Morphology, Shape and Phylogeny

Generally, biologists and mathematicians who study the shape and form of organisms have largely been working in isolation from those who work on evolutionary relationships through the analysis of common characteristics. Increasingly however, dialogue between the two communities is beginning to develop - but other than a handful of journal papers, there has been no formal, published discussion on this subject. This timely book summarises the interdisciplinary work that has taken place to date and will stimulate additional research into these topics. Any scientist working on evolutionary relationships will find this volume invaluable.

Introduction: Morphology, Shape and Phylogenetics, N. Macleod and P. Forey Homology, Characters and Continuous Variables, C.J. HumphriesQuantitative Characters, Phylogenies, and Morphometrics, J. Felsenstein Scaling, Polymorphism and Cladistic Analysis, T.C. Rae Overlapping Variables in Botanical Systems, G. Reid and K. SidwellComparability, Morphometrics and Phylogenetic Systematics, D.L. Swiderski, M.L. Zelditch, and W.L. Fink Phylogenetic Signals in Morphometric Data, N. MacleodCreases as Morphometric Characters, F.L. Bookstein Geometric Morphometrics and Phylogeny, F.J. Rohlf A Parametric Bootstrap Approach to the Detection of Phylogenetic Signals in Landmark Data, T.M. Cole III, S. Lele, and J.T. Richtsmeier Phylogenetic Tests for Differences in Shape and the Importance of Divergence Times: Eldredge's Enigma Explored, P.D. Polly Ancestral States and Evolutionary Rates of Continuous Characters, A.J. Webster and A. Purvis Modelling the Evolution of Continuously Varying Characters on Phylogenetic Trees: The Case of Hominid Cranial CapacitySummary