The Ancestor's Tale 957529 223361684 2008-07-03T19:16:31Z DOI bot 6652755 Citation maintenance. Formatted: title. You can [[WP:DOI|use this bot]] yourself! Please [[User:DOI_bot/bugs|report any bugs]]. {{Infobox Book | name = The Ancestor's Tale | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[Image:AncestorsTale2.jpg|150px]] | image_caption = | author = [[Richard Dawkins]] | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = | language = | series = | subject = [[Evolutionary biology]] | genre = | publisher = Boston: Houghton Mifflin | release_date = [[2004]] | english_release_date = | media_type = | pages = 673 | isbn = ISBN 0618005838 | preceded_by = [[A Devil's Chaplain]] | followed_by = [[The God Delusion]] }} '''''The Ancestor's Tale''''' (subtitled ''A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life'') is a [[2004]] [[popular science]] [[book]] by [[Richard Dawkins]], with contributions from Dawkins' research assistant Yan Wong. It follows the path of [[human]]s backwards through [[evolution]]ary history, meeting humanity's cousins as they converge on common ancestors. The book was nominated for the [[The Aventis Prizes for Science Books#2005 Winners|2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books]]. ==Synopsis== The narrative is structured as a [[pilgrimage]], with all modern animals following their own path through history to the [[origin of life]]. Humans meet their evolutionary cousins at rendezvous points along the way, the points at which the lineage diverged. At each point Dawkins attempts to infer, from molecular and [[fossil]] evidence, the probable form of the [[most recent common ancestor]] and describes the modern animals that join humanity's growing travelling party. This structure is inspired by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''. The pilgrimage visits a total of 40 "rendezvous points" from rendezvous zero, the most recent common ancestor of all of humanity, to rendezvous 39, [[eubacteria]], the ancestor of all surviving organisms. Though Dawkins is confident of the essential shape of this [[Phylogenetic tree|phylogenetic taxonomy]], he enters caveats on a small number of branch points where a compelling weight of evidence had not been assembled at the time of writing. [[Image:Tree of life SVG.svg|thumb|right|200px|Fig. 2: A highly resolved, automatically generated [[Tree of life (science)|Tree Of Life]], based on completely sequenced genomes.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Letunic | first = I | year = 2007 | title = Interactive Tree Of Life (iTOL): an online tool for phylogenetic tree display and annotation | journal = Bioinformatics | volume = 23(1) | pages = 127–8 | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17050570 | format = [[Pubmed]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Ciccarelli | first = FD | year = 2006 | title = Toward automatic reconstruction of a highly resolved tree of life | journal = Science | volume = 311(5765) | pages = 1283–7 | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16513982 | format = [[Pubmed]] | doi = 10.1126/science.1123061 | pmid = 16513982 }}</ref>]] At each rendezvous point, Dawkins recounts interesting tales about cousin animals which are about to join the band of pilgrims. Every newly recruited [[species]], [[genus]] or [[Family (biology)|family]] has its own peculiar features to offer as amusement for readers. For instance, Dawkins discusses why the [[axolotl]] never needs to grow up, how new [[species]] come about, how hard it is to classify animals, and why our [[fish]]-like ancestors decided to move on to land. These peculiar features are studied and analyzed using a newly introduced tool or method from [[evolutionary biology]], carefully woven into the tale to illustrate how the few simple assumptions of [[Darwinian]] [[evolution]] can explain all diversity in nature. Even though the book is best read sequentially, every chapter can also be read independently as a self-contained tale with an emphasis on a particular aspect of modern biology. As a whole, the book elaborates on all major topics in evolution. ''The Ancestor's Tale'' can be considered an [[encyclopedia]] on evolution disguised as a collection of fascinating stories. Dawkins also tells personal stories about his childhood and time at [[university]]. He talks with fondness about a tiny [[Galago|bushbaby]] he kept as a child in [[Malawi]] (Nyasaland). He described his surprise when he learned that the closest living relatives to the [[hippopotamus|hippos]] are the [[whales]]. The book was produced in two hardback versions: a British one with extensive colour illustrations (by Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and an American one with a reduced number of black-and-white illustrations (by Houghton Mifflin). Paperback versions and an abridged audio version (narrated by Dawkins and his wife [[Lalla Ward]]) have also been published. The book is dedicated to Dawkins' friend and mentor, [[population genetics|population geneticist]] [[John Maynard Smith]], who died shortly before the book went to press. ==Phylogenetic trees== <gallery> Image:The Ancestors Tale Mammals cladogram.png|[[Mammal]]ian [[Cladistics|cladogram]] Image:The Ancestors Tale Mammals Phylogenetic Tree in mya.png|[[Mammal]]ian [[Phylogenetic tree]] </gallery> ==List of rendezvous points== Dawkins uses the term ''concestor''—coined by Nicky Warren—for the [[most recent common ancestor]] at each rendezvous point. At each rendezvous point, we meet the concestor of ourselves and the listed species or collection of species. This does not mean that the concestor was much like those creatures; after the "rendezvous", our fellow "pilgrims" have had as much time to evolve and change as we have. Only creatures alive at the time of the book's writing join us at each rendezvous point. Except for a few special cases, numerous extinct species and families such as the [[dinosaur]]s are excluded from the pilgrimage. ===Prologue=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Significant event !! Story |- ! n/a | align="right" | 0.01 mya || align="center" | [[Neolithic Revolution]] || '''The Farmer's Tale''' describes the [[Neolithic Revolution]] |- ! n/a | align="right" | 0.04 mya || align="center" | [[Great Leap Forward (evolution)|Great Leap Forward]] || '''The Cro-Magnon's Tale''' describes the [[Great Leap Forward (evolution)|Great Leap Forward]]. |} ===Primates=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Joining party !! Story |- ! rowspan="5" | 0 | rowspan="5" | | rowspan="5" align="center" | [[Most recent common ancestor#MRCA of all living humans|All Humankind]] | '''The [[Tasmanian]]'s Tale''' illustrates the [[identical ancestors point]] starting from which all living people trace exactly the same set of ancestors back in time. |- | '''Eve's Tale''' touches upon [[coalescent theory]], [[Mitochondrial Eve]], [[Y-chromosomal Adam]] and [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]]. The story ends with a speculation that the [[ABO blood group system]] in humans and chimps are examples of trans-specific polymorphism; a type-B human may actually be more closely related to type-B chimp than type-B human is related to type-A human, from the perspective of the [[gene]]s (or [[allele]]s) responsible for the antigens. |- | '''The [[Homo ergaster|Ergast]]'s Tale''' recounts how a [[Mutation|mutated]] form of the [[FOXP2]] gene could have allowed ''Homo ergaster'' to acquire language. |- | '''The Handyman's Tale''' explains how ''[[Homo habilis]]'' acquired high '[[brain to body mass ratio]]', at the same time introducing [[logarithmic scale]] and [[scatterplot]] as tools for scientific studies. |- | '''[[Little Foot]]'s Tale''' examines how [[hominid]] first learned to [[bipedalism|walk on two legs]]. |- ! 1 | align="right" | 6 [[mya (unit)|mya]] || align="center" | [[Chimpanzee]]s | Human pilgrims join their evolutionary cousins, chimpanzees and [[bonobo]]s. |- ! 2 | align="right" | 7 mya || align="center" | [[Gorilla]]s | '''The [[Gorilla]]'s Tale''' considers human's changing attitude towards the [[hominidae|great apes]], ending with a discussion on [[racism]], [[speciesism]] and the [[Great Ape Project]]. |- ! 3 | align="right" | 14 mya || align="center" | [[Orangutan]]s | '''The [[Orangutan]]'s Tale''' introduces the [[parsimony|principle of parsimony]] and its use in construction of family tree ([[Cladistics|cladogram]]) of species. Orangutan is the last of the [[Hominidae|great apes]] to join the pilgrimage. |- ! 4 | align="right" | 18 mya || align="center" | [[Gibbon]]s | '''The [[Gibbon]]'s Tale''' further elaborates on [[neighbor-joining]], parsimony and [[textual criticism]] techniques used to construct cladograms. When simple principle of parsimony proves inadequate to handle '[[long branch attraction]]' problems caused by [[Convergent evolution|convergence]] and [[evolutionary reversion|reversion]], the [[phylogenetic tree]] (phylogram) and [[computational phylogenetics|computational phylogenetic methods]] such as [[maximum likelihood]] analysis are introduced. The tale ends with yet another example of trans-specific polymorphism: [[sexual dimorphism]]; the [[Sex-determination system|sex-determining]] [[SRY]] has never been in female bodies long since gibbons and humans diverged. This serves to highlight the fact that different phylogenetic trees can be created by [[Coalescent theory|tracing different sets of genes]]; the one mainstream 'species tree' is nothing more than a summary of multitude of gene trees, a 'majority vote' among gene trees. Gibbon is the last [[ape]] to join the pilgrimage. |- ! 5 | align="right" | 25 mya || align="center" | [[Old World Monkeys]] | Old World monkeys, being in the same [[Catarrhini]] [[clade]] as apes, are closer cousins to apes than to [[New World monkeys]]. Old World monkeys are sometimes called the 'tailed apes'. |- ! 6 | align="right" | 40 mya || align="center" | [[New World Monkeys]] | '''The [[Howler Monkey]]'s Tale''' calls attention to the critical role of [[gene duplication]] in evolution. While our remote [[vertebrate]] ancestors possessed [[trichromacy|trichromatic vision]], our [[nocturnal]], [[warm-blooded]], [[mammal]]ian ancestors lost one of three [[Cone cell|cones]] in the [[retina]] at the time of [[dinosaur]]s. This is why [[fish]], [[reptile]]s and [[bird]]s are trichromatic while all mammals with the exception of [[apes]] and New World monkeys are strictly handicapped [[dichromacy|dichromats]]. Because [[color vision]] is of paramount importance to [[Diurnal animal|diurnal]] animals that eat ripe fruits, apes and New World monkeys regained tri-color vision independently via [[chromosomal translocation]]. In apes, trichromacy resulted from true duplication of the [[opsin]] gene. New World monkeys first achieved trichromacy in its female population by producing two alleles (green and red) for the same [[Locus (genetics)|locus]] for the opsin gene on the [[X-chromosome]], an example of [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]]. Its males, with only one copy of the X-chromosome, remained dichromats with either a green or a red opsin, an example of [[heterozygote advantage]]. Howler's monkey, a type of New World monkey, took this one step further and achieved trichromacy for both sexes when its X-chromosome gained two [[Locus (genetics)|loci]] to house both the green allele and the red allele. New World monkeys are the last [[simian]]s (also known as 'higher [[primate]]s' or [[anthropoid]]s) to join the pilgrimage. |- ! 7 | align="right" | 58 mya || align="center" | [[Tarsier]]s | Tarsier is the last [[Haplorrhini|haplorrhine]] to join the pilgrimage. A nocturnal animals, the tarsier has two enormous eyes each as large as its brain. Unlike other [[nocturnality|nocturnal]] mammals, however, tarsier eyes do not contain [[tapetum lucidum]] which reflects light from the back of the eye for a second exposure on the [[retina]] to maximize light capture. From this we can infer that the common ancestor of all haplorrhine must have been a [[diurnal animal]] which shed the tapetum lucidum to eliminate blurry images caused by reflected light. When the tarsier became a nocturnal animal, it enlarged its eyes to compensate for the lack of tapetum lucidum. |- ! 8 | align="right" | 63 mya || align="center" | [[Lemur]]s, [[Galago|Bushbabies]] and their kin | The pilgrimage meets with the rest of the [[prosimian]] cousins: the [[lemur]]s, [[potto]]s, [[Galago|bushbabies]], and [[loris]]es. '''The [[Aye-Aye]]'s Tale''' showcases the strange [[lemur]]s which are only found on the island of [[Madagascar]]. Madagascar was originally part of the [[Gondwana]] [[supercontinent]] which included present [[Africa]] [[continent]] and [[Indian subcontinent]]. Gondwana broke off into drifting blocks of land, some of which became Africa, India and Madagascar. As an estranged island, Madagascar became a [[speciation]] hotbed. For instance a small [[Founder effect|founding population]] of [[Strepsirrhini|strepsirrhine]] primates (possibly rafted in from neighboring continent) flourished and diversified into all niches of the [[ecosystem]], in the absence of monkeys. The story reminds us how Madagascar, with a [[land mass]] 1/1000 of [[Earth]]'s total land area, ends up housing unique species that account for 4% of all species of animals and plants. Lemurs and their kin are the last of the [[primate]]s to join the pilgrimage. |} === Non-primate mammals === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Joining party !! Story |- ! rowspan="2" | 9 | rowspan="2" align="right" | 70 mya | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Colugo]] and [[Treeshrew|Tree Shrews]] | The [[Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event]] occurred at 65 million years ago, due to both large scale [[volcano|volcanic]] activities in the [[Deccan traps]] over a period of time, and the final [[asteroid]] [[impact event]] which created the [[Chicxulub Crater]]. The sudden temperature change and sunlight reduction caused massive disruptions to Earth's ecosystem. As a result, all [[dinosaur]]s except the [[bird]]s, as well as numerous other species went [[extinct]]. The disappearance of dinosaurs made it possible for many different species of [[shrew]]-like, nocturnal [[insectivore]]s to evolve into [[hippopotamus|hippos]], [[lion]]s, [[elephant]]s, etc. to fill the new ecological voids, an example of [[evolutionary radiation]]. One of these shrew-like creatures was the concestor of the current pilgrimage party and the new joiners, the colugos and tree shrews. |- | The [[tree shrews]] resemble the [[squirrel]]s. The [[colugos]] resemble [[flying squirrel]]s. In both cases, the resemblance is only superficial, due to [[Convergent evolution|convergence]]; the squirrels are [[rodent]]s and will meet us further down the pilgrimage. At the present, scientists are not yet sure about the exact relationships among the tree shrews, the colugos and us. Dawkins provisionally accepts the view that they join forces first, before meeting the pilgrimage party. This would place our concestor 9 at a time before [[K-T boundary]] which marked the extinction of the dinosaurs. '''The Colugo's Tale''' warns us that even though the general structure of the family tree is sound, some of the details could change as more evidences become known. |- ! rowspan="2" | 10 | rowspan="2" align="right" | 75 mya | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Rodent]]s and [[Lagomorpha|Rabbitkind]] | [[Rodent]]s comprise the largest number of species in [[mammal]]ia, more than 40 percent of all mammalian species. Members include [[rat]]s, [[mouse|mice]], [[lemming]]s, [[beaver]]s, [[squirrel]]s, etc. '''The Mouse's Tale''' explains how mammals possess similar and relatively small [[genome]]s in the order of 30,000 [[gene]]s, yet each animal exhibits distinct features and surprising complexities. Dawkins debunks the popular description of genome as [[blueprint]]s which give rise to the misconception that the more complex the animal, the more complex the blueprint ought to be. Instead, genes in a genome should be thought of as [[word]]s or [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentences]] in a [[language]], and [[embryogenesis|embryonic development]] over time is akin to 'order' of words and sentences in a book. While the number of genes are limited, the endless number of 'orders' by which similar genes in mice and humans are deployed during embryonic development can generate astonishing complexity and distinguish a mouse from a man. |- | '''The Beavers's Tale''' revisits the key insights that Dawkins contributed to the field of evolution in his book ''[[The Extended Phenotype]]''. A beaver's body is known as a [[phenotype]], an external and visible manifestation of the internal and hidden [[genotype]]. In the same way the beaver [[organism|body]] is regarded as an expression of its genes, [[Beaver dam#Dams|beaver dams]] or beaver [[lake]]s can be considered 'extended phenotypes' of the same beaver genes. Better beaver genes make better beaver bodies, beaver dams and beaver lakes. In other words, beaver genes are selected not only by the fitness of beaver bodies, but also by the effectiveness of beaver dams and beaver lakes they produce. |- ! rowspan="3" | 11 | rowspan="3" align="right" | 85 mya | rowspan="3" align="center" | [[Laurasiatheria|Laurasiatheres]] | An extremely diverse group of animals join the pilgrimage, including [[Carnivora]] ([[dog]]s, [[cat]]s, [[bear]]s and [[Pinniped|seals]]), [[Perissodactyla]] ([[horse]]s, [[tapir]]s and [[Rhinoceros|rhinos]]), [[Cetartiodactyla]] ([[deer]], [[cattle]], [[pig]]s and [[Hippopotamus|hippos]]), [[Chiroptera]] ([[bat]]s), [[Insectivora]] ([[Mole (animal)|moles]] and [[shrew]]s), etc. Some of them [[Flight|fly]], others [[Ability to swim|swim]], and yet many of them [[Horse gait#Gallop|gallop]]. Half of them are [[Predation|predators]] which hunt the other half of the group. The only thing they share in common is that they join up with one another before the group joins us to meet concestor 11. This group of animals belong to the [[Laurasiatheria]] clade as all of them originated from the [[supercontinent]] of [[Laurasia]]. |- | '''The [[Hippopotamus|Hippo]]'s Tale''' is really the [[whale]]'s tale. All [[cetacea]]ns, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, are descendants of land-living [[mammals]] of the [[Artiodactyl]] [[order (biology)|order]] (even-toed ungulate animals). Both cetaceans and artiodactyl are now classified under the super-order [[Cetartiodactyla]] which includes both whales and [[hippopotamus|hippos]]. In fact, whales are the closest living relatives of hippos; they evolved from a [[Most recent common ancestor|common ancestor]] at around 54 million years ago. This story illustrates how a species can flip into evolutionary overdrive when it enters into a new environment, while its closest relatives remain unchanged for long time in their static environment. |- | '''The [[Pinniped|Seal]]'s Tale''' illustrates how a [[sex ratio]] of 50:50 (males to females) is found in most [[Sexual reproduction|sexually reproducing]] animals from both [[Monogamy|monogamous]] and [[Polygamy|polygamous]] species. In a harem-based ([[Polygyny|polygynous]]) system such as that of [[elephant seal]]s where 4 percent of males account for 88 percent of all copulations, the actual sex ratio of 50:50 seems to produce an excess of males who consume resources but end up leaving no offsprings. This puzzle is solved by the concept of [[parental expenditure]] proposed by [[Ronald Fisher|R.A. Fisher]]. More importantly, the elephant seal typifies [[sexual dimorphism]], as a bull elephant seal can grow to be three times the size of a cow seal, thanks to [[sex-limited genes]] which exist in both male and female bodies, but remain turned off in females. The degree of sexual dimorphism is correlated with the harem size, which allows us to draw inferences about our immediate human ancestors: they were probably mildly polygynous. |- ! 12 | align="right" | 95 mya || align="center" | [[Xenarthra]]ns | '''The [[Armadillo]]'s Tale''' reminds us of the [[aye-aye]]'s tale, except that instead of [[Madagascar]], the [[speciation]] hotbed is the continent of [[South America]]. This continent broke off from [[Gondwana]] in Early [[Cretaceous]] period, then joined [[North America]] which broke off from [[Laurasia]]. During its long period of isolation, South America was host to [[marsupial]]s which flourished and took up all [[Carnivore|carnivorous]] [[Ecological niche|niches]]. The [[Eutheria|placental mammals]] (including armadillo) and now-extinct [[ungulate]]s evolved to fill the rest of the ecosystem. When South America joined North America during the [[Great American Interchange]] at 3 million years ago, animals and plants cross the [[Isthmus of Panama]] in both directions, introducing new species to new land and driving some local species to extinction. [[Jaguar]]s and other [[Carnivora|carnivorous]] placental mammals were introduced to South America, while armadillos migrated to North America. |- ! 13 | align="right" | 105 mya || align="center" | [[Afrotheria|Afrotheres]] | The pilgrimage party is joined by the last of the [[Eutheria|placental mammals]]: [[elephant]]s, [[elephant shrew]]s, [[dugong]]s, [[manatee]]s, [[hyrax]]es, [[aardwolf|aardwolves]], etc. They all hail from Africa, as hinted by the name of their [[clade]], [[Afrotheria]]. The concestor we greet at this point, as well as those we met earlier at rendezvous 12 and 11, all look like [[Insectivore|insectivorous]] [[shrew]]s. |- ! rowspan="2" | 14 | rowspan="2" align="right" | 140 mya | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Marsupial]]s | The entire band of placental mammals meet up with the other great group of mammals, the [[marsupial]]s. Even though present-day marsupials are mostly found in [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]], they originally flourished and diversified for a period of time in [[South America]]. Evidence points to the migration of a single species of [[Didelphimorphia|opossum]]-like marsupial from South America to Australia before 55 million years ago, when it was still possible to make the journey through [[Antarctica]] before Australia [[Continental drift|pulled]] too far away from [[Gondwana]]. Once settled in the isolated Australia, the [[Founder effect|founding]] marsupials quickly evolved into distinct species and, for the next 40 million years, took up the entire range of 'trades' previously occupied by [[dinosaur]]s, in the absence of any placental mammals. |- | '''The [[Marsupial Mole]]'s Tale''' again highlights the wonders that [[convergent evolution]] can create. Despite great [[genetic distance|evolutionary distance]] between marsupial moles in Australia and the [[golden mole]]s in Africa, they are remarkably similar in terms of [[phenotype]]s, with the exception that the marsupial moles sport a [[Pouch (marsupial)|pouch]] as all marsupials do. There are also marsupial ''mice'' ([[Dasyuridae]]), marsupial ''flying squirrels'' ([[Sugar Glider]]) and marsupial ''wolf'' ([[Thylacine]]), not to mention the equivalent of [[antelope]]s and [[gazelle]]s, the [[kangaroo]]s and [[wallaby|wallabies]] which despite great differences in shape, cover the same range of diet and way of life as their African counterparts. |- ! rowspan="2" | 15 | rowspan="2" align="right" | 180 mya | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Monotreme]]s | The [[monotreme]]s are the last of the mammals to join us, and we meet a concestor for the first time in the then-contiguous supercontinent of [[Pangea]]. The monotremes consititutes only a few genera: [[Platypus]], [[Short-beaked Echidna]] and [[Long-beaked echidna]]. They are mammals and have typical mammalian features such as [[warm-blooded]]ness, [[hair]] and [[milk]] production. But they resemble [[reptile]]s and [[bird]]s in their possession of the [[cloaca]] and their [[Egg (biology)|egg]]-laying mode of reproduction. |- | '''The [[Platypus|Duckbill]]'s Tale''' warns us about the fallacy of labeling a half-mammal and half-reptile animal such as the duckbill platypus as ''[[Primitive (biology)|primitive]]''. The platypus has exactly the same time to evolve as the rest of mammals, even if it does resembles our concestor 15 on the surface. In fact, it has evolved a highly developed form of [[electroreception]] served by 40,000 electric sensors, and 60,000 [[Mechanoreceptor|mechanical push rods]], both on its large bill to aid it in search of [[crustacean]]s in the mud. In human, the brain dedicates disproportionally large amount of cells to the two hands as illustrated by the Penfield brain map, or [[Cortical homunculus|Penfield homunculus]]. When the same [[somatotopic map]] is drawn for platypus brain, the bill is served by equally prominent percentage of the brain. |} ===Non-mammal chordates=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Joining party !! Story |- ! rowspan="6" | 16 | rowspan="6" align="right" | 310 mya | rowspan="6" align="center" | [[Sauropsid]]s | The pilgrims are about to join their [[reptile]] cousins, after marching for 130 million unbroken years from the last mammal concestor 15 who looks like a [[shrew]] to the reptile concestor 16 who looks like a [[lizard]]. In these 130 million years, [[mammal-like reptiles]] flourished, even before [[dinosaur]]s roamed the Earth. But like the 99 percent of all species that ever existed, all branches of mammal-like reptiles are now extinct, so they cannot join us in our pilgrimage. |- | The term [[reptile]] is not a true [[clade]] name, as it fails to include [[bird]]s which share a common ancestry. The terms ''reptile'' and ''fish'' are known as [[Paraphyly|grades]] which only make sense scientifically when used in the now-discredited theory of [[progressive evolution]] (Orthogenesis). Progressive evolution proposes that species evolve independently, in a parallel, progressive direction from fish grade through amphibian grade via reptile grade towards mammal grade. From a [[Cladistics|cladistic]] point of view, [[turtle]]s, [[lizard]]s, [[snake]]s, [[crocodile]]s, [[dinosaur]]s and [[bird]]s are all members of the clade ''[[Sauropsids]]'' which is what Dawkins adapts instead of the term ''reptile''. Dinosaurs, unfortunately as extinct species, cannot join us. But their only surviving descendants, the birds, take their place in the pilgrimage. |- | '''The [[Darwin's finches|Galapagos Finch]]'s Tale''' addresses a surprising question: why doesn't evolution go much faster than it does? Studies on Galapagos finches show that the [[Medium Ground-finch]] (Geospiza fortis) could grow to be as large as the [[Large Ground-finch]] (Geospiza magnirostris), if 23 consecutive [[drought]] years put pressure on birds to grow larger [[beak]]s to better handle bigger and tougher seeds. But such extreme evolutionary speed is not observed in nature, given the [[Geologic time scale|geological time]] life has had on Earth. This is mostly because the [[:Category:Rate of evolution|rate of evolution]] follows major trends over geological timescale, while short-term pressures tend to cancel out one another. |- | '''The [[Peafowl|Peacock]]'s Tale''' is the quintessential illustration of [[sexual selection]]; the peacock's tail is the ultimate example of non-utilitarian phenotype which appears to be an anomaly in [[natural selection]], as it is a hindrance to peacock's [[Survival of the fittest|survival]] in its natural habitat. These arbitrary spurts of evolution can be explained by sexual selection, a special case of natural selection. The [[Chain reaction|runaway explosion]] of the extravagant tail is created by lockstep [[sexual dimorphism|dimorphic selections]] of male's genes for pretty tails and of female's genes for preferring such tails. The preference for pretty tails, in turns, is rooted in their use by males as tokens of underlying [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]]; an advertisement of [[health]]. Sexual selection often complements other natural selection forces, and helps explain why [[human]] became [[Bipedalism|bipedal]] to free the two hands for [[tool]] making and wielding, attained a larger [[human brain|brain]] with [[Hominid intelligence|artistic abilities]], and shed body [[hair]] to advertise lack of [[Parasitism|ectoparasites]] during the course of [[human evolution]]. |- | '''The [[Dodo]]'s Tale''' illustrates how evolution optimizes genes for the present environment, how it has no foresight, and how it [[The Blind Watchmaker|marches blindly]] sometimes to the detriment of the species. The dodo, originally a [[Bird flight|flying]] [[Columbidae|pigeon]] related to the [[Rodrigues Solitaire]], reached the remote island of [[Mauritius]] and shed its flying powers due to the lack of competition and natural [[Predation|predator]]s to become a [[Flightless bird]]. The reallocation of resources away from building of massive breast [[muscle]]s for flying allowed the dodo to flourish, but ultimately lead to their extinction when European sailors and their carnivorous pets finally arrived. |- | '''The [[Elephant Bird]]'s Tale''' demonstrates how enigmatic distributions of [[Genetic distance|genetically close]] species in completely separate continents can be explained and corroborated by evidences of [[continental drift]] and [[seafloor spreading]]. The tale recounts the diaspora of a large group of [[flightless bird|flightless]] [[ratite|ratite birds]] from the then unbroken [[Gondwana]]; [[Moa]] ended up in [[New Zealand]], [[Rhea (bird)|rhea]] in [[South America]], [[emu]] in [[Australia]], [[cassowary]] in [[New Guinea]], [[kiwi]] in [[New Zealand]] by [[island hopping]], and [[ostrich]] in [[Africa]] by way of Asia and Europe. [[Radiometric dating|Radioactive dating]] of and magnetic striping studies on continuously formed [[Crust (geology)|crust]] around [[rift]]s such as the [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]] allow [[Biogeography|Paleobiogeographers]] to piece back a coherent story of these birds' dispersion based on both [[phylogenetic tree]] and [[plate tectonics]]. |- ! rowspan="4" | 17 | rowspan="4" align="right" | 340 mya | rowspan="4" align="center" | [[Amphibian]]s | Mammals and reptiles (the [[amniote]]s) join the [[amphibian]]s to meet the ancestor of all land [[vertebrates]] with four feet, the [[tetrapod]]. Amphibians include [[frog]]s, [[toad]]s, [[salamander]]s, [[newt]]s and [[caecilian]]s. While amniotes either give [[live birth]]s or lay waterproof eggs, the amphibians retain the ancestral practice of laying eggs in water. Unlike the waterproof skin of amniotes, the amphibian skin allows body water to [[evaporate]] through it, restricting amphibians to land areas with access to [[fresh water]]. |- | '''The [[Salamander]]'s Tale''' uses examples of [[ring species]] to illustrate how a continuous series of [[Hybrid (biology)|interbreeding]] animals in the [[space|spatial]] dimension is conceptually equivalent to that in the [[time]] dimension. The ''[[Ensatina]]'' salamanders in the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] in [[California]] form a continuous ring (actually a [[horseshoe]] shape) around the valley. Any two neighboring population of ''Ensatina'' around the horseshoe can [[Hybrid (biology)|interbreed]], but the plain ''Ensatina eschscholtzii'' on the western end of the horseshoe cannot interbreed with the large blotched ''Ensatina klauberi'' on the eastern end. [[Larus]] gulls form another ring species which starts at [[Herring Gull]] in [[Great Britain]] and ends at [[Lesser Black-backed Gull]] in north-western [[Europe]]. Dawkins likens both ring species in space to the ring in time that unites [[human]]s and [[chimpanzee]]s via generations of ancestors over 6 million years, with concestor 1 in the midpoint. |- | '''The Narrowmouth's Tale''' shows how [[speciation]] may still continue via [[parapatric speciation]], when two closely related toad species meet again after initial [[geographical isolation]]. ''[[Gastrophryne olivacea]]'' (Great Plains narrowmouth toad) and ''[[Gastrophryne carolinensis]]'' (Eastern narrowmouth toad) are closely related and can interbreed when their habitats overlap. But ''reinforcement'', a selection process which increases [[reproductive isolation]] via [[character displacement]], causes both species to differentiate their mating calls from each other by shifting pitch and duration in opposite directions; the more the two populations overlap, the more distinct their mating calls become. |- | '''The [[Axolotl]]'s Tale''' is about [[metamorphosis]], a [[biological process]] which turns [[Juvenile (organism)|juveniles]] or [[larva]]e into drastically dissimilar [[adult]] forms for [[reproduction]], and about [[pedomorphosis]], another process which enables juveniles of some species to become [[sexual maturity|sexually-mature]] without ever developing into their usual adult forms. Species which undergo metamorphosis include [[butterflies]], [[barnacle]]s and [[salamander]]s. Species which exhibit [[neoteny]], a type of pedomorphosis, include [[human]], [[ostrich]], [[pekingese]] and [[axolotl]]. A text book example of neoteny, the [[axolotl]]s are members of the [[Tiger Salamander]] complex, yet they become sexually-mature in larva form, remaining aquatic and [[external gills|gilled]]. With a treatment of [[thyroxine]], it is possible to induce an axolotl to develop into a salamander, demonstrating that axolotl genome still retains information on its lost adult form. On the other hand, [[newt]], a type of salamander, first develops from [[tadpole]] into land-based salamander, but later reverts back to its juvenile tadpole form, and returns to the water to reproduce. The axolotl's tale reminds us that paedomorphosis often allows species to break out of an evolutionary dead end by sudden changes. |- ! 18 | align="right" | 417 mya || align="center" | [[Lungfish]] | rowspan="2" | The [[Queensland lungfish]] (Australian lungfish) and [[Coelacanth]] are two of the most famous [[living fossil]]s; they resemble ancient [[fossil]]s and unlike most species, seemingly refused to continue to evolve for the past 400 million years. The lungfish joins the pilgrimage to meet concestor 18, before the coelacanth joins at rendezvous point 19. Instead of looking like members from the pilgrimage, the lungfish actually resembles coelacanth and concestor 19, the lobe-finned fish [[Sarcopterygii]]. Despite their [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] similarities, however, the lungfish and coelacanth are very different [[Molecular genetics|genetically]], as expected of species which lived separately for more than 400 million years. Because genes do not stop evolving, the molecular DNA of these two species show greater [[Genetic distance|evolutionary distance]] from each other than to DNA of the rest of the pilgrimage. '''The Lungfish's Tale''' reminds us that the rate of morphological changes is not always obviously correlated with that of genetic change. |- ! 19 | align="right" | 425 mya || align="center" | [[Coelacanth]]s |- ! rowspan="7" | 20 | rowspan="7" align="right" | 440 mya | rowspan="7" align="center" | [[Actinopterygii|Ray-Finned Fish]] | The current pilgrimage consisting of all descendants of [[Sarcopterygii|lobe-finned fish]] is joined by the equally successful [[Actinopterygii|ray-finned fishes]] which includes [[sturgeon]], [[paddlefish]], [[eel]], [[herring]], [[carp]], [[salmon]], [[trout]], [[seahorse]], [[cod]], etc. to meet concestor 19, the [[Osteichthyes|bony fish]]. Of all ray-finned fishes, most belong to the large [[infraclass]] [[teleostei]]. |- | Some [[teleostei|teleost]] fishes evolved unfishy shapes to cope with their chosen ecological niches. The [[leafy sea dragon]], for instance, abandons the typical streamline fish shape which works so well for the majority of fishes. Instead, it adopts a leafy shape to hang motionless in [[kelp forest]], pretending to be a piece of [[seaweed]]. The [[Shrimpfish|razorfish]] takes up an elongated, laterally compressed body, together with a long, flattened [[snout]]. It swims in a head-down vertical stance, allowing it to hide amongst tall spines of a [[sea urchin]]. The [[snipe eel]] is ridiculously thin, while the [[gulper eel]] sports jaws which look disproportionally large for its body. Lastly, the [[ocean sunfish]] resembles a huge, two-ton disc or millstone, as its Latin name, ''Mola mola'', suggests. '''The Leafy Sea Dragon's Tale''' demonstrates how animal shapes are malleable, ever changing to meet the requirements of each animal's way of life. |- | '''The [[Esox|Pike]]'s Tale''' highlights a special organ which gives teleost fishes superior [[buoyancy]] control, the [[gas bladder|swim bladder]]. Contrary to common assumptions, swim bladder is not a precursor to [[lung]]s in human and other lobe-finned fishes. Instead, the bony fish ancestor possessed a primitive lung which was [[Exaptation|co-opted]] by teleost fishes for buoyancy control, and in some cases as [[ear drum]] for [[Hearing (sense)|hearing]]. The teleost fishes rely on [[gill]]s for [[breath]]ing underwater. They repurposed the primitive lung, turning its ability to absorb from and release gas into the [[blood]] stream into a volume-changing mechanism, thus allowing teleost fishes to move vertically in a [[water column]] without the use of fins. |- | '''The [[Mudskipper]]'s Tale''' shows how animals rediscover long lost faculties and reenact ancient evolutionary events via completely different biological mechanisms. Having forgone air-breathing by repurposing the lung for buoyancy control, some teleost fishes, such as the [[Siamese fighting fish]] (''Betta splendens''), reinvent air-breathing by gulping air and locally [[oxygenate|oxygenerating]] water in the [[gill]] chamber. The mudskipper ''Periophthalmus'' not only takes air into its moist gill chamber, but can also breathe through its skin. Both the gill chamber and the skin must be wet at all times, and this distinguishes the new type of air-breathing from breathing through [[lung]]s. Re-equipped with air-breathing apparatus, the mudskipper emerges onto land, replaying ancient lobefin's conquest of the land. |- | The rapid speciation of [[haplochromine]] [[cichlid]] fishes [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Lake Victoria]], [[Lake Malawi]] and [[Lake Tanganyika]] exemplifies [[adaptive radiation]] and [[species flock]]. '''The Cichlid's Tale''' recounts how, by constructing an "unrooted haplotype network" using [[Computational phylogenetics|phylogenetic analysis]] on mitocondrial DNA of living species from regional rivers and lakes, researchers were able to infer the time and the location of each major speciation event in the evolutionary history of these cichlids. The haplotype network differs from normal [[phylogenetic tree]] in that each node represents a [[haplotype]], not a species, and the node size is determined by number of species in which the haplotype is found. By analyzing genetic relationships between haplotypes, relative prevalence of each haplotype, and locations where species currently live, it is possible to trace past waves of adaptive radiation originating from a small founding species, as rivers and lakes rose and fell in level. |- | '''The [[Mexican tetra|Blind Cave Fish]]'s Tale''' illustrates how normal organs can degenerate into [[vestigiality|vestigial]] organs. Different populations of [[Mexican tetra]] (''Astyanax mexicanus'') have ventured into dark caves separately, and have separately evolved regressive traits such as white skin coloration and regressive or [[blind]] eyes. This is partially explained by the [[opportunity cost]] theory; resources wasted on building the eye in a pitch-black cave deprives the fish of other traits useful for such environment. But more importantly, without [[evolutionary pressure]] to weed out bad mutations on the multitude of genes which together build the eye, any random change is more likely to disrupt the dedicate process of building the eye than to enhance it. There is no need to revert precisely the sets of genes carefully shaped by millions of years of evolution to get back to a blind creature. In other words, there are many more random ways of building a blind fish than of building a sighted one. And this is the essence of the [[Dollo's Law]] as Dawkins interprets it - that evolution cannot be ''precisely'' and ''exactly'' reversed. |- | '''The [[Flounder]]'s Tale''' is a tale of imperfection. The flounder's contorted head and eyes allow it to lie on its side on the ocean floor, but they betray the lack of an [[intelligent designer]]. As expounded in ''[[The Blind Watchmaker]]'' and ''[[Climbing Mount Improbable]]'', [[evolution]] does not 'design' every creature anew on a drawing board. Instead, [[natural selection]] works without foresight and makes gradual improvements on existing body plans from generation to generation. Because each creature at every step of the process must [[Fitness (biology)|remain fit]] for its environment, evolution cannot make sudden and drastic changes to build a better future organism at the expense of current generation. |- ! 21 | align="right" | 460 mya || align="center" | [[Shark]]s and Their [[chondrichthyes|Kin]] |Cartilaginous fishes [[chondrichthyan]] including [[shark]]s, [[Batoidea|rays]] and [[chimaera]]s join the pilgrimage in the [[Middle Ordovician]]. The newcomers have no bones. Instead, they are supported by a [[cartilaginous]] skeleton that never [[Ossification|ossifies]], in contrast to bony fishes. Their skin is covered in [[dermal denticle]]s, tiny scale-like protrusions, from which teeth may have evolved. Interestingly, sharks lack a [[swim bladder]] for buoyancy, and instead rely on swimming constantly, retaining [[urea]] in their blood, and having large livers with plenty of oil to remain afloat. The ''[[Carcharocles megalodon]]'' from the [[Miocene]] is described as a predator more terrifying than the [[Great White Shark]], as it was three times the size. The strange [[Chimaera]] has strange gill covers, has no dermal denticles, and swims using their pectoral fins. Dawkins explains that concestor 21 is ancestor to all [[gnathostomes]], animals with lower jaws, a structure which evolved from the [[gill arch]]es. |- ! rowspan="2" | 22 | rowspan="2" align="right" | 530 mya | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Lamprey]]s and [[Hagfish]] |[[Agnatha|Jawless and limbless fishes]], the [[lamprey]]s and [[hagfish]], join the pilgrimage to meet the concestor of all [[vertebrate]]s. The jawless fish and the concestor 22 are borderline vertebrates. Unlike the rest of vertebrates, they retain the [[notochord]], a stiffening cartilage rod running along the back of an animal, well into adulthood. In all other vertebrates, the vestigial notochord appears in the embryo briefly and is replaced by segmented, articulate backbones in adults. On the other hand, both the jawless fish and the jawed fish share characteristics common to all members of the phylum [[Chordata]] at some time in their life cycle, including the [[notochord]], [[pharyngeal slit]], and the post-anal [[tail]]. |- |'''The Lamprey's Tale''' further develops the ''gene's eye view of ancestry and pedigree'' that earlier tales, The Eve's Tale and The Gibbon's Tale, alluded to. In human, four [[haemoglobin]] genes are known to be cousin genes of each other. An ancestor globin gene from an ancient vertebrate [[Gene duplication|split]] into two genes, [[HBA1|alpha]] and [[HBB|beta]], which ended up in two different chromosomes and continued to evolve independently. Both alpha and beta further split into more independently evolving genes. All jawed fish show such alpha/beta split as predicated by evolution. However, [[lampreys]] and [[hagfish]] are ancient enough that they predate this gene split. In fact, jawless fishes, whenever investigated, do not possess split globin genes. As Dawkins explained in the chapter '[[River out of Eden#All Africa and her progenies|All Africa and her progenies]]' in his book ''[[River out of Eden]]'', there are two ways to trace ancestry: via animals and via individual genes. The two mechanisms produce very different results. Ancestry of animals form a family tree (more correctly, a [[Graph theory|graph]] because [[Sexual reproduction|sexually reproducing]] animals may share female and male parents). On the other hand, Ancestry of an individual gene is always a single chain going back to the first [[RNA world hypothesis|self-replicating RNA]], since a gene is either a faithful copy or a mutated form of its single parent gene. ''The Ancestor's Tale'' is written from an animal's perspective, following the family tree of human backward in time. But the book could have been written from the gene's point of view. Starting from any gene (e.g. the alpha haemoglobin), each gene [[gene duplication]] event could become a rendezvous point where pilgrimage of genes join their cousin genes. |- ! 23 | align="right" | 560 mya || align="center" | [[Lancelet]]s | [[Lancelet]]s are text book examples of a [[Chordata|chordate]]. Equipped with a notochord, a nerve tube on the dorsal side and gill slits, they typify the phylum Chordata. But lancelets are not [[Primitive (biology)|primitive]] nor our remote ancestor. They are as modern as all other members in the pilgrimage. '''The Lancelet's Tale''' continues to develop the theme introduced in The Duckbill's Tale, that all living animals have had equal time to evolve since the first concestor, and that no living animal should be described as either lower or more primitive. Dawkins extends this concept to apply to [[fossil]]s as well. Even though it is tempting to label fossils as our remote ancestor, they are more accurately described as our distant cousins who have been frozen in time. |- ! 24 | align="right" | 565 mya || align="center" | [[Tunicate|Sea Squirts]] | A [[Sea squirt]] resemble a sedentary bag of sea water anchored to a rock. It feeds on food particles strained from water. Anatomically, the sea squirt looks very different to the joining pilgrimage of all vertebrates and protochordates, that is, until its larvae are examined. The sea squirt [[larva]] looks and swims like a tadpole. it possesses a notochord and a dorsal nerve tube, and moves by undulating its post-anal tail from side to side. Vertebrates may have branched off from ancient sea squirt larvae via [[neoteny]], in a process reminiscent of The Axolotl's Tale. But recent DNA analysis on [[larvacea]] favors Darwin's initial interpretation, that one branch of ancient tadpole-like protochordates evolved a new [[metamorphosis]] stage to turn into sedentary sea squirts. |} ===Non-chordate animals=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Joining party !! Story |- ! 25 | align="right" | 570 mya || align="center" | [[Ambulacrarian]]s || |- ! rowspan="9" | 26 | rowspan="9" align="right" | 590 mya | rowspan="9" align="center" | [[Protostome]]s |The current pilgrimage, known as [[deuterostomes]], is joined by a much larger group of animals, the [[protostome]]s, to meet the ancestor of almost all organisms in the kingdom [[Animalia]], a worm. Just a single class in the joining sub-kingdom of protostomia, the [[Insect]]a, represents three quarter of all animal species on Earth. The great divide between protostomes (meaning 'mouth first') and deuterostomes (meaning 'mouth second') was devised by [[embryology|comparative embryologist]]s based on the way animal embryos diverge after [[gastrulation]] where the [[blastula]] (a hollow ball of cells) indents to form a cup. In the sub-kingdom of protostomia, the indentation eventually becomes the mouth. In deuterostomia which includes humans, the indentation eventually becomes the anus; the mouth is formed later. An extremely large variety of animal phyla constitute protostomia, including [[annelida|annelid worms]] (e.g. garden [[earthworm]]s), [[flatworm]]s (e.g. [[tapeworm]]s and [[fluke]]s), [[mollusc]]s (e.g. [[snail]]s, [[oyster]]s, [[ammonite]]s and [[octopus]]es), and [[arthropod]]s (e.g. [[insect]]s, [[crustacean]]s, [[spider]]s and [[centipede]]s). Unlike the [[species]], [[class (biology)|classes]] and [[genus|genera]] of animals from the pilgrimage prior to this rendezvous point, joining animals from different [[phylum|phyla]] have no obvious relationship to one another based on traditional [[anatomy]]. But modern [[molecular rangefinding]] has allowed [[Molecular taxonomy|molecular taxonomist]]s to organize all phyla in the pilgrimage into a hierarchy, with the worm as the concestor of all animals in [[Bilateria]] who are bilaterally symmetrical, with left and right side, a dorsal and a ventral side, and a head and a tail end. |- | '''The [[Ragworm]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Brine Shrimp]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Leaf Cutter]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Grasshopper]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Fruit Fly]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Rotifer]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Barnacle]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Velvet Worm]]'s Tale''' |- ! 27 | align="right" | 630 mya || align="center" | [[Acoelomorpha|Acoelomorph Flatworms]] || |- ! rowspan="2" | 28 | rowspan="2" align="right" | 680 mya | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Cnidaria]]ns | '''The [[Jellyfish]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Poypifer]]'s Tale''' |- ! 29 | align="right" | 730 mya || align="center" | [[Ctenophore]]s || |- ! 30 | align="right" | 780 mya || align="center" | [[Placozoa]]ns || |- ! 31 | align="right" | 800 mya || align="center" | [[Sponge]]s || '''The [[Sponge]]'s Tale''' |} === Non-animal eukaryotes === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Joining party !! Story |- ! 32 | align="right" | 900 mya || align="center" | [[Choanoflagellate]]s || '''The [[Choanoflagellate]]'s Tale''' |- ! 33 | align="right" | (?) || align="center" | [[Mesomycetozoea|DRIPs]] || |- ! 34 | align="right" | (?) || align="center" | [[Fungus|Fungi]] || |- ! 35 | align="right" | (?) || align="center" | [[Amoebozoa]]ns || |- ! rowspan="2" | 36 | rowspan="2" align="right" | (?) | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Plant]]s | '''The [[Cauliflower]]'s Tale''' |- | '''The [[Cupressaceae|Redwood]]'s Tale''' |- ! 37 | align="right" | (?) || align="center" | Uncertain || '''The [[Mixotrich]]'s Tale''' |} In what Dawkins calls the "Great Historic Rendezvous", he describes the significantly important event of [[endosymbiotic theory|endosymbiosis]], which results in the beginnings of eukaryotic cells. In his estimates, this occurred in two or three steps, roughly two billion years ago. Firstly, bacteria, perhaps related to ''[[Rickettsia]]'', entered proto-protozoan cells. For one reason or another, the bacteria were not digested and did not kill the cell. The cell offered protection to the bacteria, and the bacteria provided energy to the cell, resulting in a [[mutualism|mutualistic]] [[symbiosis|symbiotic relationship]]. This is the speculated origin of [[Mitochondrion|mitochondria]]. Subsequently, photosynthetic bacteria (thought to be related to [[cyanobacteria]]) entered some, but not all, of these mitochondria-containing cells. These ancient bacteria evolved to become [[chloroplast]]s, and the cells became the [[Plant]] and [[Algae|Algal]] lineages. Meanwhile, the cells which this second endosymbiotic relationship did not occur in went on to form the Kingdoms [[Fungus|Fungi]] and [[Animal|Animalia]], as well as various [[Protozoa]]. Chloroplasts and mitochondria have their own [[genome]]s, and they replicate independent of the cell in which they live. Dawkins acknowledges how the endosymbiotic theory proposed by [[Lynn Margulis]] is now virtually universally accepted. === Prokaryotes === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rendezvous point !! width="65" | Time !! Joining party !! Story |- ! 38 | align="right" | (?) || align="center" | [[Archaea]] || |- ! rowspan="2" | 39 | rowspan="2" align="right" | (?) | rowspan="2" align="center" | [[Eubacteria]] | '''The ''[[Rhizobia|Rhizobium]]'''s Tale''' |- | '''[[Thermus aquaticus|Taq]]'s Tale''' |} ==Editions== * (2004) US hardcover ISBN 0-618-00583-8 * (2004) UK hardcover (2004) ISBN 0297825038 (a handsomely illustrated edition) * (2005) US paperback ISBN 061861916X * (2005) UK paperback ISBN 0753819961 * (2005) UK Audio ISBN 0-7528-7321-0 ==References== <!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags--> {{reflist}} ==See also== *[[Evolutionary history of life]] *[[Phylogenetic tree]] *[[Timeline of evolution]] *[[Timeline of human evolution]] ==External links== *[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2074449289114305786 Video introduction by Richard Dawkins] *[http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/2004/Nov/hour2_111904.html Richard Dawkins talks to Ira Flatow on "Science Friday"] *[http://thegreatstory.org/ancestors-tale.html Family and kid's experiential programs based on ''Ancestors Tale''] <br> {{Dawkins}} [[Category:2004 books|Ancestor's Tale, The]] [[Category:Books by Richard Dawkins|Ancestor's Tale, The]] [[Category:Biology timelines|Evolution]] [[Category:Evolution]] [[Category:Evolutionary biology]] [[Category:Human evolution]] [[Category:Science books|Ancestor's Tale, The]] [[id:The Ancestor's Tale]] [[pl:The Ancestor's Tale]]