Skip to main content

Macroevolutionary Issues and Approaches in Evolutionary Biology

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Macroevolution

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Evolution Research ((IDER,volume 2))

Abstract

Many fields and approaches evidence, quantify, and analyze macroevolution. From biogeography to paleontology, from ecology to phylogenetics, and from biophysics to philosophy of biology, macroevolution elicits definitions and theoretical problems related to concepts such as species, lineage, ecology, niches, and extinction, which are relevant for general evolutionary biology. Macroevolutionary theories provide new epistemic frameworks to explain evolution in deep time, and macroevolution is also a phenomenon exemplified by myriads of real life-history case studies. This volume Macroevolution: Interpretation, Evidence and Explanation samples the rich reservoir of macroevolutionary knowledge, and evidences the macroevolutionary phenomenon in various episodes in time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allmon W, Bottjer DJ (2001) Evolutionary paleoecology: the ecological context of macroevolutionary change. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur W (2000) The concept of developmental reprogramming and the quest for an inclusive theory of evolutionary mechanisms. Evol Dev 2:49–57

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arthur W (2002) The emerging conceptual framework of evolutionary developmental biology. Nature 415:757–764

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arthur W (2011) Evolution: a developmental approach. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Avise JC, Ayala FJ (1975) Genetic change and rates of cladogenesis. Genetics 81:757–773

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Begun DR (2013) A companion to paleoanthropology. Wiley, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Benton MJ (2004) Vertebrate palaeontology, 3rd edn. Wiley, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Coyne JA, Orr HA (2004) Speciation. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (1985) Unfinished synthesis. Biological hierarchies and modern evolutionary thought. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (1986) Information, economics, and evolution. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 17:351–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (1989) Macroevolutionary dynamics: species, niches and adaptive peaks. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (1999) The pattern of evolution. W.H. Freeman & Co., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (2003) The sloshing bucket: how the physical realm controls evolution. In: Crutchfield JP, Schuster P (eds) Evolutionary dynamics: exploring the interplay of selection, accident, neutrality, and function. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 3–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N, Gould SJ (1972) Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism. In: Schopf TJM (ed) Models in paleobiology. Freeman, Cooper & Co., San Francisco, pp 82–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Erwin D, Valentine J (2013) The Cambrian explosion: the construction of animal biodiversity. Roberts and Company Publishers, Colorado

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer DS, Mackay TFC, Cummings B (1996) Introduction to quantitative genetics, 4th edn. Benjamin Cummings, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Foote M, Miller A (2006) Principles of paleontology. W.H. Freeman & Co, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Futuyma DJ (2011) Expand or revise? The evolutionary synthesis today. Q Rev Biol 86(3):203–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Futuyma D (2013). Evolutionary Biology, 3rd edn. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland T, Rose MR (eds) (2009) Experimental evolution. Concepts, methods, and applications of selection experiments. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert SF (2012) Ecological developmental biology: environmental signals for normal animal development. Evolution and development 14(1):20–28

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ (1983) The hardening of the modern synthesis. In: Grene M (ed) Dimensions of darwinism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 71–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ (2002) The structure of evolutionary theory. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Eldredge N (1977) Punctuated equilibria: the tempo and mode of evolution reconsidered. Paleobiology 3(2):115–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Eldredge N (1993) Punctuated equilibrium comes of age. Nature 366(6452):223–227

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hallam A (1989) What can the fossil record tell us about macroevolution? In: Hecht MK (ed) Evolutionary biology at the crossroads. Queen’s College Press, Flushing, pp 59–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanski IA, Giaggiotti OE (2004) Ecology, genetics and evolution in metapopulations. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartl DL, Clark AG (2007) Principles of population genetics, 4th edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull DL (1980) Individuality and selection. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 11:311–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull DL (1988) Interactors versus vehicles. In: Plotkin HC (ed) The role of behavior in evolution. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 19–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Laland K et al (2014) Does evolutionary theory need a rethink? Nature 514(7521):161–164

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawton JH, May RM (1995) Extinction rates. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledón-Retting CC, Pfennig DW (2011) Emerging model systems in eco-evo-devo: the environmentally responsive spadefoot toad. Evol Dev 13(4):391–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewontin RC (1980) Theoretical population genetics in the evolutionary synthesis. In: Mayr E, Provine WB (eds) The evolutionary synthesis: perspectives on the unification of biology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 58–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman BS, Eldredge N (2014) What is punctuated equilibrium? What is macroevolution? A response to Pennell et al. Trends Ecol Evol 29(4):185–186

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loreau M (2010) From populations to ecosystems. Theoretical foundations for a new ecological synthesis. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Louys J, Wilkinson DM, Bishop LC (2012) Ecology needs a paleontological perspective. In: Louys J (ed) Paleontology in ecology and conservation. Earth system sciences series. Springer, Berlin, pp 23–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E (1942) Systematics and the origin of species. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E, Provine WB (eds) (1980) The evolutionary synthesis: perspectives on the unification of biology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Minelli A (1993) Biological systematics. The state of the art. Chapman & Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Minelli A, Fusco G (eds) (2008) Evolving pathways: key themes in evolutionary developmental biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson AT, Soberón J, Pearson RG, Anderson RP, Martínez-Meyer E, Nakamura M, Araújo MB (2011) Ecological niches and geographic distributions. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Price PW (2003) Macroevolutionary theory on macroecological patterns. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Prothero DR (2003) Bringing fossils to life: an introduction to paleobiology. McGraw-Hill, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Raup DM (1991) Extinction: bad genes or bad luck?. W.W. Norton & Co., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ridley M (2003) Evolution, 3rd edn. Blackwell Scientific Publishing, Malden

    Google Scholar 

  • Roff D (1997) Evolutionary quantitative genetics. Springer, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sepkoski D (2012) Rereading the fossil record. The growth of paleobiology as an evolutionary discipline. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sepkoski D, Ruse M (eds) (2009) The paleobiological revolution: essays on the growth of modern paleontology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson GG (1944) Tempo and mode in evolution. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith AB (2009) Systematics and the fossil record: documenting evolutionary patterns. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1979) Macroevolution: pattern and process. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner D (2011) Paleontology: a philosophical introduction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Van Valen L (1973) A new evolutionary law. Evol Theor 1:1–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Vrba ES, Eldredge N (eds) (2005) Macroevolution: diversity, disparity, contingency: essays in honor of Stephen Jay Gould. Paleontological Society, Lawrence

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiley EO, Lieberman BS (2011) Phylogenetics: theory and practice of phylogenetics systematics. Wiley, Hoboken

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins JS (2011) Species: a history of the idea. University of California Press, California

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins JS, Ebach MC (2013) The nature of classification: relationships and kinds in the natural sciences. Palgrave MacMillan, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (2002) The future of life. Alfred A. Knopf, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood B (ed) (2011) Wiley-Blackwell encyclopedia of human evolution, vol 2. Wiley, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was written with the support of the John Templeton Foundation (grant ID 36288).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Emanuele Serrelli or Nathalie Gontier .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Serrelli, E., Gontier, N. (2015). Macroevolutionary Issues and Approaches in Evolutionary Biology. In: Serrelli, E., Gontier, N. (eds) Macroevolution. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15045-1_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics