The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants A Cladistic Study by Paul Kenrick, Peter R. Crane

2 Pages·1999·0.97 MB·English

by  Review By: John J Pipoly

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936 Sum18(3)
brushrc-movLilhashvL-nri-ckicedorap|Tlic-clinamannerthatisnorderrimcntaltowikllitc,
thusunprovingthehabitattordeerandotherwildHfespeciessuchasbirtis,reptiles,rab-
bits,Ljroundscjiiirrels,bobwhitequailandwildturkey.
itk'ntilicationofthesekeyfoodplantsandknowint;rheirntitntionalvakiebecomesan
importantaspectolevahiatinghabitat,rangeconditionanelecosystemhealtholtheSouth
TexasPlainsarea.
Cir()u|xdintothorncdandthornlesscategories,theplantsarealphabetizedbvtamily
withcommonandscientificnamesgiven.F.achplantislaidoutinatwo[lagespreadwith
oheiitlireecolorphotosshowinghabit,flowersandfrtiit.Textinckklesthedescription
andvaluesoitheplanttowildlife,catrle,goats,aswellashumansandanutritionalCrude
ProteinValuechartloreachplant.Asummarychartisprovidedshowingthe]-)ercentage
ointitntionalvakiesofcrude|irotein((d-*),tligesribleprotein(DP),anddigestibledrymatter
(DMD)foreachseasonofrheyear. Inaddition,abibliography,ilkistratedglossary.md
inck'xareprovided.
Withtheeverincreasingneedtoconserveourresources,itwouldseemtomethatmany
olthese]ilantscouldbeincorporatedintotheSouthTexashomeowner'slandscape.Native
plantsnotonlyprovidebeautyandeaseofcare,theycanprovideawelcomedfoodsource
tosomeofrhemostcoveredvisitorsintootirgardens...butterfliesandhummingbirds.
PaulKf.nrickandPr/nrR.Crani'. 1997.TheOriginandEarlyDiver-
sificationofLandPlantsACladisticStudy.(ISBN 1-56098-729-
4,pbk;i-56()9H-7.^()-8,hbk).SmithsonianInstitutionPress,470L'Enfant
Plaza,Suite7100,Washington,DC20560.2()2-287-.^7.38,ext.343.
$27.50pbk,155.00hbk.441 Pp.
Thisf-iookrepresentsthefirstattem|nros\nthesizetheclassicalapprt)achtolandplant
evolurionwiththemodernapproachesofferedbvmorpiiogeneticandmolecularevidence
[^resented inaphylogeneticcontext.Thebookisdi\idedinto7chapters,followedby5
appendices,anexhaustivebibliography,taxonomicandstibjectindices.
Thefirsrtwochaptersgiveahisroricalbackgrotind,aprimeron[ihylogenecicsystemar-
ics,andtheapplicationsofpaleobotanicaldatatomodernsystematicstudies.Itisfollowed
byacogentsummaryofotircurrentunclersrandingoltliekingdomsoforganismsandrhe
higherrankscontaining"[dants".Thesubsec|uentthreechapterscoverrhePmbryobiora,
Polys|i()nnigi()phytes,ZosterophyllopsidaandLycopihytes,andLycopsida.Eachsectiondeals
withrheoriginsofthegroup'sconcept,systematics,phylogeneticquestionsandaimsof
analysis,choiceoftaxa,characterdescriptionsandcoding,analysis,resultsanddisctission.
Thisorganizationofdataisthefirstofitskind,andclearlypointsoutthedepthordearth
ofotircurrentknowledgeloreachcharacter,itsorigin,morphogenesis,evidencefromthe
fossilrecord,andsystematicunlit}'.Foreachanalysisandresult,srep-by-stepexplanations
areclearlygiven,limitsolavailaliledataarethoroughlydiscussed,andsuggestionsforfuture
workoutlined.Thepurposeoftheseries,"...topublishinnovativesttidiesinrhefieldsof
comparativeevolutionarybiology,especiallybyauthorswillingtointroducenewideasor
challengeorexpandviewsnowaccepted.' istrulyfulfilledinthesechapters.1canthinkol
SiDA18(3):936. 1999
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BookReviews 937
nomorecogentsummaryofwhatweknow,whatqtiestionsremain,andhowwemight
proceedtoanswerthem.
Thelastciiapter,"Perspectivesontheearlyevokitionothindplants"isthemostillimii-
naringotall.InadditiontotheproposedclassificationottheChlorobiotatothelevelot
infraclass,itottersaclearexplanationofsuchconceptsastheannotatedLinnaeanconven-
tionsrecommendedbyWiley,withseveraladditionsthatlogically|-)crmitthesystematic
positioningottossilgroups.Comparisonofthephylogencicclassiticationpresentedtorthe
landplants,togetherwiththehistoricalandmodernj-irocessesunderlyingcharacteranaly-
ses,giveallstudentsotplantevolutionarybiologyafundamentalunderstandingotthe
strengthsorweaknessesotcompetingconcepts.Ifoundthediscus.sionotmicrophyllevo-
lutioninlycopodsparticularlycomplete,inwhichthethreecompetinghypotheses:reduc-
tion,enationandsterilization,areexplainedindetail,firstinontogenetic,thenmtaxic
homologousterms.
Theappendicesaredetailedandgiveusapictureothowreliabletossilevidenceisfor
keygroups,followedliycompletecharacterandcharacterstarecodingtallies.Thebibliog-
raphyisextensive,asarethetaxonomicandsubjectindices.Thisbookisamustasafoun-
dationforanymajorgraduatecourseinplantcomparativemorphologyorsystematicand
evolutionarybiology.IwishithadexistedwhenIwaspreparingformydoctoralcompre-
hensiveexam! -JohnJ.P/po/yIII.
Jamf.sMauseth. 1998.Botany.AnIntroductiontoPlantBiology,2nd
Ed.[MultimediaEnhancedEdition].(ISBN0-76.37-0746-5,hbk;
ISBN0-7637-0406-7,CDROM).JonesandBartlettPublishers,40
TallPineDrive,Sudbury,MA01776. $75.00. 794Pp. text,20Pp.
glossary,23Pp.index.
MarshallSundberg. 1995. Instructor's Resource ManualtoAccom-
panyBotany:AnIntroductiontoPlantBiology,SecondEdition/
AnnM.MickleandJamesE.Mickle.TestBankandBioArt.(ISBN
0-03-005892-9,pbk).HarcourtBrace&Company.Noseparateprice
given. 387Pp.text;37Pp.illustrations.
Thistextbook,CD-l-lOM,instriictor'smanual,andenhancedwebsite(http://www.jbpub.com/
botanylinks)providesthemostcomprehensivesetofmodern,multimediacoursemateri-
alsthisreviewerhaseverseen.Iristrulyimpressive!
Thetextbookisconstructedinoneofthemostlogical,easiest-to-usewaysimaginable.
Theprefaceclearlystatesthat"threetopicsaresoimportant,sotLmdamcntal,thatthey
mustpermeateeveryaspectofanintroductorybotanytextbookandshotildbementioned
oralkidedtooneverypage:theyareevolutionbynaturalselection,analysisotbotanical
phenomena,anddiversityoforganismsandalltheircomponents."
Thebookisdividedinfourparts:plantstructure,plantphysiologyanddevelopment,
geneticsandevolution,andecology.The"partopenets"sectionthatintroduceseachpart
summarizesthechaptersbelongingtoeachpart,andhowthosethemesrelatetotheother
respectiveparts.Withineachofthe27chapters,a"concepts"sectioncomprisesseveral
SiDA18(3);937.1999