Where do we come from?: the molecular evidence for human descent

From the moment we first began to contemplate the world, three questions haveoccupied our minds: Where do we come from?, What are we?, and Where are we going? Artists, religious thinkers, philosophers, and most recently scientists have all searched for answers. Here, the authors describe how scientists decipher human origin from the record encrypted in the DNA and protein molecules. After explaining the nature of descent and the methods available for studying genealogical relationships, they summarize the information revealed by the molecular archives. In doing so, they draw conclusions about our identity, our place in the living world, and our future. INDICE: A Tahitian Prelude: Art, Myth, and Science.- Bridging the Generation Gap: The Physical Basis of Ancestor-Descendent Relationship.- Crane's Foot:Biological Meaning of Descent.- Klados and Phyl: The Molecular Nature of Evolution.- The Painted Tree: Methods of Phylogenetic Reconstruction.- The Tree ofLife: From the Root to the Crown.- The Rise of the Metazoan Tribes: The New Phylogeny of the Animal Kingdom.- Our Place in Nature: The Closest Living Relative.- Of Time and the Tree: The Time Scale of Evolution.- The Narrow Road to the Deep North: Hominids and the Origin of Homo sapiens.- Through the Neck of aBottle: The Genesis and the Genetic Nature of Homo sapiens.- Who Are We? Where are We Going?: The Present Condition and the Future of Our Species.- Sourcesand Further Reading.- Appendices One to Five.- Illustration and Quotation Credits.

• ISBN: 978-3-642-07645-9
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Fecha Publicación: 31/03/2012
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés