Books in the Species and Systematics series

Aims to make sense of the rise of phylogenetic systematics - its methods, its objects of study, and its theoretical foundations - with contributions from historians, philosophers, and biologists. This title also aims to provide frameworks for answering the question: how did systematics become phylogenetic?

This book is an extended argument for abandoning the species rank. Instead, the author proposes that the rank of "species" be replaced by a pluralistic and multi-level view. In such a view, all clades including the smallest identifiable one would be named and studied within a phylogenetic context.

The complex idea of "e;species"e; has evolved over time, yet its meaning is far from resolved. This comprehensive work takes a fresh look at an idea central to the field of biology by tracing its history from antiquity to today. John S. Wilkins explores the essentialist view, a staple of logic from Plato and Aristotle through the Middle Ages to fairly recent times, and considers the idea of species in natural history-a concept often connected to reproduction. Tracing "e;generative conceptions"e; of species back through Darwin to Epicurus, Wilkins provides a new perspective on the relationship between philosophical and biological approaches to this concept. He also reviews the array of current definitions. Species is a benchmark exploration and clarification of a concept fundamental to the past, present, and future of the natural sciences.

At a time when selectionist explanations are being brought forward to explain an ever-widening range of phenomena, this book analyzes the explanatory structure of Darwin¿s theory of natural selection. It shows there are aspects of the theory that are not totally understood, creating problems in contemporary uses of the theory to explain the world. It takes a much-needed thoughtful look into the working parts of the theory of natural selection to provide better understanding of the theory and its role in contemporary science and life.

Everyone uses species names and yet there are communication gaps between those who who name species and those who use species names. This book is intended to explore why different groups of scientists understand and use taxa in very different ways, and the consequences for measuring and understanding biodiversity.

To unravel the complex shared history of the Earth and its life forms, biogeographers analyze patterns of biodiversity, species distribution, and geological history. So far, the field of biogeography has been fragmented into divergent systematic and evolutionary approaches, with no overarching or unifying research theme or method. In this text, Lynne Parenti and Malte Ebach address this discord and outline comparative tools to unify biogeography. Rooted in phylogenetic systematics, this comparative biogeographic approach offers a comprehensive empirical framework for discovering and deciphering the patterns and processes of the distribution of life on Earth. The authors cover biogeography from its fundamental ideas to the most effective ways to implement them. Real-life examples illustrate concepts and problems, including the first comparative biogeographical analysis of the Indo-West Pacific, an introduction to biogeographical concepts rooted in the earth sciences, and the integration of phylogeny, evolution and earth history.

Comparative biology became overtly evolutionary in the mid-19th century following acceptance of the ideas of Charles Darwin by Ernst Haeckel. During the next 100 years, these evolutionary concepts changed and inspired Phylogenetic Systematics-a body of work exemplified by the publications of Willi Hennig. This book is a synthesis and chronicle o