This is the first and only book, so far, to deal with the causal basis of evolution from an epigenetic view. By revealing the epigenetic ";user"; of the ";genetic toolkit";, this book demonstrates the primacy of epigenetic mechanisms and epigenetic information in generating evolutionary novelties.


The author convincingly supports his theory with a host of examples from the most varied fields of biology, by emphasizing changes in developmental pathways as the basic source of evolutionary change in metazoans.

Introduction

Part 1: Epigenetic Basis of Metazoan Heredity


Control Systems and Determination of Phenotypic Traits in Metazoans


Neural Manipulation of Gene Expression


Epigenetic Control of Reproduction


Epigenetic Control of Early Development


Neural Control of Postphylotypic Development


The Epigenetic System of Heredity - An Outline

Part 2: Neural-Developmental Premises of Evolutionary Adaptation


Evolution and Stress Responses to Changes in Environment


Behavioral Adaptation to Changed Conditions of Living


Ontology: The Workshop of Evolutionary Change


Intragenerational Developmental Plasticity

Part 3: Epigenetics of Circumevolutionary Phenomena and the Mechansim of the Evolutionary Change


Transgenerational Developmental Plasticity - An Epitome of Evolutionary Change


Evolution of Metazoans and Their Control System

Part 4: Epigenetics of Metazoan Evolution


Origins of Evolutionary Novelty


Evolution by Loss


Evolution by Reverting to Ancestral Characters


Neural Crest-Determined Evolutionary Novelties


Evolutionary Convergences: The Trend Toward Sameness in Metazoan Evolution


Species and Allopatric Speciaition


Epigentics of Sympatric Speciation - Speciation as a Mechanism of Evolution