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We are causing species to go extinct at extraordinary rates, altering existing species in unprecedented ways and creating entirely new species. More than ever before, we require an ethic of species to guide our interactions with them. In this book, Ronald L. Sandler examines the value of species and the ethical significance of species boundaries and discusses what these mean for species preservation in the light of global climate change, species engineering and human enhancement. He argues that species possess several varieties of value, but they are not sacred. It is sometimes permissible to alter species, let them go extinct (even when we are a cause of the extinction) and invent new ones. Philosophically rigorous, accessible and illustrated with examples drawn from contemporary science, this book will be of interest to students of philosophy, bioethics, environmental ethics and conservation biology.

This book was first published in 2004. Unraveling the origin of biodiversity is fundamental for understanding our biosphere. This book clarifies how adaptive processes, rather than geographic isolation, can cause speciation. Adaptive speciation occurs when biological interactions induce disruptive selection and the evolution of assortative mating, thus triggering the splitting of lineages. Internationally recognized leaders in the field explain exciting developments in modeling speciation, together with celebrated examples of rapid speciation by natural selection. Written for students and researchers in biology, physics, and mathematics, this book is a groundbreaking treatment of modern speciation science.