Evolution

This unusually conceived and designed introduction provides an overview of the basics of evolution and the many facets of modern evolutionary research in a very comprehensible form. Darwin's theory is still its foundation, but the theory of evolution is much more comprehensive, interesting and surprising than most people think. Thanks to modern experimental techniques, we learn to understand the relationship between genes and bodies and the various conflicts and games that take place within and between organisms.

The book is refreshingly different from traditional textbooks: written with a light pen yet concise, interspersed with numerous didactic elements and illustrated with vivid graphics. Old questions are presented here in a new light and new concepts and perspectives are made comprehensible with the help of many examples. The authors present evolutionary biology as a dynamic discipline that has no problem incorporating newly discovered biological phenomena and that enables us to reconstruct and understand the detailed history of individual groups of organisms with their unique evolutionary innovations.

For the 3rd edition, the text has been updated to include new findings and examples, the chapters have been partially reorganised and the individual chapters conclude with take-home messages.

The authors

Jan Zrzavý (*1964) is a university professor of zoology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of South Bohemia in ¿eské Bud¿jovice. His teaching and research interests include evolutionary biology, animal phylogeny and human evolution.

Hynek Burda (*1952) is professor emeritus at the University of Duisburg-Essen and visiting professor at the University of South Bohemia in ¿eské Bud¿jovice and the University of Agriculture in Prague. His research specialises in biology.