Evolution and Escalation: An Ecological History of Life

by Geerat Vermeij

Overview

Here is one biologist's interpretation of the chronology of life during the last six hundred million years of earth history: an extended essay that draws on the author's own data and a wide-ranging literature survey to discuss the nature and dynamics of evolutionary change in organisms and their biological surroundings. Geerat Vermeij demonstrates that escalation—the process by which species adapt to, or are limited by, their enemies as the latter increase in ability to acquire and retain resources—has been a dominant theme in the history of life despite frequent episodes of extinction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691000800
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/15/1993
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	7.75(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Geerat J. Vermeij, Professor of Geology at the University of California, Davis, is the author of Biogeography and Adaptation: Patterns of Marine Life (Harvard). Vermeij received a 1992 MacArthur Fellowship. See page 24 for a description of his forthcoming book, A Natural History of Shells.

Table of Contents

	Preface	XI
Part 1	A Theory of Adaptation
Chapter 1	Aptations and Selective Agencies	3
	Natural Selection and Adaptation	3
	The Recognition of Aptations	7
	Effectiveness, Improvement, and Escalation	10
	Environmental Challenges and Pathways of Adaptation	15
	The Ranking of Selective Agencies	23
Chapter 2	Limits to Adaptation	26
	The Nature of Limitation	26
	Genetic and Developmental Limitation	27
	Ecological Limitation	30
	The Spatial Dimension	42
	Summary of the Theory of Adaptation	46
Chapter 3	Hypotheses and Their Evaluation in a Historical Science	49
	Predictions from the Theory of Adaptation	49
	The Nature of Historical Inquiry	53
	Artifacts and Resolution in the Fossil Record	55
	Functional Morphology and Ecological Inference in Fossils	61
Part 2	The Acquisition of Resources
Chapter 4	Mechanisms and History of Competition	67
	Types of Competition	67
	Clones and Colonies	70
	Competition in Plants	78
	Metabolic Rate and Competition	82
	Competition for Mates	95
	Summary	99
Chapter 5	Safe Places, Anachronistic Aptations, and the Recycling of Resources	102
	The Invasion of Safe Places and Its Consequences	102
	The Identification of Safe Places	103
	Deep Water	104
	Caves and Interstitial Environments	107
	The Infaunal Environment	108
	Bioerosion and the Endolithic Environment	119
	Fresh Water and the Dry Land	130
	Parasitism and Mutualism	136
	Summary	140
Chapter 6	The Predators of Armored Animals: Functional Morphology and History	142
	Methods of Subjugation	143
	The History of Molluscivory	173
	Summary and Conclusions	185
Part 3	The Evolution of Armor and Locomotion
Chapter 7	The Functional Morphology and History of Gastropod Armor	191
	The Functions of Armor	191
	The Characteristics of Gastropod Shell Armor	192
	The Effectiveness of Gastropod Armor	205
	The History of Gastropod Armor	210
	The History of Traces of Predation	227
	Summary and Conclusions	237
Chapter 8	Opportunistic Armor: The Evolution of the Conchicolous Habit	240
	The Conchicolous Habit	240
	Benefits and Risks of the Conchicolous Habit	243
	The Effects of Shell Supply	246
	Improving the Shell Resource	249
	The History of the Conchicolous Habit	251
	Evolutionary Effects of Conchicoles on Shell-Builders	252
	Summary	254
Chapter 9	Locomotion and the Evolution of Movement in Gastropods	256
	General Features of Locomotion	256
	Locomotion in Gastropods	262
	The History of Gastropod Burrowing	266
	Summary	268
Chapter 10	Armor and Locomotion in Cephalopods	271
	Adaptational Dilemmas	271
	The History of Cephalopod Armor	277
	Locomotion in Cephalopods	285
	Summary and Conclusions	288
Chapter 11	Armor and Locomotion in Bivalved Animals	290
	The Bivalve Shell	290
	Vivalve Armor	292
	Patterns of Armor in Space and Time	301
	Traces of Predation	305
	Locomotion in Pelecypods	311
	Summary	315
Chapter 12	Armor and Locomotion in Articulated Animals	317
	Functional Possibilities and Limitations	317
	Arthropod Molting	319
	Conglobation in Arthropods	320
	The Carapace Form in Arthropods	326
	Size in Land Arthropods	328
	Bamacles	329
	Echinoderms	332
	Armor in Vertebrates	339
	Swimming in Vertebrates	347
	Running in Land Animals	348
	Powered Flight	354
	Summary	355
Part 4	Escalation, Diversification, and Extinction
Chapter 13	The Dynamics of Escalation	359
	A Review of the Evidence Pertaining to Escalation	359
	A Chronology of Phanerozoic Escalation	361
	The Role of Extrinsic Events	371
	Conditions Favorable to Escalation	376
	Marine Transgressions and Productivity	378
	Climatic Change and Biotic Interchange	382
	Intrinsic Factors: The Importance of Nutrients	386
	Summary and Conclusions	387
Chapter 14	Extinction	390
	A Theory of Extinction	390
	Timing, Frequency, and Magnitude of Extinction	396
	The Decrease in Extinction Rate	400
	Selectivity	401
	Population Size and Geographical Range	413
	Post-Crisis Conditions	414
	Summary	416
Chapter 15	Implications, Difficulties, and Future Directions	418
	The Domain of Individual Adaptation	418
	Evolutionary Progress	419
	Objections and Alternative Interpretations	421
	Future Research	426
	Appendix	431
	References	435
	Index	521

Editorial Reviews

"An extraordinarily useful book to students of evolutionary paleobiology."—-Carlton Brett, Geology

From the Publisher

"With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology."

Science

An extraordinarily useful book to students of evolutionary paleobiology.

Geology - Carlton Brett

An extraordinarily useful book to students of evolutionary paleobiology.
— Carlton Brett

Geology

"With the impressive scope and rich synthesis of this work, the author has assumed the mantle of a provocative pundit of paleobiology."

Science