Sketches of Nature

A Geneticist's Look at the Biological World During a Golden Era of Molecular Ecology

This visually appealing book recounts the history of molecular ecology and evolution as seen through the personal lens of one of its most prolific practitioners, who has studied a panorama of creatures ranging from corals, sponges, and other invertebrates to a wide variety of vertebrate animals including numerous birds, mammals, herps, and fishes. The sketches are of two types: evocative drawings of the animals themselves, and more than 230 written abstracts summarizing the author’s eclectic research on ecological-genetic topics spanning the microevolutionary to macroevolutionary. With the abstracts arranged by organismal group and placed in chronological order, the chapters in this book lead readers on a fascinating historical journey into the realm of molecular genetics as applied across the past four decades to intriguing questions in ecology, evolution, animal behavior, and natural history.

• Encapsulates salient genetic findings on a diverse array of creatures in nature
• Recounts the history of technological and conceptual developments in ecological genetics
• Includes approximately 80 beautiful line drawings of the animals themselves
• Provides context by preceding each abstract with an anecdote or historical backdrop
• Concludes each abstract with an addendum that further contextualizes the research findings
• Written by a world-leading authority in molecular ecology and evolution