Flaws of Nature: The Limits and Liabilities of Natural Selection - Couverture rigide

Dobson, Andy

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1803990171 ISBN 13 : 9781803990170

Editeur : The History Press Ltd, 2023

Synopsis

Species evolve over time to become perfectly adapted to their environments, right?{::} Well, sometimes.
Consider that an elephant will not grow a seventh set of teeth, even though wearing down the sixth will condemn it to starvation; that hosts of the European cuckoo seem unable to tell that the overgrown monster in their nest is not their own chick; and that whales are fully aquatic mammals who, millions of years after first abandoning the land, still cannot breathe underwater.

This book is about evolution, but not its greatest hits. Instead, it explores everything in the animal kingdom that is self-defeating, ill-made, uneconomical, or downright weird – and explains how natural selection has favoured it. In the grand struggle for survival, some surprising patterns emerge: animals are always slightly out-of-date; inefficiency tends to increase over time; predators usually lose, and parasites usually win. With equal parts humour and scientific insight, Andy Dobson is here to explain the how and why of evolution’s limits and liabilities.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Dr ANDY DOBSON is a biologist whose work has encompassed field ecology, vector-borne disease, and conservation. Having studied at Durham University and the University of Nottingham, he took up his first research post in the University of Oxford’s Zoology Department in 2008. Most recently, he worked in the Conservation Science Group at the University of Edinburgh, applying mathematical models to anti-poaching efforts in protected areas. He left academia in 2019 to become a freelance science writer but remains a Visiting Academic at Edinburgh.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The History Press Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2023
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1803990171
• ISBN 13: 9781803990170
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 272
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible