The character concept in evolutionary biology / edited by Günter P. Wagner.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Characters, units and natural kinds : an introduction -- A history of character concepts in evolutionary biology / Kurt M. Fristrup -- An episode in the history of the biological character concept: the work of Oskar and Cécile Vogt / Manfred Dietrich Laubichler -- Preformationist and epigenetic biases in the history of the morphological character concept / Olivier Rieppel -- Character replication / V. Louise Roth -- Characters as the units of evolutionary change / David Houle -- Character identification: the role of the organism / Günter P. Wagner and Manfred D. Laubichler -- Functional units and their evolution / Kurt Schwenk -- The character concept : adaptationalism to molecular developments / Alex Rosenberg -- The mathematical structure of characters and modularity / Junhyong Kim and Minhyong Kim -- Wholes and parts in general systems methodology / Martin Zwick -- What is a part? / Daniel W. McShea and Edward P. Venit -- Behavioral characters and historical properties of motor patterns / Peter C. Wainwright and John P. Friel -- Homology and DNA sequence data / Ward Wheeler -- Character polarity and the rooting of cladograms / Harold N. Bryant -- The structure of a character and the evolution of patterns / Paul M. Brakefield -- Characters and environments / Massimo Pigliucci -- The genetic architecture of quantitative traits / Trudy F.C. Mackay -- The genetic architecture of pleiotropic relations and differential epistasis / James M. Cheverud -- Homologies of process and modular elements of embryonic construction / Scott F. Gilbert and Jessica A. Bolker -- Comparative limb development as a tool for understanding the evolutionary diversification of limbs in arthropods : challenging the modularity paradigm / Lisa M. Nagy and Terri A. Williams -- Origins of flower morphology / Peter K. Endress -- Origin of butterfly wing patterns / H. Fred Nijhout -- Perspectives on the evolutionary origin of tetrapod limbs / Javier Capdevila and Juan Carlos Izpisá Belmonte -- Epigenetic mechanisms of character origination / Stuart A. Newman and Gerd B. Müller -- Key innovations and radiations / Frietson Galis.

Almost all evolutionary biologists, indeed all biologists, use particular features to study life. These characteristics or features used by evolutionary biologists are used in a particular way to unravel a tangled evolutionary history, document the rate of evolutionary change, or as evidence of biodiversity. "Characters" are the "data" of evolutionary biology and they can be employed differently in research providing both opportunities and limitations. The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology is about characters, their use, how different sorts of characters are limited, and what are appropriate methods for character analysis. Leading evolutionary biologists from around the world are contributors to this authoritative review of the "character concept." Because characters and the conception of characters are central to all studies of evolution, and because evolution is the central organizing principle of biology, this book will appeal to a wide cross-section of biologists. Key Features * Focuses upon "characters"--Fundamental data for evolutionary biology * Covers the myriad ways in which characters are defined, described, and distinguished * Includes historical, morphological, molecular, behavioral, and philosophical perspectives

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