Fossil age data and molecular sequences are increasingly combined to establish a
timescale for the Tree of Life. Arthropods, as the most species-rich and morphologically …

Bees are excellent models for studying the evolution of sociality. While most species are
solitary, many form social groups. The most complex form of social behavior, eusociality, has …

The higher classification of termites requires substantial revision as the Neoisoptera, the
most diverse termite lineage, comprise many paraphyletic and polyphyletic higher taxa …

Termites have colonized many habitats and are among the most abundant animals in
tropical ecosystems, which they modify considerably through their actions. The timing of their …

Understanding the origin and diversification of organisms requires a good phylogenetic
estimate of their age and diversification rates. This estimate can be difficult to obtain when …

An ambitious, yet fundamental goal for comparative biology is to understand the
evolutionary relationships for all of life. However, many important taxonomic groups have …

A long-standing controversy in bee social evolution concerns whether highly eusocial
behavior has evolved once or twice within the corbiculate Apidae. Corbiculate bees include …

The halictid bees are excellent models for the study of social evolution because greater
social diversity and plasticity are observed in the tribe Halictini than in any other comparable …

The object of curiosity and admiration of scientists and conservationists, the Brazilian
Atlantic Forest is scientifically explored in this book. Over the 23 chapters written by 149 …

Following the acceptance of plate tectonics theory in the latter half of the 20th century,
vicariance became the dominant explanation for the distributions of many plant and animal …