Evolutionary biology has witnessed breathtaking advances over the years. This book describes the advances and explains why a cross-disciplinary and integrated approach to research questions is so essential. It discusses the origins of biological diversity, and mechanisms of evolutionary change at the molecular and developmental levels.

List of Contributors ix Preface xi Introduction to Section I: The Origins of Biological Diversity 1 Chapter One: The Big Picture: A Tripartite View of Life and Environments through Time by Andrew H. Knoll and David T. Johnston 5 Chapter Two: Macroevolutionary Trends in Time and Space by David Jablonski 25 Chapter Three: Dinosaurs Live! 4 by Philip J. Currie 4 Chapter Four: Phylogeography and Phylogenetics in the Nuclear Age by Christopher N. Balakrishnan, June Y. Lee, and Scott V. Edwards 65 Introduction to Section II: Mechanisms, Molecules, and Evo-Devo 89 Chapter Five: The Flexibility of Butterfly Wing Color Patterns and Evolution in Morphospace by Paul M. Brakefield and Mathieu Joron 93 Chapter Six: Genetics, Geology, and Miracles by David Kingsley 115 Chapter Seven: Evolutionary Genetics of Pigmentation Loss in the Blind Mexican Cavefish by Joshua B. Gross and Clifford J. Tabin 131 Chapter Eight: A Developmental View of Exaggerated Growth and Conditional Expression in the Weapons of Sexual Selection by Douglas J. Emlen 149 Introduction to Section III: Morphology and Behavior 173 Chapter Nine: How Does Morphology Affect Performance in Variable Environments? By Mimi A. R. Koehl 177 Chapter Ten: In Search of the Elusive Behavior Gene by Hopi E. Hoekstra 192 Chapter Eleven: There Must Be Finches--Charles Darwin, Prickly Pears, and Pollination Biology by May R. Berenbaum 211 Chapter Twelve: The Adaptive Radiation of Coevolving Prodoxid Moths and Their Host Plants: Greya Moths and Yucca Moths by John N. Thompson 228 Introduction to Section IV: Ecological Diversity 247 Chapter Thirteen: Ecological and Geographical Influences on the Allopatric Phase of Island Speciation by Trevor Price, Albert B. Phillimore, Myra Awodey, and Richard Hudson 251 Chapter Fourteen: Geographical Mode and Evolutionary Mechanism of Ecological Speciation in Cichlid Fish by Ole Seehausen and Isabel Santos Magalhaes 282 Chapter Fifteen: A Tale of Two Radiations: Similarities and Differences in the Evolutionary Diversification of Darwin's Finches and Greater Antillean Anolis Lizards by Jonathan B. Losos 309 Chapter Sixteen: Clarifying the Mechanisms of Evolution in Sticklebacks Using Field Studies of Natural Selection on Genes by Rowan D. H. Barrett and Dolph Schluter 332 Chapter Seventeen: The Book and the Future: Perspective and Prospective by Peter R. Grant and B. Rosemary Grant 347 Chapter Eighteen: A Festival for Rosemary and Peter Grant by David B. Wake 360 Index 367

"In Search of the Causes of Evolution offers a bountiful sampler of what is going on in evolutionary research. Darwin's finches, which for three decades engaged Peter and Rosemary Grant's research, are there, and much, much more—all written by accomplished specialists. There is much to learn and much to enjoy in this wonderful, and at times riveting, book."—Francisco J. Ayala, author of Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion

"These accessible and informative essays span the range of evolution, from its historical and environmental context to the nature of adaptation itself and the generation of biological diversity. Peter and Rosemary Grant have assembled a stellar cast of authors who, through their own work, pay tribute to the Grants' decades of research on Darwin's finches. Anyone wishing a thoroughly modern and readable account of evolution should start here."—Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri, St. Louis

"The Grants' gift to evolutionary biology—the characterization of evolution in action in the Galápagos finches—was enough to define extraordinary careers. Here they extend their reach by depicting the study of evolution as a process of discovery that spans levels of organization ranging from individual genes to development, adaptation, speciation, and even the origin and deep history of life. The contributors span generations of investigators who are among our best and brightest."—David Reznick, University of California, Riverside

"Rosemary and Peter Grant have pursued a monumental search for the causes of evolution in the behavior, morphology, ecology, and genetics of Darwin's finches. Here they extend that search as editors of seventeen contributions, a set of major statements by leaders in the fields of biology touched by their own work. This is a connoisseurs' collection of selected readings in modern evolutionary biology, molded into a synthesis by the eloquent commentaries of the Grants themselves."—Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

The Grants' gift to evolutionary biology--the characterization of evolution in action in the Galapagos finches--was enough to define extraordinary careers. Here they extend their reach by depicting the study of evolution as a process of discovery that spans levels of organization ranging from individual genes to development, adaptation, speciation, and even the origin and deep history of life. The contributors span generations of investigators who are among our best and brightest. -- David Reznick, University of California, Riverside These accessible and informative essays span the range of evolution, from its historical and environmental context to the nature of adaptation itself and the generation of biological diversity. Peter and Rosemary Grant have assembled a stellar cast of authors who, through their own work, pay tribute to the Grants' decades of research on Darwin's finches. Anyone wishing a thoroughly modern and readable account of evolution should start here. -- Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri, St. Louis