Macroevolution: Pattern and Process

Stanley, Professor Steven M.

ISBN 10: 080185735X / ISBN 13: 9780801857355

Published by The Johns Hopkins University P, 1998

Seller Inventory # 080185735X-VB

Synopsis:

In this text, the author addresses, from a palaeobiologist's perspective, the question of whether punctuated equilibria - the view, popularized by Stephen Jay Gould among others, that species remain evolutionarily static for long periods of time, with substantial genetic changes and the development of new adaptive strategies occurring only during speciation, or gradualism - the view that large-scale changes result from continual and successive small-scale changes, offers the best account of the history of life. Coming down on the side of those who favour the model of punctuated equilibria, Stanley argues that only "quantum speciation" (rapid and radically divergent), can explain the story of life revealed in the fossil record; macroevolution, he contends, cannot be attributed to microevolutionary forces such as mutation, genetic drift and natural selection. Instead, he posits a series of processes, including species selection, phyletic drift and directed speciation, to accounnt for large-scale patterns.

About the Author: Steven M. Stanley is professor of paleobiology at the Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of numerous books, including 'Extinction' and 'Children of the Ice Age: How a Global Catastrophe Allowed Humans to Evolve'.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Macroevolution: Pattern and Process
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University P
Publication Date: 1998
Binding: paperback
Condition: As New