2.70cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.499kg
ISBN: 9780674004252
ISBN 10: 0674004256
Pages: 223
Publication Date: 19 March 1995
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
The authors present a detailed analysis of convergent adaptation to a cave environment...The book is complete in scope and rich in detail, representing the results of many years of extensive research by the authors.
The authors present a detailed analysis of convergent adaptation to a cave environment...The book is complete in scope and rich in detail, representing the results of many years of extensive research by the authors. Science Books & Films
Author Information
David C. Culver is Professor of Biology at the American University. Thomas C. Kane is Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. Daniel W. Fong is Associate Professor of Biology at the American University.
