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Books about Speciation

The first section of this page lists books specifically about speciation in birds.

The second section lists more general works about speciation that include some discussion of speciation in birds.

The books in both sections are listed in chronological order with the most recent at the top.

 

Books about speciation in birds

On the Origin of Species Through Heteropatric Differentiation: A Review and a Model of Speciation in Migratory Animals

Kevin Winkler

Ornithological Monographs 69

American Ornithologists' Union

2011

A 30 page paper.

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Speciation In Birds

Trevor Price

Roberts & Co

2007

"Speciation in Birds is an authoritative synthesis of speciation in birds, written by a renowned expert in the field. The book is lavishly illustrated with over 120 full colour illustrations and will be of particular interest to ecologists, geneticists and anyone with a scientific interest in birds. Contents: 1 Introduction; 2 Geography and Ecology; 3 Geographical Variation; 4 Parapatric Speciation; 5 Ecological Speciation; 6 Ecological Controls and Speciation on Continents; 7 Behavior and Ecology; 8 Geographical Isolation and the Causes of Island Endemism; 9 Social Selection; 10 Social Selection and the Evolution of Song; 11 Divergence in Response to Increased Sexual Selection; 12 Social Selection and Ecology; 13 Species Recognition; 14 Mate Choice and the End of Speciation; 15 Hybrid Zones; 16 Genetic Incompatibility."

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How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin's Finches

Peter R. Grant and B. Rosemary Grant

Princeton University Press

2007

"Charles Darwin's experiences in the Galpagos Islands in 1835 helped to guide his thoughts toward a revolutionary theory: that species were not fixed but diversified from their ancestors over many generations, and that the driving mechanism of evolutionary change was natural selection. In this concise, accessible book, Peter and Rosemary Grant explain what we have learned about the origin and evolution of new species through the study of the finches made famous by that great scientist: Darwin's finches. Drawing upon their unique observations of finch evolution over a thirty-four-year period, the Grants trace the evolutionary history of fourteen different species from a shared ancestor three million years ago. They show how repeated cycles of speciation involved adaptive change through natural selection on beak size and shape, and divergence in songs. They explain other factors that drive finch evolution, including geographical isolation, which has kept the Galpagos relatively free of competitors and predators; climate change and an increase in the number of islands over the last three million years, which enhanced opportunities for speciation; and flexibility in the early learning of feeding skills, which helped species to exploit new food resources. Throughout, the Grants show how the laboratory tools of developmental biology and molecular genetics can be combined with observations and experiments on birds in the field to gain deeper insights into why the world is so biologically rich and diverse."

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Festschrift for Ned K. Johnson: Geographic Variation and Evolution in Birds

Editor: Carla Cicero and JV Remsen

Ornithological Monographs 63

American Ornithologists' Union

2007

Contents:

  • A Tribute to the Career of Ned K. Johnson: Enduring Standards through Changing Times
  • Molecular Advances in the Study of Geographic Variation and Speciation in Birds
  • Vainly Beating the Air: Species-Concept Debates Need Not Impede Progress in Science or Conservation
  • Named Subspecies and Their Significance in Contemporary Ornithology Distributional Dynamics of Invasion and Hybridization by Strix spp. in Western North America
  • Divergence between Subspecies Groups of Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus ustulatus and C. U. swainsoni)
  • Narrow Contact of Desert Sage Sparrows (Amphispiza belli nevadensis and A. B. canescens) in Owens Valley, Eastern California: Evidence from Mitochondrial DNA, Morphology, and GIS-Based Niche Models
  • Statistical Assessment of Congruence among Phylogeographic Histories of Three Avian Species in the California Floristic Province
  • The "Walking Eagle" Wetmoregyps Daggetti Miller: A Scaled-up Version of the Savanna Hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis)
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Speciation and Biogeography of Birds

Ian Newton

Academic Press

2003

"This book should be of value to anyone interested in bird evolution and taxonomy, biogeography, distributional history, dispersal and migration patterns. It provides an up-to-date synthesis of current knowledge on species formation, and the factors influencing current distribution patterns. It draws heavily on new information on Earth history, including past glacial and other climatic changes, on new developments in molecular biology and palaeontology, and on recent studies of bird distribution and migration patterns, to produce a coherent account of the factors that have influenced bird species diversity and distribution patterns worldwide."

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The Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Dispersal and Biogeography

Ernst Mayr & Jared M. Diamond

Oxford University Press

2002

"Ernst Mayr is one of the principal architects of the 'neo-Darwinian synthesis', which has been the dominant perspective in 20th century evolutionary biology. Jared Diamond is one of the most wide-ranging minds in biology, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for "Guns, Germs, and Steel". Mayr and Diamond decided in 1970 to collaborate on an authoritative monograph presenting their data and interpretations of the evolution of the birds of the Solomon and Bismark Islands. Mayr's numerous expeditions to do fieldwork in this area, beginning in 1929 and continuing through 1976, form the core of his scientific work. Diamond has made four expeditions to the region since 1970 to fill in gaps in the data."

Contents: Introduction; Part 1: Northern Melanesia's Physical and Biological Environment; Geology and Geological History; Climate; Habitats and Vegetation; Terrestrial Vertebrates Other Than Birds; Part 2: Human History and Impacts; Human History; Ornithological Exploration of Northern Melanesia; Exterminations of Bird Populations; Part 3: The Northern Melanesian Avifauna; Family Composition; Determinants of Island Species Number; Level of Endemism, Habitat Preference, and Abundance of Each Species; Overwater Dispersal Ability of Each Species; Distributional Ecology; Part 4: Colonization Routes; Proximate Origins of Northern Melanesian Populations; Upstream Colonization and Fuanal Dominance; Ultimate Origins of Northern Melanesian Populations; Part 5: Taxonomic Analysis: Differences Among Species; The Problem of Speciation; Stages of Geographical Speciation Among the Birds of Northern Melanesia; Absence of Geographic Variation; Geographic Variation: Subspecies; Geographic Variation: Megasubspecies; Geographic Variation: Allospecies; Completed Speciation; Hybridization; Endemic Species and Genera; Part 6: Geographic Analysis: Differences Among Islands; Endemism Index; Pairwise Differentiation Index; Pairwise Nonsharing Indices: Differences in Island Species Compositions; The Establishment of Geographic Isolates; Interarchipelagal Barriers; Barriers Within the Bismarcks; Barriers Within the Solomons; Speciation on Fragmented Solomon Islands; Differential Extinction and Species Occurrences on Fragmented Pleistocene Islands; Part 7: Synthesis, Conclusions, and Prospects; Conclusions about Speciation; Species Differences, Taxon Cycles, and the Evolution of Dispersal; Promising Directions for Future Research; Maps; Appendices; Appendix 1: Systematic List: Breeding Land and Freshwater Native Birds of Northern Melanesia; Appendix 2: Nonbreeding Visitors to Northern Melanesia; Appendix 3: Introduced Bird Species in Northern Melanesia; Appendix 4: Chronologies of Ornithological Exploration; Appendix 5: Attributes of Each Bird Species; Appendix 6: Evidence of Overwater Dispersal Ability of Each Species and Allospecies in the Bismarcks and Solomons; Appendix 7: Distributions and Origins of Northern Melanesian Bird Populations; References; Index.

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Wider ranging books about speciation

Phylogeography: Concepts, Intraspecific Patterns & Speciation Processes

Editor: Daniel J. Howard, Stewart H. Berlocher

Nova Science Publishers

2011

"Phylogeography is the study of the historical processes that may be responsible for the contemporary geographic distributions of individuals. This is accomplished by considering the geographic distribution of individuals in light of the patterns associated with a gene genealogy. This term was introduced to describe geographically structured genetic signals within and among species. An explicit focus on a species' biogeography biogeographical past sets phylogeography apart from classical population genetics and phylogenetics. This book examines varied topical data on phylogeography."

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Evolution in Action: Case Studies in Adaptive Radiation, Speciation and the Origin of Biodiversity

Editor: Matthias Glaubrecht

Springer-Verlag

2010

"We have come a long way towards better understanding how new species originate, i.e. speciation, which long remained Darwin's "mystery of mysteries." Since speciation is the underlying mechanism for radiations, it is the ultimate causation for the biological diversity of life that surrounds us. Without a doubt, Charles Darwin's contribution to our understanding of the origin of biodiversity cannot be overestimated. This book is a contribution to both the Darwin Year we celebrated in 2009 and to the Year of Biodiversity and Conservation 2010. The studies and model cases presented show the progress and dynamics of research based on Darwinian theories and sheds light on its implications in the context of current biodiversity crises. The great importance of adaptive (and non-adaptive) radiations for biodiversity is widely accepted, but our understanding of the processes and mechanisms involved is still limited and generalizations need to be based on the accumulation of more evidence from additional case studies. The studies presented in this volume are those urgently needed and focus on a variety of organisms and different aspects of radiations. The scientific results presented therein are excellent examples not only of evolution in action, but also of active research on evolutionary processes and their most apparent outcome – biodiversity."

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Speciation and Patterns of Diversity

Editor: Roger Butlin, John Bridle and Dolph Schluter

Ecologigal Reviews

Cambridge University Press

2009

"Bringing together the viewpoints of leading ecologists concerned with the processes that generate patterns of diversity, and evolutionary biologists who focus on mechanisms of speciation, this book opens up discussion in order to broaden understanding of how speciation affects patterns of biological diversity, especially the uneven distribution of diversity across time, space and taxa studied by macroecologists. The contributors discuss questions such as: Are species equivalent units, providing meaningful measures of diversity? To what extent do mechanisms of speciation affect the functional nature and distribution of species diversity? How can speciation rates be measured using molecular phylogenies or data from the fossil record? What are the factors that explain variation in rates? Written for graduate students and academic researchers, the book promotes a more complete understanding of the interaction between mechanisms and rates of speciation and these patterns in biological diversity."

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Biogeography, Time and Place: Distributions, Barriers and Islands

Editor: Willem Renema

Topics in Geobiology

Springer Verlag

2007

"Biogeography considers the distribution of biological units over a wide range of scales. The units range from genotypes, populations and species to families and higher taxa. Processes can be local, such as the isolation on islands due to sea-level fluctuations, or large-scale tectonic processes that separate continents and create oceans. In all, processes time is an important factor; by combining data on recent patterns with paleontological data the understanding of the distribution of extant taxa can be improved. This volume focuses on speciation due to isolation in island-like settings and the evolution of large-scale diversity as the result of origination, maintenance and extinction."

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Speciation

Jerry A. Coyne, H. Allen Orr

Sinauer Associates

2004

"Over the last two decades, the study of speciation has expanded from a modest backwater of evolutionary biology into a large and vigorous discipline. Speciation is designed to provide a unified, critical and up to date overview of the field. Aimed at professional biologists, graduate students and advanced undergraduates, it covers both plants and animals and deals with all relevant areas of research, including biogeography, field work, systematics, theory, and genetic and molecular studies. It gives special emphasis to topics that are either controversial or the subject of active research, including sympatric speciation, reinforcement, the role of hybridization in speciation, the search for genes causing reproductive isolation and mounting evidence for the role of natural and sexual selection in the origin of species."

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Adaptive Speciation

Editor: Ulf Dieckmann, Michael Doebeli, Johan A. J. Metz, Diethard Tautz

Cambridge Studies in Adaptive Dynamics

Cambridge University Press

2004

"Unraveling the origin of biodiversity is fundamental for understanding our biosphere. This book clarifies how adaptive processes, rather than geographic isolation, can cause speciation. Adaptive speciation occurs when biological interactions induce disruptive selection and the evolution of assortative mating, thus triggering the splitting of lineages. Internationally recognized leaders in the field explain exciting developments in modeling speciation, together with celebrated examples of rapid speciation by natural selection. Written for students and researchers in biology, physics, and mathematics, this book is a ground-breaking treatment of modern speciation science."

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Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions: The Making of Species

Menno Schilthuizen

Oxford University Press

2002

"How do new animal and plant species come about? How quickly does it happen? And what are species anyway? Schilthuizen, reputed scientist and journalist, launches into the debate that has baffled biologists ever since Darwin, with tremendous energy and wit. The whole subject leaps to life and its significance for understanding biodiversity comes clear. This is a fascinating read that will appeal equally to the lay reader and to students getting to grips with the fundamentals of a complex subject."

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Endless Forms: Species and Speciation

Editor: Daniel J. Howard, Stewart H. Berlocher

Oxford University Press

1998

"Speciation is one of the great themes of evolutionary biology. It is the process through which new species are born and diversity generated. In this volume, 30 authors involved in research into speciation present the newest findings from their studies and bring readers up to date on species concepts, modes of speciation, the nature of reproductive barriers, the forces that drive divergence of populations, the genetic control of reproductive isolation and the role played by hybrid zones and hybridization in speciation."

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An Atlas of Speciation in African Non-Passerine Birds

David W. Snow

British Museum (Natural History)

1978

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Geographic Variation, Speciation and Clines

John A Endler

Monographs In Population Biology, Vol. 10

Princeton University Press

1977

"Geographic Variation, Speciation and Clines explores the origins and development of geographic variation, divergence, and speciation. In particular it is concerned with genetic divergence as it is usually found on continents, among groups of populations isolated only by distance. Although earlier writers on this topic considered the effects of geography and dispersal, intense geographic differentiation and speciation were thought to require complete isolation. Professor Endler shows how geographic differentiation and speciation may develop in spite of continuous gene flow. Following a review of the diverse and scattered literature on gene flow and population differentiation, the author discusses the relationships among gene flow, dispersal, and migration. He then summarizes the factors which limit the geographic extent of gene flow, and those which allow steep clines to develop in the absence of barriers to gene flow. His analysis draws on examples from the field, experiments, and single- and multiple-locus models. The mechanism and conditions for parapatric speciation are presented: steepening clines, development into hybrid zones, and the evolution of sexual isolation. In the final chapter the author considers the interpretation of natural clines and the associated geographic patterns of subspecies and species."

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Avian Speciation in Tropical South America: With a Systematic Survey of the Toucans (Ramphastidae) and Jacamars (Galbulidae)

Jurgen Haffer

Nuttall Ornithological Club, 14

1974

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An Atlas of Speciation in African Passerine Birds

B.P. Hall, R.E. Moreau

Foreword: Ernst Mayr

Natural History Museum Publications

1970

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Last updated August 2011