CD-ROM Evolution in Examples. Containing 178 pictures and text

CD129. Evolution in Examples. This CD provides exceptionally instructive graphic material on morphologic and anatomical aspects shedding light on evolution and phylogenetics in the animal kingdom. Three fundamental physical manifestations are covered: stepwise increase in organizational complexity, commonality of basic physical structures and the existence of rudimentary organs. Starting with the work of Charles Darwin, studies of species formation on isolated volcanic archipelagos have become master examples of research in evolution. The fauna in isolated habitats, such as the Galapagos islands, plays a particularly important role as a source of indirect evidence on the workings of evolution. The combined effect of isolation, selection, occupation of niches, gene drift and mutation can be appreciated in a most graphic manner. Taking the unique flora of the Canary islands as an example, such evolutionary events are reviewed as promoter effects, preservation of paleoendemic plants, the effects of separation and isolation, generation of species through adaptive radiation, selection and nestling-down processes, analogy and homology. The Canary islands, together with the Galapagos islands and the Hawaii group, ranks as a „Museum of Evolution“.