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Non-mammalian synapsids were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates from the Late Carboniferous to the Middle Triassic and play a key role in understanding the origin and evolution of mammals. Despite these facts and the outstanding fossil record of the group, early synapsids remain obscure. This book showcases the full breadth of contemporary research on non-mammalian synapsids, ranging from taxonomy and phylogenetics to functional morphology, biogeography, paleoecology, and patterns of diversity. It also underscores the importance and potential of studying non-mammalian synapsid paleobiology in its own right, not just in the context of mammalian evolution.
The natural world is infinitely complex and hierarchically structured, with smaller units forming the components of larger systems: genes are components genomes, cells are building blocks of tissues and organs, individuals are members of populations, which, in turn, are parts of species. In the face of such awe inspiring complexity, scientists need tools like the hierarchy theory of evolution, which provides a theoretical framework and an interdisciplinary research program that aims to understand the way complex biological systems work and evolve. The multidisciplinary approach looks at the structure of the myriad intricate interactions across levels of organization that range from molecules to the biosphere. Evolutionary Theory: A Hierarchical Perspective provides an introduction to the theory, which is currently driving a great deal of research in bioinformatics and evolutionary theory. Written by a diverse and renowned group of contributors, and edited by the founder of Hierachy Theory Niles Eldredge, this work will help make transparent the fundamental patterns driving living sytems.
This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2012. A collection of papers presented at the 2nd Global Conference on Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds, held in Prague, Czech Republic. Presenters discussed their research on the impact of utilizing virtual worlds for educational purposes. Presenters also discussed the influence virtual worlds have on concepts such as identity, learning and interaction.
This book attempts to define the issues that face us in trying to understand the often-overwhelming complexity of the human experience. It is intellectually challenging, broad in its scope, richly detailed, and densely argued. It is the first in a projected series of five volumes in which the author will seek to touch on every aspect of human historical reality and all the multitudinous variables that have shaped it.
Evolution Education and the Rise of the Creationist Movement in Brazil examines how larger societal forces such as religion, media, and politics have shaped Brazil’s educational landscape and impacted the teaching and learning of evolution within an increasingly polarized discourse in recent years. To this end, Alandeom W. Oliveira and Kristin Cook have assembled a number of educational scholars and practitioners, many of whom are based in Brazil, to provide up-close and in-depth accounts of classroom-based evolution instruction, teacher preparation programs, current educational policies, and commonly used school curricula. Contributors also present information on Brazilian teachers’ and...
This brief discusses factors associated with group formation, group maintenance, group population structure, and other events and processes (e.g., physiology, behavior) related to mammalian social evolution. Within- and between-lineages, features of prehistoric and extant social mammals, patterns and linkages are discussed as components of a possible social “tool-kit”. "Top-down” (predators to nutrients), as well as “bottom-up” (nutrients to predators) effects are assessed. The present synthesis also emphasizes outcomes of Hebbian (synaptic) decisions on Malthusian parameters (growth rates of populations) and their consequences for (shifting) mean fitnesses of populations. Ecology ...
Natural history museums have evolved from being little more than musty repositories of stuffed animals and pinned bugs, to being crucial generators of new scientific knowledge. They have also become vibrant educational centers, full of engaging exhibits that share those discoveries with students and an enthusiastic general public. Grande offers a portrait of curators and their research, conveying the intellectual excitement and the educational and social value of curation. He uses the personal story of his own career-- most of it spent at Chicago's Field Museum-- to explore the value of research and collections, the importance of public engagement, changing ecological and ethical considerations, and the impact of rapidly improving technology.
Presents the scientific evidence for evolution and reasons why it should be taught in schools, provides various religious points of view, and offers insight to the evolution-creationism controversy.
Well into the twenty-first century, the United States remains one of the most highly religious industrial democracies on earth. Recent Gallup surveys suggest that 76 percent of Americans believe that the Bible is divinely inspired or the direct word of God. In Medieval America, Andrew M Koch and Paul H. Gates, Jr. offer a thoughtful examination of how this strong religious feeling, coupled with Christian doctrine, affects American political debates and collective practices and surveying the direct and indirect influence of religion and faith on American political culture. Koch and Gates open a more critical dialogue on the political influence of religion in American politics, showing that pe...