This volume surveys recent advances in the study of adaptive radiation by bringing together a set of international experts studying adaptive radiation in a wide range of organisms in a variety of geographic settings. It shows how family trees derived from molecular characters can be used to analyze the origin and pattern of ecological and morphological diversification within a lineage in a non-circular fashion. This book synthesizes the recent explosion of research in this area, involving organisms as diverse as epiphytic and terrestrial orchids, water hyacinths, African cichlids, New World monkeys, tropical fruit bats, carnivorous bromeliads, Hawaiian silverswords and fruit flies, North American Daphnia, Caribbean anoles, Canadian sticklebacks, and Australian marsupials. It will be of interest to graduate students and professional scientists in ecology, evolutionary biology, systematics, and biogeography.
