Evolution on planet earth : the impact of the physical environment / edited by Lynn J. Rothschild and Adrian M. Lister.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rothschild, Lynn J.

Lister, Adrian.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (469 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Boston : Academic Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Driving evolution forward, the Earth's physical environment has challenged the very survival of organisms and ecosystems throughout the ages. With a fresh new perspective, Evolution on Planet Earth shows how these physical realities and hurdles shaped the primary phases of life on the planet. The book's thorough coverage also includes chapters on more proximate factors and paleoenvironmental events that influenced the diversity of life. A team of notable ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and paleontologists join forces to describe drifting continents, extinction events, and climate

Contents:

Front Cover; Evolution on Planet Earth; Copyright Page; Contents; Contributors; Introduction; Part 1: The Earth's atmosphere and the building blocks of life; Chapter 1. The physical setting for early life; Chapter 2. What good is nitrogen: an evolutionary perspective; Chapter 3. The coupled evolution of life and atmospheric oxygen; Chapter 4. Chemistry of the early oceans: the environment of early life; Chapter 5. The role of carbon dioxide in plant evolution; Part 2: Radiation; Chapter 6. The sun: the impetus for life

Chapter 7. Could life travel across interplanetary space? Panspermia revisitedPart 3: Molecular evolution; Chapter 8. Genome evolution and the impact of the physical environment; Part 4: Gravity; Chapter 9. The impact of gravity on life; Chapter 10. Gravity, the atmosphere and the evolution of animal locomotion; Part 5: Temperature; Chapter 11. Evolution and low temperatures; Chapter 12. Temperature, tectonics, and evolution; Part 6: The dynamic Earth; Chapter 13. The interplay of physical and biotic factors in macroevolution; Chapter 14. The causes of Phanerozoic extinctions

Chapter 15. Drifting continents and life on EarthChapter 16. Land/sea relations and speciation in the marine and terrestrial realms; Part 7: Climate; Chapter 17. Tectonics, climatic change, and the evolution of mammalian ecosystems; Chapter 18. Ice ages, species distributions, and evolution; Chapter 19. Environmental variability and its impact on adaptive evolution, with special reference to human origins; Chapter 20. Climatic change, and the beginnings of agriculture: the case of the Younger Dryas; Part 8: Implications for life elsewhere

Chapter 21. The physical constraints on extraterrestrial lifeEpilogue; Glossary; Index; Color Plate Section

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-281-01219-X

9786611012199

0-08-049485-4

OCLC:

476069854