Publisher's Synopsis
Tales of wandering gonads, nefarious digestive organs, sex, religion and death are scattered throughout this wry compendium of the wonderful and weird adaptations that have evolved by natural selection. The disappearance of the small but dangerous bile-storing organelle in some species has led the author to question its persistence in man. Why do we hang on to our our gallbladder or get hernias when, without medical treatment, these adaptations or maladies can be so deadly to a vast number of our species? Why is recessive genetic disease so prevalent in certain populations when it means certain death, at such a young age, for those that inherit these conditions? How does does self-sacrificing behavior evolve amidst a backdrop of Darwinian self-preservation? Why is their a genetic propensity towards depression and suicide? Why is sexual reproduction so esteemed in the natural world when asexual reproduction is so much more efficient and practical? Is beauty codified by natural selection? These questions and more are asked and answered in this far-ranging compendium that will challenge the way you think about evolution via natural selection.
