Morphology, Shape and Phylogeny

This groundbreaking work bridges the critical gap between mathematical morphology and evolutionary biology, offering the first comprehensive synthesis of how quantitative shape analysis can illuminate phylogenetic relationships. Norman MacLeod brings together previously isolated disciplines that study organismal form through geometric measurements and those tracing evolutionary lineages through shared characteristics. The book establishes a formal framework for the dialogue that has been developing between biologists studying physical forms and mathematicians analyzing shape data. It represents a significant advancement beyond the scattered journal papers that have touched on this interdisciplinary space.

What makes this volume particularly valuable is its timing in capturing a field at its inflection point, where computational methods for quantifying morphology are finally sophisticated enough to meaningfully inform phylogenetic hypotheses. Researchers in evolutionary biology will find rigorous mathematical approaches to shape analysis, while mathematicians gain insight into biological applications for their morphological models. The synthesis provides both communities with shared terminology and methodological foundations that promise to accelerate collaborative research. This work stands to fundamentally reshape how scientists investigate the relationship between physical form and evolutionary history across biological systems.