Convergent evolution on earth : lessons for the search for extraterrestrial life

Convergent evolution on earth : lessons for the search for extraterrestrial life / George R. McGhee Jr.

An analysis of patterns of convergent evolution on Earth that suggests where we might look for similar convergent forms on other planets.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McGhee, George R. (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge : MIT Press, 2019.
Series:Vienna series in theoretical biology.
Subjects:
Convergence (Biology)
Evolution (Biology)
SCIENCE > Life Sciences > Evolution.
Online Access:Click for online access
Table of Contents:
  • Intro; Contents; Series Foreword; Preface: Limited Forms Most Beautiful; 1. Convergence in Life Forms in the Seas and on the Land; Oceanus: Evolution on a Water World; Land Plants and Marine Animals: Who Is Copying Whom?; Land Animals and Marine Animals: Which Form Came First?; The Analysis of Convergent Evolution; The Causes of Convergent Evolution; On the Organization of This Book; 2. Convergent Feeding Forms; Photosynthetic Animals?; In the Dark Depths: Chemosynthetic Animals; Strange Carnivores; Sparse Herbivores; Agriculturalist Animals in the Oceans?; Filter-Feeding Animals?
  • Strange Scavengers3. Convergent Sessile Forms; Sessile Animals?; Life in an Unstable World; Rooted: Plant-Like Forms; Hard Substrata: Cemented and Boring Forms; Colonies of Clones in Animals?; 4. Convergent Mobile Forms; Life under Pressure; Plankton: Floating Forms; Nekton: Swimming and Flying Forms?; Fellow Travelers: Hitchhiking Forms; Epibenthos: Walking Forms; Epibenthos: Crawling Forms; Endobenthos: Burrowing Forms; 5. Convergent Defense Forms; Survival in the Marine Realm; Armored Defense; Spinous Defense; Poisonous Defense; Electric-Field Defense
  • 6. Convergent Origin of Fundamental Organ Systems in the SeasOn the Origin of Organs in the Oceans; Multicellularity; Nervous and Muscle Systems; Body-Structural Development; Circulatory Systems and Nephridia; Respiratory Systems; Immune Systems; Visual Systems; Electrosensory Systems; Endothermic Metabolic Systems; Reproductive Systems; Prehensile Appendages; 7. Convergent Evolution on Other Worlds?; Evolutionary Convergence in the Twenty-First Century; Evolutionary History of Our Water World; Oceanus: Convergent Evolution on a Water World; Terra Firma: Convergent Evolution on Land
  • Life and Convergence as We Know ItLife and Convergence as We Do Not Know It; The Search for Extraterrestrial Life; Appendix: A Phylogenetic Classification of Life; References; Index of Common Names; Index of Species; Index of Topics

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