Quirks of Human Anatomy: An Evo-Devo Look at the Human Body
With the emergence of the new field of evolutionary developmental biology we are witnessing a renaissance of Darwin’s insights 150 years after his Origin of Species. Thus far, the exciting findings from “evo-devo” have only been trickling into college courses and into the domain of non-specialists. With its focus on the human organism, Quirks of Human Anatomy opens the floodgates by stating the arguments of evo-devo in plain English, and by offering a cornucopia of interesting case studies...
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With the emergence of the new field of evolutionary developmental biology we are witnessing a renaissance of Darwin's insights 150 years after his Origin of Species. Thus far, the exciting findings from "evo-devo" have only been trickling into college courses and into the domain of non-specialists. With its focus on the human organism, Quirks of Human Anatomy opens the floodgates by stating the arguments of evo-devo in plain English, and by offering a cornucopia of interesting case studies and examples. Its didactic value is enhanced by 24 schematic diagrams that integrate a host of disparate observations, by its Socratic question-and-answer format, and by its unprecedented compilation of the literature. By framing the "hows" of development in terms of the "whys" of evolution, it lets readers probe the deepest questions of biology. Readers will find the book not only educational but also enjoyable, as it revels in the fun of scientific exploration.
Preface viiChapter 1 Background 1What Role did chance play in our origin? 1How much did internal factors influences our evolution? 2Are fruit flies really our kissing cousins? 11Chapter 2 Symmetry and Asymmetry 17Why are we symmetric outside but asymmetric inside? 17Is visceral Asymmetry due to molecular chirality? 20Why do fingerprints violate mirror symmetry? 25Why do blood vessels violate mirror symmetry? 25How have animals evolved external asymmetries? 27Chapter 3 Mysteries of the Midline 33Why do optic nerves cross the midline? 33Why do pre-motor nerves cross the midline? 35Why do symmetric organs fuse at the midline? 37Where did the neural crest come from? 38How did our third eye become our pineal gland? 39Are human cyclopes evolutionary throwbacks? 40Why do conjoined twins tend to be symmetric? 41What causes identical twinning? 44Is twinning ever adaptive? 46Chapter 4 Merism and Modularity 49What makes the thumb our only opposable digit? 49Could we evolve a giant digit like pterosaurs? 53Where did our tail go? 57Why do our teeth have different shapes? 60Why are some features easier to evolve than others? 60How do upper and lower teeth achieve quasi-symmetry? 62Why do our ears start out on our neck? 65Why is our arm built like our leg? 67Why does our arm differ from our leg? 69Could centaurs (or similar hexapods) ever evolve? 71When did we gain the upper hand? 72How did evolution sculpt our foot? 73Chapter 5 Sexual Dimorphisms 75Why do men and women differ in size and shape? 75Why does our species have as many males as females? 81Were we all once hermaphrodites? 84Why domale fetuses make incipient oviducts? 86How did we become the only "naked apes"? 91Why are men hairier than women? 92Why do only men go bald? 96Why do men have nipples? 98How did women end up with only two breasts? 101Chapter 6 Silly, Stupid, and Dangerous Quirks 105Could choking have been avoided? 105Why are our retinas inside out? 115Why is childbirth so precarious? 123Why are crowded teeth so common? 125Is our appendix on the road to oblivion? 127Why do we make a yolk sac if we have no yolk? 128Why can't we regrow arms or legs? 129Chapter 7 Mind and Brain 131How did humans acquire intelligence? 132Why did humans acquire intelligence? 136Is intelligence attributable to brain size? 140Did we ascend from brute to aesthete suddenly or gradually? 142Epilogue 145Appendix Quirks of Human Behavior 147References 153Index 239
