Chapter 20: Evolution at the Molecular Level
When available, the links under the Suggested Readings section will take you to websites
that either provide free electronic full-text versions of these references, or links to online
abstracts. All of these abstracts are themselves free. Many of the abstract sites contain
links to online full-text versions of the references; some of these full-text versions are
free, while others require personal or institutional subscriptions. None of the sites that can
be accessed through the links below are affiliated with McGraw-Hill Publishers
Interesting Historical Papers on Evolution
Selected Readings:

Bateson W. 1886. The ancestry of the Chordata. Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science. 26:535-571.
This represents one of Bateson’s earliest discussions of evolutionary change. The
paper pre-dates the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900.

Dobzhansky T and S Wright. 1941. Genetics of natural populations. V. Relations
between mutation rate and accumulation of lethals in populations of Drosophila
pseudoobscura. Genetics. 26(1):23-51. [Full-text link]
This paper examined the rate of lethal alleles in a population and the influence of
selection on the frequency of lethal alleles in the population.

Kimura M. 1979. The neutral theory of molecular evolution. Scientific American.
241(5):94-104. [Entrez-PubMed link]
The neutral theory attempts to explain the relationship between nucleotide
variation and phenotypic variation.

Sarich VM and AC Wilson. 1967. Immunological time scale for hominid
evolution. Science. 158(805):1200-1203. [Entrez-PubMed link]
This paper compared the protein structure of albumin in man and African apes.
The authors suggest that the two diverged only 5 million years ago.

Wright S. 1931 Evolution in Mendelian populations. Genetics. 16:97-159. [Fulltext link]
This paper starts with a nice review of the progression of evolutionary thought
from the time of Lamarck until after the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws. Wright
then makes the point that evolution is a statistical function of the species.
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Contemporary Papers on Evolution
Selected Readings
 Gillooly JF, AP Allen, GB West and JH Brown. 2005. The rate of DNA
evolution: Effects of body size and temperature on the molecular clock. Proc Natl
Acad Sci. 102(1):140-145. [Full-text link]
This paper examines the relationship between metabolic rate and the neutral
theory of evolution to support the concept of a molecular clock.

Hedges SB, JE Blair, ML Venturi and JL Shoe. 2004. A molecular timescale of
eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular life. BMC Evolutionary
Biology. 4:2. [Full-text link]
The authors of this paper use the available databases on protein sequences and
molecular clocks to establish a timescale of eukaryote evolution that coincides
with the increased levels of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Nei M. 2005. Selectionism and neutralism in molecular evolution. Mol Biol Evol.
22(12):2318-2342. [Full-text link]
This review article compares mutationism and neutralism and concludes that
mutation is the most significant force affecting evolution at the molecular level.
Papers on the Ethical and Social Implications of Evolution
Selected Readings:

Ehrlich PR. 2001. Intervening in evolution: ethics and actions. Proc Natl Acad
Sci. 98(10):5477-5480. [Full-text link]
This paper examines the ethical questions of how scientists should respond to the
problems associated with the influence of our species on evolutionary change.
Interesting Books on Evolution
Selected Readings:

Avise, J. 1994. Molecular Markers, Natural History, and Evolution. New York;
Chapman and Hall.
This book examines how evolutionary biologists are researching evolution using
molecular techniques.
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
Darwin C. 1859, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray
Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1964.
Many different versions of this highly influential book exist, including illustrated
versions.

Darwin C. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex.
Prometheus Books, 1997.
Like the Origin of Species, many different copies of this text exist. This is the first
of Darwin’s books that attempts to apply his concept of natural selection to
evolution.

Dawkins R. 1976. The Selfish Gene. New York, Oxford University Press.
This book was re-released in 2006. In this book Dawkins presents his idea that we
may simply be biological machines for the manufacture of new DNA.

Dawkins R. 2005. The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution.
Mariner Books.
In this book Dawkins takes a new approach to discussing the evolutionary history
of life – he introduces species in reverse chronological order and focuses on the
significance of the last common ancestor (LCA).

Gould SJ. 2002. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Belknap Press.
In this book Gould presents a history of evolutionary thought and examines how
the study of evolution will change in the future.

Mayr E. 2002. What Evolution Is. Basic Books.
This book provides a non-technical examination of evolution, from the origins of
evolutionary thought to the current study of evolution in the sciences.
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