Evolution and Ecology by K. D. Bennett - 9780521390286

Evolution and EcologyThe Pace of Life\nAuthor(s): K. D. Bennett\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521390286, 978-0521390286\nSynopsis\nThe mechanisms of macroevolutionary change have long been a contentious issue. Palaeoecological evidence, presented in this book, shows that evolutionary processes visible in ecological time do not build up into macroevolutionary trends, contrary to Darwin's original thesis. The author discusses how climatic oscillations on ice-age time-scales are paced by variations in the Earth's orbit, and have thus been a permanent feature of Earth history. There is, however, little evidence for macroevolutionary change in response to these climatic changes, suggesting that over geological time macroevolution does not occur as a result of accumulated short term processes. These conclusions are used to construct a post-modern evolutionary synthesis in which evolution and ecolo.