Sex and Evolution. (MPB-8), Volume 8 George C. Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, George Christopher.

Series:

Monographs in population biology ; 8.

Monographs in population biology ; 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex.

Evolution.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

[3rd printing with corrections.].

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

Princeton N.J : Princeton University Press, 1977.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This book explores the relationship between various types of reproduction and the evolutionary process. Starting with the concept of meiosis, George C. Williams states the conditions under which an organism with both sexual and asexual reproductive capacities will employ each mode. He argues that in low-fecundity higher organisms, sexual reproduction is generally maladaptive, and persists because there is no ready means of developing an asexual alternative. The book then considers the evolutionary development of diverse forms of sexuality, such as anisogamy, hermaphroditism. and the evolution of differences between males and females in reproductive strategy. The final two chapters examine the effect of genetic recombination on the evolutionary process itself.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

CHAPTER ONE. An Important Question, Its Easy Answer, and the Consequent Paradox

CHAPTER TWO. The Aphid-Rotifer Model

CHAPTER THREE. The Strawberry-Coral Model

CHAPTER FOUR. The Elm-Oyster Model

CHAPTER FIVE. Other Models

CHAPTER SIX. Natural Selection in High-fecundity Populations: Theory

CHAPTER SEVEN. Natural Selection in High-Fecundity Populations: Evidence on Viability

CHAPTER EIGHT. Natural Selection in High-Fecundity Populations: Evidence on Fertility

CHAPTER NINE. Derived Low-Fecundity Populations

CHAPTER TEN. Patterns of Sexuality

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Why Are Males Masculine and Females Feminine and. Occasionally, Vice-Versa?

CHAPTER TWELVE. Sex as a Factor in Organic Evolution

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Sex as a Factor in Biotic Evolution

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691081526

0691081522

9780691209920

0691209928

OCLC:

1227051470