The Ghosts Of Evolution: Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, and Other Ecological AnachronismsA new vision is sweeping through ecological science: The dense web of dependencies that makes up an ecosystem has gained an added dimension-the dimension of time. Every field, forest, and park is full of living organisms adapted for relationships with creatures that are now extinct. In a vivid narrative, Connie Barlow shows how the idea of "missing partners" in nature evolved from isolated, curious examples into an idea that is transforming how ecologists understand the entire flora and fauna of the Americas. This fascinating book will enrich and deepen the experience of anyone who enjoys a stroll through the woods or even down an urban sidewalk. But this knowledge has a dark side too: Barlow's "ghost stories" teach us that the ripples of biodiversity loss around us now are just the leading edge of what may well become perilous cascades of extinction. |
Contents
Ecological Anachronisms and Their Missing Partners | 27 |
The Megafaunal Dispersal Syndrome | 51 |
Advancing the Theory | 71 |
A Fruitful Longing | 95 |
Extreme Anachronisms | 119 |
Armaments from Another Era | 149 |
Who Are the Ghosts? | 181 |
Other editions - View all
The Ghosts Of Evolution: Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, and Other ... Connie Barlow No preview available - 2008 |
The Ghosts Of Evolution: Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, and Other ... Connie Barlow No preview available - 2002 |
The Ghosts Of Evolution: Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, And Other ... Connie Barlow No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
Acacia adaptive African anachronism anachronism idea anachronistic fruits animals attract avocado balanites Barlow birds browsing camels carnivores Cassia grandis cattle chewed clay consume Costa Rica D. H. Janzen deer defecate desert gourd devil's claw dispersal agents divaricate divaricate plants dodo ecological elephants evolution evolutionary evolved extinct flesh forest forestomach fossil genus geophagy germinate ghosts Gleditsia gomphotheres ground sloths guanacaste gymnocladus habitat herbivores hindgut honey locust horses humans Janzen and Martin Journal Kentucky coffee tree legume lineage maclura mammals mammoths mastodons megafaunal dispersal syndrome mesquite mutualists Nabhan native neotropical North America osage orange overbuilt papaya paper partners Paul Martin pawpaw persimmon Peter Del Tredici Pleistocene megafauna pods pollen proboscideans pulp thieves raccoons rhinos ripe rodents root Science Seed Dispersal seed predators seedlings species squirrels stems swallow swamp locust tapir thorns thousand years ago tomato torreya tortoises toxins tropical wild woody Zealand
References to this book
Making Prehistory: Historical Science and the Scientific Realism Debate Derek Turner Limited preview - 2007 |