The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution

878 Pages·2016·15.41 MB·English

by  Richard Dawkins

Second Mariner Books edition 2016
Copyright © 2004 by Richard Dawkins New and revised material copyright © 2016 by Richard Dawkins
and Yan Wong First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, an imprint of The Orion
Publishing Group, in 2004
All rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
[email protected] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park
Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.
www.hmhco.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-544-85993-7
Cover design © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cover illustration and title typography © Bernard Maisner
eISBN 978-0-547-52512-9
v1.0816
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgements
The Conceit of Hindsight
The General Prologue
0 ALL HUMANKIND
The Tasmanian’s Tale
Epilogue to the Tasmanian’s Tale
Prologue to the Farmer’s Tale
The Farmer’s Tale
The Cro-Magnon’s Tale
ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS
Prologue to Eve’s Tale
Eve’s Tale
Epilogue to Eve’s Tale
Prologue to the Denisovan’s Tale
The Denisovan’s Tale
Epilogue to the Denisovan’s Tale
ERGASTS
The Ergast’s Tale
HABILINES
The Handyman’s Tale
APE-MEN
Ardi’s Tale
Epilogue to Ardi’s Tale
1 CHIMPANZEES
Prologue to the Chimpanzee’s Tale
The Chimpanzee’s Tale
Epilogue to the Chimpanzee’s Tale
The Bonobo’s Tale
2 GORILLAS
The Gorilla’s Tale
3 ORANG UTANS
The Orang Utan’s Tale
4 GIBBONS
The Gibbon’s Tale
Epilogue to the Gibbon’s Tale
5 OLD WORLD MONKEYS
6 NEW WORLD MONKEYS
The Howler Monkey’s Tale
7 TARSIERS
8 LEMURS, BUSHBABIES AND THEIR KIN
The Aye-Aye’s Tale
THE GREAT CRETACEOUS CATASTROPHE
9 & 10 COLUGOS AND TREE SHREWS
The Colugo’s Tale
11 RODENTS AND RABBITKIND
The Mouse’s Tale
Epilogue to the Mouse’s Tale
The Beaver’s Tale
12 LAURASIATHERES
The Hippo’s Tale
Epilogue to the Hippo’s Tale
The Seal’s Tale
13 XENARTHRANS AND AFROTHERES
Prologue to the Sloth’s Tale
The Sloth’s Tale
14 MARSUPIALS
The Marsupial Mole’s Tale
PHOTOS
15 MONOTREMES
The Duckbill’s Tale
What the Star-Nosed Mole Said to the Duckbilled Platypus
MAMMAL-LIKE REPTILES
16 SAUROPSIDS
The Lava Lizard’s Tale
Prologue to the Galapagos Finch’s Tale
The Galapagos Finch’s Tale
The Peacock’s Tale
The Dodo’s Tale
The Elephant Bird’s Tale
17 AMPHIBIANS
The Salamander’s Tale
The Narrowmouth’s Tale
The Axolotl’s Tale
18 LUNGFISH
The Lungfish’s Tale
19 COELACANTHS
The Coelacanth’s Tale
20 RAY-FINNED FISH
The Leafy Sea Dragon’s Tale
The Pike’s Tale
The Cichlid’s Tale
The Blind Cave Fish’s Tale
The Flounder’s Tale
21 SHARKS AND THEIR KIN
22 LAMPREYS AND HAGFISH
The Lamprey’s Tale
23 SEA SQUIRTS
24 LANCELETS
The Lancelet’s Tale
25 AMBULACRARIANS
26 PROTOSTOMES
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
Epilogue to the Velvet Worm’s Tale
27 ACOELOMORPH FLATWORMS
28 CNIDARIANS
The Jellyfish’s Tale
The Polypifer’s Tale
29 CTENOPHORES
30 PLACOZOANS
31 SPONGES
The Sponge’s Tale
32 CHOANOFLAGELLATES
The Choanoflagellate’s Tale
33 FILASTEREANS
34 DRIPs
35 FUNGI
36 UNCERTAIN
37 AMOEBOZOANS
38 LIGHT HARVESTERS AND THEIR KIN
The Cauliflower’s Tale
The Redwood’s Tale
The Humped Bladderwort’s Tale
The Mixotrich’s Tale
THE GREAT HISTORIC RENDEZVOUS
39 ARCHAEA
40 EUBACTERIA
The Rhizobium’s Tale
Taq’s Tale
CANTERBURY
THE HOST’S RETURN
Further Reading
Notes to the Phylogenies and Reconstructions
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index
About the Authors
John Maynard Smith
(1920–2004)
He saw a draft and graciously accepted the dedication, which now, sadly, must
become
In Memoriam
‘Never mind the lectures or the “workshops”; be blowed to the motor coach
excursions to local beauty spots; forget your fancy visual aids and radio
microphones; the only thing that really matters at a conference is that John
Maynard Smith must be in residence and there must be a spacious, convivial
bar. If he can’t manage the dates you have in mind, you must just reschedule the
conference . . . He will charm and amuse the young research workers, listen to
their stories, inspire them, rekindle enthusiasms that might be flagging, and send
them back to their laboratories or their muddy fields, enlivened and invigorated,
eager to try out the new ideas he has generously shared with them.’
It isn’t only conferences that will never be the same again.