Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The greatest riddle of evolution has been the following puzzle: while Darwin argued that new species emerge through a slow, gradual accumulation of tiny mutations, the fossil record reveals a very different scenario--the sudden emergence of whole new species, with no apparent immediate ancestors. This discrepancy has fueled heated debate among evolutionary theorists and has provided unfortunate fodder to creationists, who see it as proof that evolution doesn't happen at all.Now, in this provocative and timely book, leading paleoanthropologist Jeffrey Schwartz presents a groundbreaking and radical new theory of evolution, which brings together evidence from genetics, paleontology, embryology, and anatomy to solve this great outstanding riddle. Central to the new theory is the recent discovery of a special kind of gene, known as homeobox genes, which can cause dramatic mutations that express themselves suddenly in the form of a new species. Such a new species will appear to have arisen out of thin air, with no lineage of ancestors. The new theory preserves natural selection, but shows that it is not the primary engine driving evolution, after all.Writing with graceful prose and the expert knowledge only an insider can bring, Jeffrey Schwartz begins by taking readers on a fascinating journey through the whole history of evolutionary thinking and discovery, recounting the major events and disputes. He also introduces the intriguing puzzles encountered along the way in the study of human evolution and shows how, despite early alternative theories advanced by some of the greatest scientific minds of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, gradualism became a matter of scientific orthodoxy. His account includes the stories behind such highlights as the infamous Piltdown hoax and the remarkable discovery of the astonishingly complete Lucy skeleton.Schwartz then introduces the series of important recent discoveries in developmental biology and genetics that paved the

Evolution (Biology) --- Fossils. --- Homeobox genes. --- Evolution (Biology). --- Fossils --- Homeobox genes --- Homeo box genes --- Homeotic genes --- Genes --- Paleontology --- Animal evolution --- Animals --- Biological evolution --- Darwinism --- Evolutionary biology --- Evolutionary science --- Origin of species --- Biology --- Evolution --- Biological fitness --- Homoplasy --- Natural selection --- Phylogeny

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In his 1894 book, Materials for the Study of Variation, William Bateson coined the term Homoeosis with the following prose: The case of the modification of the antenna of an insect into a foot, of the eye of a Crustacean into an antenna, of a petal into a stamen, and the like, are examples of the same kind. It is desirable and indeed necessary that such Variations, which consist in the assumption by one member of a Meristic series, of the form or characters proper to other members of the series, should be recognized as constituting a distinct group of phenomena. ...I therefore propose...the term HOMOEOSIS...; for the essential phenomenon is not that there has merely been a change, but that something has been changed into the likeness of something else. The book was intended as a listing of the kinds of naturally occurring variation that could act as a substrate for the evolutionary process and Bateson took his examples from collections, both private and in museums, of materials displaying morphological oddities. Interestingly the person who also coined the term “Genetics” proffered little in the way of speculation on the possible genetic underpinnings of these oddities. It wasn’t until the early part of the next century that these changes in meristic series were shown to be heritable.

Homeobox genes. --- Homeobox genes --- Biological Evolution --- Genetic Processes --- Genes, Developmental --- Genes --- Biological Processes --- Genetic Phenomena --- Phenomena and Processes --- Genome Components --- Biological Phenomena --- Genome --- Genetic Structures --- Evolution, Molecular --- Genes, Homeobox --- Gene Expression Regulation --- Biology --- Medicine --- Health & Biological Sciences --- Genetics --- Pathology --- Homeo box genes --- Homeotic genes --- Medicine. --- Human genetics. --- Medical genetics. --- Biomedicine. --- Human Genetics. --- Biomedicine general. --- Gene Function. --- Clinical genetics --- Diseases --- Heredity of disease --- Human genetics --- Medical sciences --- Genetic disorders --- Heredity, Human --- Human biology --- Physical anthropology --- Clinical sciences --- Medical profession --- Life sciences --- Physicians --- Genetic aspects --- Health Workforce --- Biomedicine, general.