Evolution from the Galapagos -

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Résumé :
This volume is a collection of the some of the most significant lectures that well-known experts presented at our two international ?summits on evolution? (2005, 2009) as updated and revised chapters. The meetings took place on one of the large islands of the Galapagos archipelago (San Cristobal) at GAIAS (Galapagos Institute for the Arts and Sciences) of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador.? The main goal of the two Galapagos Summits on Evolution has been to bring together scientists and graduate students engaged in the study of evolution, from life?s origin to its current diversity. Because of their historical significance, the Galapagos are a unique venue for promoting comprehensive research on evolution and ecology and to make the research results available to students and teachers everywhere, but especially from developing countries. As shown by the enthusiastic attendance at both summits and the many suggestions to keep them continuing, the meetings have opened new opportunities for students from Ecuador and other Latin American countries to be inspired by some of the most brilliant minds in evolutionary science.?

Sommaire:

Foreword.- Part I: Historical Perspectives.- Darwin-Wallace paradigm shift: The ten days that failed to shake the world.- From Copernicus to Darwin.- Part II: A Microbial World.- A Vestige of an RNA Apparatus with Ribozyme Capabilities Embedded and Functions within the Modern Ribosome.- Covering all the Bases: the Promise of Genome-Wide Sequence Data for Large Population Samples of Bacteria.- Role of Symbiosis in Evolution.- Part III: Early Eukaryotes.- The Evolutionary Origin of Animals and Fungi.- Written in stone: The fossil record of early eukaryotes.- Endosymbiosis in the origin of eukaryotes.- Symbiogenetics: Proposal for a new science.- Part IV: A Planet of Animals and Plants.- Epochal change: sweltering climate at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (55 million years ago).- Speciation and evolution of Darwin's finches.- Ecological Selection and the Evolution of Body Size and Sexual Size Dimorphism in the Galapagos Flightless Cormorant.- Index.