David W. Pfennig is a professor of biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer. He is broadly interested in evolutionary biology, ecology, behavior, and developmental biology and is author (with Karin Pfennig) of Evolution's Wedge: Competition and the Origins of Diversity. His work has been featured on The National Geographic Channel, on the BBC/ PBS's Nature series, and in The New York Times, Newsweek, National Geographic, Scientific American, New Scientist, and Discover, among other publications.

Foreword: A Perspective on Plasticity

Preface and Acknowledgements

Section I Plasticity & Evolution: Concepts & Questions

Phenotypic Plasticity as an Intrinsic Property of Organisms"There is Hardly Any Question in Biology of More Importance"--Charles Darwin and the Nature of Variation

Key Questions about Phenotypic Plasticity

Section II Causes of Plasticity: From Genes to Ecology

Genetic Variation in Phenotypic Plasticity

Physiological Mechanisms and the Evolution of Plasticity

Ecology and the Evolution of Plasticity

The Loss of Phenotypic Plasticity via Natural Selection: Genetic Assimilation

Section III Consequences of Plasticity: Adaptation, Origination, Diversification

Buying Time: Plasticity and Population Persistence

Innovation and Diversification via Plasticity-led Evolution

Plasticity and Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality

Phenotypic Plasticity in the Fossil Record

Section IV Plasticity & Evolution: Controversies & Consensus

The Special Case of Behavioral Plasticity?

Plasticity Across Generations

How Does Phenotypic Plasticity Fit into Evolutionary Theory?

Plasticity and Evolutionary Theory: Where We Are and Where We Should be Going

List of Contributors

Index