For most, the mere mention of lice forces an immediate hand to the head and recollection of childhood experiences with nits, medicated shampoos, and traumatic haircuts. But for a certain breed of biologist, lice make for fascinating scientific fodder, especially enlightening in the study of coevolution. In this book, three leading experts on host-parasite relationships demonstrate how the stunning coevolution that occurs between such species in microevolutionary, or ecological, time generates clear footprints in macroevolutionary, or historical, time. By integrating these scales, Coevolution of Life on Hosts offers a comprehensive understanding of the influence of coevolution on the diversity of all life.
Following an introduction to coevolutionary concepts, the authors combine experimental and comparative host-parasite approaches for testing coevolutionary hypotheses to explore the influence of ecological interactions and coadaptation on patterns of diversification and codiversification among interacting species. Ectoparasites—a diverse assemblage of organisms that ranges from herbivorous insects on plants, to monogenean flatworms on fish, and feather lice on birds—are powerful models for the study of coevolution because they are easy to observe, mark, and count. As lice on birds and mammals are permanent parasites that spend their entire lifecycles on the bodies of their hosts, they are ideally suited to generating a synthetic overview of coevolution—and, thereby, offer an exciting framework for integrating the concepts of coadaptation and codiversification.
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motw/Coevolution of Life on Hosts_ I - Dale H. Clayton.pdf

Dale H. Clayton and Sarah E. Bush and Kevin P. Johnson

United States, United States of America

Interspecific Interactions, 2015

Illustrated, 2015

producers:
Adobe PDF Library 11.0

Memory of the World Librarian: Slowrotation

Contents 10
Preface 12
Part I. Background 16
1. Introduction to coevolution 18
2. Biology of lice: overview 40
3. Effects of lice on hosts 57
Part II. Coadaptation 74
4. Adaptations for resisting lice 76
5. Counter- adaptations of lice 100
6. Competition and coadaptation 121
Part III. Hosts as islands 138
7. Dispersal 140
8. Population structure 153
Part IV. Codiversification 168
9. Cophylogenetic dynamics 170
10. Comparative cophylogenetics of lice 191
11. Coadaptive diversification of lice 223
Part V. Synthesis 238
12. Coevolution of life on hosts 240
Literature cited 256
Index 306

2025-10-27