468 THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 74VOLUME and complete. T h e r e are a few examples o f figure legends with incomplete in format ion , b u t these were definitely t h e exception, n o t t h e rule. Th is b o o k provides a n excellent update for re- searchers i n t h e field o f taurine research. It should also b e o f interest t o scientists engaged i n t h e study o f calcium regulation, cell vo lume regulation, anti- oxidantmechanisms, t h e cardiovascular system, t h e digestive system, neuromodula t ion , and humail nu- trition. KATHY MAGNUSSON, Col-Anatomy &AVeurobiolo~, orado State Uniuerszb, Fort Collins, Colorado GENETICS & EVOLUTION MATERNAL EFFECTS AS ADAPTATIONS.Based on a meeting held i n St Louis, i21issoum; June 1996. Edited by Timothy A ~Mousseau and Charles WFox. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. $65.00. xiv + 375 p; ill.; taxonomic, author, and subject indexes. ISBN: 0-19-51 1163-X. 1998. Occasionally there is a multiauthored b o o k that is inspiring e n o u g h t o revive t h e interest o f evolution- ary biologists i n some unduly neglected concept . Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, 1871-1 971 (edi ted b y B G Campbell . 1972. Chicago ( I L ) : Al- d ine Publishing C o m p a n y ) accomplished this for sexual selection theory. T h e present b o o k may d o t h e same for materilal ef fects . As several chapters m a k e clear, maternal e f f ec t s are m o r e t h a n troublesome noise i n a heritability estimate. In his chapter, Kaplan notes that mothers m a k e the phenotypes (eggs) that start t h e n e x t gen- eration, and that phenotype is highly organized and stocked with in format ion ( n o t only nutrients) be- fore t h e of fspring g e n o m e is expressed. Th is b o o k challenges us t o expand our view o f select io~l and adaptation t o include the cross-generational ex- tended phenotypes o f parents expressed i n their offspring-both i n their young and adult of fspring, and sometimes even i n their grandchildren. T h e authors discuss species i n which parents choose ovi- position sites, incubate eggs, care for or educate their young, and where eggs contain, i n addit ion t o nutrients, hormones , antibodies, m R N A , and pho- toperiod-induced cues. Parental e f f ec t s in f luence deve lopment i n myriad and lasting ways. T h e edi- tors m a d e t h e point well w h e n they dedicated this b o o k t o their mothers " w h o gave u s m u c h m o r e than genes." T h i s vo lume is based o n a 1996 symposium o f the Society for t h e Study o f Evolution. It contains 19 chapters, separated in to four parts o n : conceptual issuks, asseisment and measurement , partial re- views o f maternal e f f ec t s i n major groups (selected plants, insects, fish, birds, amphibians and ro- d e n t s ) , and four detailed case studies. A t t h e begin- n ing o f each part, t h e editors give very helpful con- cise descriptions o f t h e major points o f each chapter. T h e emphasis, as t h e title suggests, is o n adaptive significance (fitness e f f e c t s ) , and there is m u c h discussion o f t h e difficulties o f conceptualiz- ing and measuring fitness across generations. Maternal ef fects are effects o f the maternal pheno- type o n t h e of fspring phenotype (Price; R o f f ; Ros- siter; W a d e ) . S o m e chapters i n this b o o k describe t h e m as e f f ec t s o f t h e maternal env i ronment o n the of fspring phenotype (Ginzburg) , or as "environ- mentally induced" (Lacey) or "non-genetic" (Heath and Blouu~; Messina). N o d o u b t these terms a t tempt t o draw a strong distinction behveen transmitted maternal genes (nuclear and cytoplasmic) and trans- mitted nongenetic factors and phenotypic changes. But t h e emvhasis o n environmental inductioil is un- fortunate, because it can lead to the same type o f error as that promoted by descriptions ofplasticity as a n o n - genetic aspect o f t h e phenotype. T h e maternal ge- notype is inevitably involved (Moore e t a l . ) , and ge- netic variation i n novel or variable inaternal e f f ec t s is what makes t h e m potentially adaptive. S o m e envi- ronmentally-sensitive maternal e f f ec t s represent a kind o f transgenerational phenotypic plasticity (Fox and Mousseau), as exemplified i n m a n y o f t h e chap- ters, some o f it likely adaptive. But quantitative ge- netic research focused o n environmentally-variable maternal ef fects needs t o b e accompanied by a re- m i n d e r that m a n y inaternal contributions t o o f f - spring are constitutive, virtually invariable features o f ilormal deve lopment ( m a n y nice examples are given i n t h e chapter o n fish b y Heath and B l o u u ~ ) . Indeed , it could b e argued that t h e mos t important and mos t certainly adaptive maternal e f f ec t s ( such as species-typical egg or seed cases, or t h e cyto- plasmic organization that gives rise t o polarity and symmetry i n a n embryo) are precisely those mos t strictly canalized u n d e r selection so as t o b e iin- i n u n e t o e f f ec t s o f environmental variation. Using similar reasoning, genetic variation i n maternal e f - fects should n o t b e considered a criterion o f adapta- t ion, as suggested i n t h e chapter by Donohue and Schmit t . Al though genetic variatioil is a require- m e n t o f a furthm response t o selection, t h e mos t highly adaptive maternal e f f ec t s may b e those mos t i m m u n e t o t h e ef fects o f genetic variation (highly canalized) i n all normally encountered environ- ments . T h e r e were some omissions that I f ound surpris- ing. O n l y hvo chapters (MJade; Moore e t al.) m e n - t ion t h e relevance o f k i n selection theory, and n o n e apply t h e concept o f inclusive fitness, i n spite o f its proven utility for interactions across generations a m o n g k in . T h e r e is n o m e n t i o n o f the impressive maternal e f f ec t s i n social insects, where b o t h mech- anisms and fitness consequences are well known. Nor is there any discussion o f t h e enormous cell DECEMBER1999 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS 469 and molecular-genetic literature on the maternal control of early einbryology, or of macroevolution- ary consequences of maternal effects, like those dis- cussed by Ryuichi Matsuda under the heading of "embryonization" (AnimalEvolution in ChanpngEn- vironments with Special Reference to Abnormal Metanlor- phosis. 1987. New York: John Wiley & Sons). The emphasis of most chapters is on a quantitative ge- netic approach to adaptation, and within this framework there are many original insights. This voluine is a high-quality contribution to the literature on phenotypic plasticity, selection and adaptation, and development as an aspect of natu- ral history and evolution. Perhaps the most impor- tant message it contains is clear evidence for the role of environmental factors in structuring devel- opment from its earliest inception. As a public ser- vice it should be slipped into the mailbox of any science writer, lecturer, or molecular biologist who unflinchingly describes the genome of an organism as a complete set of instructions for an individual. MARYJAKE WEST-EBERHARD, Smithsonian Tropi- cal Research Institute and Escuela de Biologia, Uni- versidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica ANNUALREVIEWOF GENETICS.Volume 32: 1998. Edited b)l Allan Campbell, Ttl9att W Anderson, and Elizabeth WJones. Palo Alto (Cali$ornia): Annual Re- views. $60.00. xi + 735 p +12 pl; ill.; subject index and cumulative indexes (contributing authors and chapter titles, Volumes 28-32). ISBN: 0-8243- 1232-5. 1998. CLADISTICS:THE THEORY AND PRACTICEOF PARSI- MONY ANALYSIS.econd Edition. The Systematics Asso- ciation Publication, Number 11. By Ian JKitching, Peter L Forq, Chm'stopherJHumph- ?ies, and David M Williams. Oxford and Akw Yorlt: Oxfmd UniversiQ Press. $75.00 (hardcover) ;$29.95 (paper). xiii + 228 p; ill.; index. ISBN: 0-19- 850139-0 (hc); 0-19-850138-2 (pb). 1998. The last several years have yielded developments on all fronts in cladistic analysis-from how we view characters to tree building methods to interpreta- tions of patterns. Hence, an update of this book that pulls together these advancements is most wel- come. While the first edition was essentially a collection of course notes on various topics relevant to cladis- tics, the second edition is quite different. The scope has been narrowed and refocused, and the new book is one-fifth longer than the original. Sections on applications, such as classification and biogeog- raphy, have been removed, as have comparisons of parsimony to other pattern approaches. Far from making the book less useful, this rethinking has turned a usable (though somewhat disjointed) book into a comprehensive and well-organized text. Al- though the first edition could be (and was) used as a course textbook, the new edition's more complete development of topics, improved progression, and more readable style will make it even better suited for this purpose. New topics covered include tree support, combi- nation of datasets, and the still controversial three- taxon analysis method. Usef~11 syntheses of the key views on these topics are provided, with the authors often contributing their own views. There are also summaries of the key points in each chapter, a list of recommended references, a glossary, and an ap- pendix of relevant computer software. As cladistics is an actively developing approach, there will no doubt be occasional disagreement with details and interpretations presented here. But these differ- ences should be minor and will not detract from the unique usefulness of the volume as an upper level textbook or a concise reference for those in- volved with parsimony analyses. JOHN V FREUDENSTEIN, Evolution, Ecology & Or- ganisnlal Biology and Museum ofBiologica1 Diversity, Ohio State Universit~l, Columbus, Ohio THE VARIATION OF ANIMALSAND PLANTSUNDER DORIESTICATION.Volume 1. B!I Charles Danuin; New Foreword b)l Harriet Ritvo. Baltimore (Mavyland): The Johns Hopkins Uniuersig Press. $18.95 (paper). xxv + 473 p; ill.; no index. ISBN: 0-8018-5866-6. [Originally published in 1868. Second edition, revised, published in 1883.1 1998. MASTER CONTROL GENESI N ANDDEVELOPMENT EVOLUTION: STORY.The Terty Lec- THE HOMEOBOX tures. B!I TValter J Gehm'ng. Nau Haven (Connecticut): Yale University Press. $35.00. xviii + 236 p + 8 pl; ill.; index. ISBN: 0-300-07409-3. 1998. This book describes the scientific experiments that led to the discovery of the Homeobox, and the genes containing this DNA sequence. The author's personal involvement in these experiments, span- ning the last third of this century, makes him not only a highly qualified expert, but an invaluable witness. This easy going, guided tour is at times too fo- cused on Gehring hiinself. The author first intro- duces the major concepts of genetics and develop- ment, then he moves on to what he considers to be the key to understanding development: homeotic genes. These genes, first studied in the fruit fly Dro- scphzla melanogmter, when malfunctioning (mutated) cause bizarre conversion of some parts of the fly body into others: the "homeotic" transformations. Gehring's beloved Antennapedia mutant, which