Molecular approaches have opened new windows on a host of ecological andevolutionary disciplines ranging from population genetics and behavioralecology to conse... » 

Molecular approaches have opened new windows on a host of ecological andevolutionary disciplines ranging from population genetics and behavioralecology to conservation biology and systematics. br emMolecular MarkersNatural History and Evolutionem summarizes the multifaceted discoveries aboutorganisms in nature that have stemmed from analyses of genetic markers providedby polymorphic proteins and DNAs. The first part of the book introducesrationales for the use of molecular markers provides a history of molecularphylogenetics and describes a wide variety of laboratory methods andinterpretative tools in the field. The second and major portion of the bookprovides a cornucopia of biological applications for molecular markersorganized along a scale from microevolutionary topics such as forensicsparentage kinship population structure and intraspecific phylogeny tomacroevolutionary themes including species relationships and the deeperphylogenetic structure in the tree of life. Unlike most prior books inmolecular evolution the focus is on organismal natural history and evolutionwith the macromolecules being the means rather than the ends of scientificinquiry. Written as an intellectual stimulus for the advanced undergraduategraduate student or the practicing biologist desiring a wellspring of researchideas at the interface of molecular and organismal biology this book presentsmaterial in a manner that is both technically straightforward yet rich withconcepts and with empirical examples from the world of nature. «