Plant Evolution
An Introduction to the History of Life
Karl J. Niklas
- Although
- plants
- comprise
- more
- than
- 90%
- of
- all
- visible
- life,
- and
- land
- plants
- and
- algae
- collectively
- make
- up
- the
- most
- morphologically,
- physiologically,
- and
- ecologically
- diverse
- group
- of
- organisms
- on
- earth,
- books
- on
- evolution
- instead
- tend
- to
- focus
- on
- animals.
- This
- organismal
- bias
- has
- led
- to
- an
- incomplete
- and
- often
- erroneous
- understanding
- of
- evolutionary
- theory.
- Because
- plants
- grow
- and
- reproduce
- differently
- than
- animals,
- they
- have
- evolved
- differently,
- and
- generally
- accepted
- evolutionary
- views—as,
- for
- example,
- the
- standard
- models
- of
- speciation—often
- fail
- to
- hold
- when
- applied
- to
- them.Tapping
- such
- wide-ranging
- topics
- as
- genetics,
- gene
- regulatory
- networks,
- phenotype
- mapping,
- and
- multicellularity,
- as
- well
- as
- paleobotany,
- Karl
- J.
- Niklas’s
- Plant
- Evolution
- offers
- fresh
- insight
- into
- these
- differences.
- Following
- up
- on
- his
- landmark
- book
- The
- Evolutionary
- Biology
- of
- Plants—in
- which
- he
- drew
- on
- cutting-edge
- computer
- simulations
- that
- used
- plants
- as
- models
- to
- illuminate
- key
- evolutionary
- theories—Niklas
- incorporates
- data
- from
- more
- than
- a
- decade
- of
- new
- research
- in
- the
- flourishing
- field
- of
- molecular
- biology,
- conveying
- not
- only
- why
- the
- study
- of
- evolution
- is
- so
- important,
- but
- also
- why
- the
- study
- of
- plants
- is
- essential
- to
- our
- understanding
- of
- evolutionary
- processes.
- Niklas
- shows
- us
- that
- investigating
- the
- intricacies
- of
- plant
- development,
- the
- diversification
- of
- early
- vascular
- land
- plants,
- and
- larger
- patterns
- in
- plant
- evolution
- is
- not
- just
- a
- botanical
- pursuit:
- it
- is
- vital
- to
- our
- comprehension
- of
- the
- history
- of
- all
- life
- on
- this
- green planet.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
