Synopses & Reviews
The driving forces of natural selection leave their traces in the shapes of living creatures and their patterns of distribution. In this thoughtful and wide-ranging discussion of evolutionary process and adaptive response, Geerat Vermeij elucidates the general principles that underlie the great diversity of marine forms found in the world's great oceans.
Review
A valuable addition to the literature and represents a significant contribution to our understanding of the ways in which biological interactions influence the structural design of living organisms. Nature
Review
This Darwinian book--there is hardly higher praise--is a step towards understanding, which will probably challenge our technical methods more than the broad insights of that clever naturalist on the <> did. Scientific American
Table of Contents
1. Climate and Limitations of Form Part 1: Patterns of Adaptation along Gradients 2. Shelled Gastropods
3. Bivalves
4. Sessile Organisms
Part 2: Interoceanic Patterns of Adaptation 5. Predation and Grazing
6. Relation to Present-Day Conditions
Part 3: Geography and Evolution 7. Extinction and Speciation
8. Patterns of Biotic History
9. Barriers and Biotic Exchange
Appendix
References
Index