Evolution for Dummies‰
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01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page i Evolution FOR DUMmIES‰ by Greg Krukonis, PhD, and Tracy Barr 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page iv 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page i Evolution FOR DUMmIES‰ by Greg Krukonis, PhD, and Tracy Barr 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page ii Evolution For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008922285 ISBN: 978-0-470-11773-6 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page iii About the Authors Dr. Greg Krukonis: Greg Kukonis has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD from the University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He has been a postdoctoral researcher at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and Stanford University. He is currently an adjunct assistant professor of biology at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Tracy Barr: Tracy Barr is a professional writer and editor who has authored or co-authored several other books for Wiley, including Adoption For Dummies, Cast-Iron Cooking For Dummies, Yorkshire Terriers For Dummies, and Latin For Dummies. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and four children. 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page iv 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page v Dedication From Greg: To my family, to Tarsah, and to the mentors, colleagues, and stu- dents who have shared their insights, their enthusiasm, and their friendship. And to everyone who’s ever wondered what evolution really is and to anyone who’s ever been struck by the beautiful and amazing diversity of life on Earth. Acknowledgments From Greg: I’d like to thank my friends and colleagues who were always telling me, “Greg, you should write more” and who encouraged me throughout the project. It turns out that I did have a book in me, but it definitely took a village to help me find my voice. To say that I got by with a little help from my friends doesn’t begin to describe my gratitude for the both the general encouragement and the numerous specific helpful suggestions I was so fortunate to receive. I would also like to give thanks for the limitless amount of patience that has been shown me in the face of an ever-changing and over extended schedule, late nights, canceled plans, and the various unexpected challenges inherent in such a project. A special thanks goes to Stacy Kennedy and the other folks at Wiley who were instrumental in bringing this book to life. Finally I’d like to acknowledge the many conversations about evolution I’ve had with random strangers I’ve met on airplanes, in coffee shops, and at cocktail parties — everywhere from the top of a cold mountain in New Hampshire to a toasty warm pub in New Zealand. I learned a lot from those conversations about what people want to know about evolution and where things get confusing, and I’ve tried to address these areas in this book. 01_117736 ffirs.qxp 2/19/08 5:53 PM Page vi Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Erin Smith Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Copy Editor: Kathy Simpson Alissa D. Ellet, Joyce Haughey Technical Editor: Veronique Delesalle, Proofreaders: John Greenough, C.M. Jones Professor of Biology, Gettysburg College Indexer: Glassman Indexing Services Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich Editorial Supervisor and Reprint Editor: Carmen Krikorian Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan Mooney, Joe Niesen, Leeann Harney Art Coordinator: Alicia South Cover Photos: © Sally A. Morgan; Ecoscene/CORBIS Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 02_117736 ftoc.qxp 2/19/08 5:55 PM Page vii Contents at a Glance Introduction .................................................................1 Part I: What Evolution Is...............................................7 Chapter 1: What Evolution Is and Why You Need to Know...........................................9 Chapter 2: The Science — Past and Present — of Evolution......................................23 Chapter 3: Getting into Your Genes: (Very) Basic Genetics........................................39 Part II: How Evolution Works.......................................57 Chapter 4: Variation: A Key Requirement for Evolution..............................................59 Chapter 5: Natural Selection and Adaptations in Action ............................................73 Chapter 6: Random Evolution and Genetic Drift: Sometimes It’s All about Chance..................................................................................85 Chapter 7: Quantitative Genetics: When Many Genes Act at Once ...........................99 Chapter 8: Species and Speciation...............................................................................111 Chapter 9: Phylogenetics: Reconstructing the Tree of Life ......................................125 Part III: What Evolution Does ....................................145 Chapter 10: The Evolution of Life History...................................................................147 Chapter 11: Units of Selection and the Evolution of Social Behavior......................167 Chapter 12: Evolution and Sex......................................................................................183 Chapter 13: Co-evolution: The Evolution of Interacting Species..............................205 Chapter 14: Evo-Devo: The Evolution of Development .............................................219 Chapter 15: Molecular Evolution..................................................................................233 Part IV: Evolution and Your World..............................249