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Evolution — An Introduction

Article  in  Heredity · November 2000

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Book reviews
The Genetics of the Horse. A. T. Bowling and A. Ruvinsky Evolution Ð An Introduction. Stephen C. Stearns and Rolf
(eds). CABI Publishing, Wallingford. 2000. Pp. 527. Price F. Hoekstra. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 2000. Pp. 381.
£85.00, hardback. ISBN 0 85199 429 6. Price £18.99, paperback. ISBN 0 19 854968 7.

This book is an excellent, well researched and comprehensive Evolution is a challenging subject to teach. It is a central
reference work for all areas of equine genetic. It covers topics concept in biology, so the topical coverage of an introduc-
from phylogeny to the measure of performance traits and will tion to evolution is potentially very broad in scope.
be a useful source of information for years to come. It is Evolution is sometimes perceived as controversial, when in
written in a style that is straight forward, easy to read and fact the scienti®c basis for evolution is strongly established.
never super¯uous. The layout of each chapter is very clear and Finally, many perceive evolution as primarily historical in
the chapters are organized well in relation to each other perspective.
according to subject area. The list of references at the end of This new textbook by Stearns and Hoekstra addresses these
each chapter is very thorough. In the early chapters, photo- challenges quite nicely. It provides a readable account of
graphs of the various examples of the Equus subgenera and the selected topics, in both contemporary evolutionary ecology as
not so familiar horse breeds, such as the `Yakut', would have well as a broad overview of long-term evolutionary history.
been a welcome addition to the written descriptions, which The authors deliberately limited themselves to current issues
tend be tedious at the best of times. In addition, a picture of rather than trying to produce a complete catalogue of
the skeleton and musculature of the horse at the beginning evolutionary biology, and the result is a book that provides
would have been helpful in those chapters that include reasonable coverage but that is still suciently limited in scope
descriptions of research on particular muscle areas, etc. The for a semester-long course on evolution.
chapter on `Genetic Resources and their Conservation' was The book starts out with several chapters addressing
particularly relevant, as breeders often do not consider the various aspects of microevolution. The chapters that address
implications of their present breeding goals in the context of evolutionary ecology, such as expression of variation, evolu-
their use of only a few selected families in the production of tion of sex, evolution of life histories and sex ratios, and
sport horses. Perhaps this should have been the concluding sexual selection, make e€ective use of selected contemporary
chapter, as it summarizes the types of constraints and biological examples to illustrate the concepts being presented.
challenges that are facing horse breeders world-wide. The succeeding chapters on systematics and historical pro-
As a teacher, I feel that this is not necessarily a book for cesses in evolution are very clear and build nicely on concepts
undergraduates because some of the material requires a good presented earlier. The discussion of long-term evolution
knowledge of genetics in order to understand particular concludes with discussion of aspects of evolutionary biology
chapters, for example those covering the topics on `Immuno- that are currently advancing at a rapid pace, such as the
genetics', `Cytogenetics' and `Physical Gene Maps'. Most evolution of development across all organisms and the
importantly, this book highlights the wealth of research that understanding of human diversity.
has been carried out in equines and also emphasizes the The book does not provide as much of an overview of
research that still needs to be done, for example in the chapter classical examples as some of the other evolution textbooks
entitled the `Genetics of Conformation, Locomotion and currently available, and there is no presentation of the
Physiological Traits', where the importance of conformation historical development of evolutionary biology as a scienti®c
on breeding selection is discussed. The glossary is a very ®eld. This was apparently done deliberately to convey
thoughtful and useful addition, especially for those who are not evolution as a contemporary and dynamic ®eld. Thus, it is
directly involved in horses. However, the index is disappoint- what the title claims ± an introduction to evolution that
ingly short and at 11 pages really needed to be increased in size. complements existing textbooks more suitable for an ad-
In conclusion, this is a book that covers all relevant areas of vanced level.
equine genetics in a useful and comprehensive manner and it is The tone of the book is conversational and accessible.
one that any person involved in teaching, research or develop- Concepts that could get bogged down in theory are explained
ment within the horse industry should have on their bookshelf. on a level that could be grasped by students with diverse
backgrounds. The book draws primarily on examples from
LYNN I. ALDRIDGE recent research publications, lending a sense of contemporary
The Irish Horse Board, Agriculture House momentum to its presentation of evolutionary biology.
Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Overall, this book represents a reasonable alternative to

Ó 2000 The Genetical Society of Great Britain. 509

other textbooks presently available, particularly at the population genetics, broadly construed, has to o€er their
introductory undergraduate level. disciplines.
The book is divided into four chapters of about 50 pages
THOMAS R. MEAGHER each, which prove to be logical and stimulating foci for such a
Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology preÂcis. Chapter 1 introduces genetic variation in populations
Sir Harold Mitchell Building with a clear summary of molecular techniques, leading on to a
University of St Andrews standard development of random mating, linkage disequilib-
St Andrews rium and inbreeding. Chapter 2 is a short course in how
Fife KY16 9TH genetic variation within and among populations changes
U.K. through time, i.e. of evolution, and touches on advanced
topics such as hierarchical population structure and di€usion
approximations to random genetic drift. Chapter 3 leads
A Primer of Population Genetics (3rd edn). Daniel L. Hartl. through some newer territory. It shows some of the ways that
Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA. 2000. Pp. 221. Price population geneticists, including Hartl, have advanced theory
£21.95, paperback. ISBN 0 87893 304 2. to capitalize on details of genetic variation revealed by
molecular biology, with the goal of inferring evolutionary
The development of mathematical genetics in the ®rst quarter history of genes and species and the relative roles of di€erent
of the twentieth century proved a triumph of reason over evolutionary factors. Chapter 4 is a nice summary of quan-
invective, e€ectively uniting Darwin's arguments with Men- titative genetics in its current manifestation, from heritability
del's observations. It provided a powerful heuristic for to QTLs. Throughout there is a successful weaving together of
evolutionary biology and set the stage for the New Synthesis, many strands: basic and advanced, modern and historical,
while generating the foundations of modern population and mathematical and statistical, practical and theoretical. Each
quantitative genetics (see Provine, 1971 ± happily for us and chapter is followed by a set of useful word problems that probe
our students, University of Chicago Press plans to re-issue this our understanding and illustrate puzzles one is actually likely
out-of-print classic). At the beginning of this slim volume, to encounter in research. The chapters are nicely cross-
Hartl argues ± I believe correctly ± that the advances of referenced. I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to
molecular biology, by allowing virtually all genetic variation to you.
be visualized (rather than the previously accessible small
subset), draws population genetics even closer to the centre of
References
biology, gives it abundant empirical grist, and makes it more
important than ever. HARTL, D. L. AND CLARK, A. G.1997. Principles of Population Genetics.
Hartl's `big' book (Hartl & Clark, 1997) has been a popular, 3rd edn. Sinauer Associates Inc.
PROVINE, W. B. 1971. The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics.
complete introduction to the ®eld, with the previous versions
of this Primer as a condensed but not diluted complement. University of Chicago Press.
This new edition continues to ®ll the valuable role of a quick
immersion. Its lively style, good graphics, real examples and NICKOLAS M. WASER
largely error-free production will make it valuable not only to Department of Biology
students but to professionals in other areas of biology University of California
(molecular genetics, ecology, systematics, epidemiology, con- Riverside CA 92521
servation biology, etc.) willing to be convinced of what modern U.S.A.

Books received
Epistasis and the Evolutionary Process. Jason B. Wolf, Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics. Masatoshi Nei and
Edmund D. Brodie III and Michael J. Wade (eds). Oxford Sudhir Kumar. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 2000.
University Press, Oxford. 2000. Pp. 330. Price £62.50, hard- Pp. 333. Price £65.00, hardback. ISBN 0 19 513584 9.
back. ISBN 0 19 512806 0.

Ó The Genetical Society of Great Britain, Heredity, 85, 509±510.

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