Evolution of Life

Nearly 30 million species of organisms are believed to now live on Earth. In addition to accumulating evidence from classical biology, palaeontology and earth science, the recent progress of molecular biology has provided new insights into understanding how present-day organisms have evolved with such tremendous diversity. Molecular biology studies show us that all living forms, including "E coli" and human beings, derive from a single ancestor that emerged some four billion years ago on Earth. This volume aims to discuss the motifs of organismic evolution from the viewpoints of biogeo-interactions and diversification of the genetic systems. Based on these fundamental understandings, the last section of the volume is devoted to human evolution that includes phylogeny of man as well as evolution of human culture.