Ornithological Literature

Abstract

HOW BIRDS EVOLVE: WHAT SCIENCE REVEALS ABOUT THEIR ORIGIN, LIVES & DIVERSITY. Douglas J. Futuyma. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 2021: ix þ 269 pages, 24 color plates in one color signature, 57 figures, 3 tables. ISBN 978-0-6911-8262-9 (hardback).—Douglas J. Futuyma is a distinguished evolutionary biologist based at Stony Brook University, New York. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of numerous honors, he is perhaps most known for his widely used college level text Evolution as well as for other books dealing with evolutionary biology. He is not an ornithologist but most certainly qualifies as an avid birder who has traveled widely in the world specifically to enjoy birds, a point he makes throughout this book. How Birds Evolve is a concise but nonetheless sweeping review of much of what is presently known about avian evolution as it relates to almost all facets of avian natural history. The book breaks no new ground nor is it meant to as it is written for a general audience. What Futuyma accomplishes is a succinct but masterful account that fully engages the reader. Futuyma presents numerous questions that routinely occur to students of ornithology as well as astute birders when observing and thinking about why birds are what they are and do what they do. Examples used are well known to those of us who study and teach ornithology and Futuyma adeptly explains each of them. His choice of examples is admirable. Many examples include molecular and cladistic studies, all written with a clarity that should keep even the most ‘‘molecularly challenged’’ reader engaged. I admired how Futuyma explains complex topics such as the various models for sexual selection, life cycle evolution, what adaptation is, and how it is studied and measured. Each of the 12 chapters explains a particular facet of avian evolution: the avian tree of life, emergence of birds from dinosaurs, how bird populations change and adapt, variation within species, evolution of adaptations, life cycle evolution, sexual selection, avian social life, speciation, global avian diversity, and extinction possibilities in light of climate change and habitat alteration. Each chapter has numbered citations listed in chapter end notes and there is a thorough bibliography and index. The chapter titles are meant to engage the reader; ‘‘The Ruff and the Cuckoo’’ (chapter 5), ‘‘Hoatzin and Hummingbirds’’ (chapter 6), ‘‘Owls and Albatrosses’’ (chapter 7), but the chapter titles are a bit misleading as the named birds form only a part of each chapter with many more examples included. The chapter subtitles offer more clarity. For example, the Ruff and the cuckoo are discussed as examples of ‘‘Variation within Species,’’ along with other examples such as crossbills, Gouldian Finch, White-throated Sparrow, and buteo hawks. Chapter 9, ‘‘Anis, Swallows, and Bee-eaters,’’ is focused on ‘‘The Social Life of Birds.’’ Futuyma writes with a light touch and frequently inserts references to his own global birding travels, some of the favorite ‘‘ticks’’ on his obviously large life list. The book moves along at a comfortable pace without bogging down on controversies within ornithology. There is no mention, for example, of the debate about bird origins, thecodont or theropod dinosaur. While the theropod dinosaur origin is now accepted by virtually all ornithologists, the reader gets the impression of a smooth path to knowledge that was anything but. Which brings up an important point: Just who is the audience for this book? The subjects discussed are all well covered in extant ornithology textbooks that dominate college-level ornithology courses. It is doubtful that professors would find How Birds Evolve a necessary book for their courses, even as a supplemental reading. At the same time, I feel strongly that ornithologists and their students would gain from reading the book. For teachers, it offers a fine primer and outline for organizing topics and examples for the classroom. Lay readers and amateur ornithologists will clearly benefit from learning about how pervasive evolution is in every aspect of what it is to be a bird. Futuyma notes that Charles Darwin included 241 pages about birds in The Descent of Man and 575 pages of bird examples in Selection