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Ancestor's Tale A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution

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ISBN-10: 061861916X

ISBN-13: 9780618619160

Edition: 2004

Authors: Richard Dawkins, Yan Wong

List price: $16.95
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With unparalleled wit, clarity, and intelligence, Richard Dawkins, one of the world's most renowned evolutionary biologists, has introduced countless readers to the wonders of science in works such as The Selfish Gene. Now, in The Ancestor's Tale, Dawkins offers a masterwork: an exhilarating reverse tour through evolution, from present-day humans back to the microbial beginnings of life four billion years ago. Throughout the journey Dawkins spins entertaining, insightful stories and sheds light on topics such as speciation, sexual selection, and extinction. The Ancestor's Tale is at once an essential education in evolutionary theory and a riveting read.
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Book details

List price: $16.95
Copyright year: 2004
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Publication date: 9/2/2005
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 688
Size: 6.00" wide x 9.00" long x 1.75" tall
Weight: 1.738
Language: English

Richard Dawkins writes about such topics as DNA and genetic engineering, virtual reality, astronomy, and evolution. Dawkins was educated at Oxford University and taught zoology at the University of California and Oxford University, holding the position of the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science. He is a member of the International Academy of Humanism. Dawkins's books include The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, and Climbing Mount Improbable.

The Conceit of Hindsight
The General Prologue
The Pilgrimage Begins
The Farmer's Tale
The Cro-Magnon's Tale
All Humankind
The Tasmanian's Tale
Eve's Tale
Archaic Homo Sapiens
The Neanderthal's Tale
Ergasts
The Ergast's Tale
Habilines
The Handyman's Tale
Ape-Men
Little Foot's Tale
Epilogue to Little Foot's Tale
Chimpanzees
The Bonobo's Tale
Gorillas
The Gorilla's Tale
Orang Utans
The Orang Utan's Tale
Gibbons
The Gibbon's Tale
Old World Monkeys
New World Monkeys
The Howler Monkey's Tale
Tarsiers
Lemurs, Bushbabies and Their Kin
The Aye-Aye's Tale
The Great Cretaceous Catastrophe
Colugos and Tree Shrews
The Colugo's Tale
Rodents and Rabbitkind
The Mouse's Tale
The Beaver's Tale
Laurasiatheres
The Hippo's Tale
Epilogue to the Hippo's Tale
The Seal's Tale
Xenarthrans
The Armadillo's Tale
Afrotheres
Marsupials
The Marsupial Mole's Tale
Monotremes
The Duckbill's Tale
What the Star-Nosed Mole Said to the Duckbilled Platypus
Mammal-Like Reptiles
Sauropsids
Prologue to the Galapagos Finch's Tale
The Galapagos Finch's Tale
The Peacock's Tale
The Dodo's Tale
The Elephant Bird's Tale
Epilogue to the Elephant Bird's Tale
Amphibians
The Salamander's Tale
The Narrowmouth's Tale
The Axolotl's Tale
Lungfish
The Lungfish's Tale
Coelacanths
Ray-Finned Fish
The Leafy Sea Dragon's Tale
The Pike's Tale
The Mudskipper's Tale
The Cichlid's Tale
The Blind Cave Fish's Tale
The Flounder's Tale
Sharks and Their Kin
Lampreys and Hagfish
The Lamprey's Tale
Lancelets
The Lancelet's Tale
Sea Squirts
Ambulacrarians
Protostomes
The Ragworm's Tale
The Brine Shrimp's Tale
The Leaf Cutter's Tale
The Grasshopper's Tale
The Fruit Fly's Tale
The Rotifer's Tale
The Barnacle's Tale
The Velvet Worm's Tale
Epilogue to the Velvet Worm's Tale
Acoelomorph Flatworms
Cnidarians
The Jellyfish's Tale
The Polypifer's Tale
Ctenophores
Placozoans
Sponges
The Sponge's Tale
Choanoflagellates
The Choanoflagellate's Tale
Drips
Fungi
Amoebozoans
Plants
The Cauliflower's Tale
The Redwood's Tale
Uncertain
The Mixotrich's Tale
The Great Historic Rendezvous
Archaea
Eubacteria
The Rhizobium's Tale
Taq's Tale
Canterbury
The Host's Return
Further Reading
Notes to the Phylogenies
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index