The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of LifeOne of the most brilliant scientists of our age gives us his definitive work: a synthesis of his comprehensive vision of life. THE ANCESTOR'S TALE is a pilgrimage back through time; a journey on which we meet up with fellow pilgrims as we and they converge on our common ancestors. Chimpanzees join us at about 6 million years in the past, orang utans at 14 million years, as we stride on together, a growing band. The journey provides the setting for a collection of some 40 tales. Each explores an aspect of evolutionary biology through the stories of characters met along the way. The tales are interspersed with prologues detailing the journey, route maps showing joining lineages, and life-like reconstructions of our common ancestors. THE ANCESTOR'S TALE represents a pilgrimage on an unimaginable scale: our goal is four billion years away, and the number of pilgrims joining us grows vast - ultimately encompassing all living creatures. At the end of the journey lies something remarkable in its simplicity and transformative power: the first, humble, replicating molecules. |
Contents
THE CONCEIT | |
THE GENERAL PROLOGUE | |
THE PILGRIMAGE BEGINS | |
ALL HUMANKIND | |
HABILINES | |
APEMEN | |
CHIMPANZEES | |
ORANG UTANS | |
MAMMALLIKE REPTILES | |
The Dodos Tale The Elephant Birds Tale Epilogue to the Elephant BirdsTale 17 AMPHIBIANS | |
LUNGFISH | |
RAYFINNED FISH The Leafy SeaDragons Tale The Pikes Tale | |
The Cichlids Tale The Blind Cave FishsTale The Flounders Tale 21 SHARKS AND THEIR | |
SEA SQUIRTS 25 AMBULACRARIANS | |
ACOELOMORPH FLATWORMS | |
CTENOPHORES | |
GIBBONS | |
OLD WORLD MONKEYS | |
TARSIERS | |
COLUGOS AND TREE SHREWS | |
RODENTS AND RABBITKIND | |
LAURASIATHERES | |
XENARTHRANS | |
MARSUPIALS | |
MONOTREMES | |
CHOANOFLAGELLATES | |
FUNGI | |
PLANTS | |
UNCERTAIN | |
ARCHAEA | |
Further Reading | |
Notes to the Phylogeniesand Reconstructions | |
Other editions - View all
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life Richard Dawkins,Yan Wong No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
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