Biological Systematics: Principles and Applications

✍ Scribed by Andrew V. Z. Brower, Randall T. Schuh

• Publisher: Comstock Publishing Associates
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 456
• Edition: 3
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Understanding the history and philosophy of biological systematics (phylogenetics, taxonomy and classification of living things) is key to successful practice of the discipline.

In this thoroughly revised Third Edition of the classic Biological Systematics, Andrew V. Z. Brower and Randall T. Schuh provide an updated account of cladistic principles and techniques, emphasizing their empirical and epistemological clarity. Brower and Schuh cover:

-the history and philosophy of systematics
-the mechanics and methods of character analysis, phylogenetic inference, and evaluation of results
-the practical application of systematic results to:
-biological classification
-adaptation and coevolution
-biodiversity,and conservation
-new chapters on species and molecular clocks

Biological Systematics is both a textbook for students studying systematic biology and a desk reference for practicing systematists. Part explication of concepts and methods, part exploration of the underlying epistemology of systematics, This third edition addresses why some methods are more empirically sound than others.

✦ Table of Contents

Biological Systematics
Content
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the Third Edition
Acknowledgments to the First Edition
Acknowledgments to the Second Edition
Dedication and Acknowledgments to the Third Edition
Section I Historical and Philosophical Background for Systematics
1. Introduction to Systematics: First Principles and Practical Tools
2. Systematics and the Philosophy of Science
Section II Cladistic Methods
3. Characters and Character States
4. Character Polarity and Inferring Homology
5. Tree-Building Algorithms and Philosophies
6. Evaluating Results
Section III Application of Cladistic Results
7. Species: Concepts, Recognition, and Analytical Problems
8. Nomenclature, Classifications, and Systematic Databases
9. The Integration of Phylogenetics, Historical Biogeography, and Host-Parasite Coevolution
10. Evaluating Hypothetical Scenarios of Evolution, Ecology and Adaptation
11. Understanding Molecular Clocks and Time Trees
12. Biodiversity and Conservation
Postscript: Parsimony and the Future of Systematics
Appendix
Glossary
Literature Cited
Author Index
Subject Index