The Monkey's Voyage

October 28, 2013
Biogeography, the study of the geographical distribution of living things, has been of interest since at least the time of the Greeks. In his entertaining and enlightening book, evolutionary biologist de Queiroz demonstrates that despite this longstanding interest in the subject, the discipline has resisted an organizing paradigm. De Queiroz comprehensively describes the shift, beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, from Darwin’s belief that long-distance dispersal was the dominant explanation for biogeographic patterns to the rise of those promoting vicariance—the belief that environmental fragmentation is responsible for observed patterns—and back again to promoting long distance dispersal. He cogently describes the science underlying these ideas, the nature of continental drift, the complexity of molecular clocks, and the mathematics of cladistics, explaining why he believes the only reasonable interpretation for current data is an acceptance of rare, long-distance dispersal events that can only be called “mysterious” and “miraculous,” including the book’s eponymous monkeys accidentally crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond the actual science, de Queiroz brings insight into the nature of scientific discourse itself. B&w figures throughout.

November 15, 2013
An evolutionary biologist disputes the hegemonic theory of how animals have populated the planet, challenging prevailing assumptions about the time frame in which species separations necessarily occurred. De Queiroz suggests that in many instances, species, migration has occurred much more recently than has been commonly accepted. He and his associates have taken advantage of modern methods of genetic sequencing to improve on previous estimates. They have refined the notion of a molecular clock--previously dependent on retrieving DNA from fossils and correlating this with geological evidence--to determine the evolution of new species more accurately by estimating the rate of mutation separating the genomes of presently related species. He cites his own studies of related species of garter snakes and similar research on monkeys, which indicate that they evolved over a much shorter time span. At the time, when these land-based species began to evolve independently (presumably because their habitats had diverged), there were no continental connections, such as land bridges, to account for their migrations. The author collected garter snakes from two species found on opposite sides of the wide Sea of Cortez. After sequencing their mitochondrial genes, he determined that they would have separated approximately a few hundred thousand years ago rather than the generally accepted estimate of 4 million years ago. Therefore, he suggests--judging by ocean currents and winds--that one or more snakes must have traveled from the mainland over a 120-mile sea by clinging to a naturally formed raft. Other recent genetic studies of two similar monkey species lend credibility to the author's unlikely hypothesis that such ocean crossings can account for long-distance colonization, despite the statistical improbability. De Queiroz disputes scientific theories based on outdated evidence and offers an in-depth critique of intelligent design. An intriguing window into the ongoing academic debate about evolution.

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Starred review from February 1, 2014

Evolutionary biologist de Queiroz (adjunct faculty, Univ. of Nevada, Reno) presents a fascinating exploration of the field of biogeography--the study of the distribution of living things--and one of its most fundamental concerns: What explains the presence of closely related lineages on land masses separated by oceans or seas? According to de Queiroz, two schools of thought have battled for decades about the answer, one claiming that these species are ancient "relicts" of the breakup of the Mesozoic supercontinent Gondwana and the other arguing that all sorts of plants and animals have actually crossed ocean barriers, in some cases floating on mats of vegetation. He concludes with a discussion of how such chance events as ocean crossings can have massive effects on the diversification of life forms. An excellent storyteller, de Queiroz dramatically weaves the historical development of various scientific tropes--continental drift, plate tectonics, molecular dating, and mass extinctions--together with his own research interests and details of his far-flung travels. VERDICT This provocative book will appeal to fans of the late paleontologist and evolutionary scientist Stephen Jay Gould's writing (e.g., Wonderful Life) and to nonspecialists interested in the long history of life on Earth.--Cynthia Lee Knight, formerly with Hunterdon Cty. Lib., Flemington, NJ

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Starred review from December 15, 2013
Even Darwin thought it far-fetchedthat is, his proposal that ocean-crossing is why similar species that can't swim or fly are found on oceanic islands and both sides of great oceans. But ocean-crossing how? On what? So when plate tectonics was accepted, some of his successor scientists leaped upon it, arguing that the splitting up of the supercontinent Gondwanaland was how terrestrial cousins wound up on widely separated dry lands. Problem is, molecular dating indicates that the big breakup occurred tens of millions of years before those specific cousins or even their common ancestors evolved. Hence, for the better part of the last hundred years, debate has raged between dispersalists (ocean-crossing advocates) and vicariance biogeographers (continental-drift advocates). Evolutionary biologist de Queiroz is unapologetically dispersalist but hardly triumphalist about it. As he tells the story, which is as much about the discipline of biogeography as about the dispute, there is no reason for either side to ever proclaim victory. The earth's animals and plants consist of both Gondwanan relics and plentyindeed, a preponderanceof species that have developed ever since the present continents and islands formed. Deciding which are which constitutes a story full of intriguing discoveries that de Queiroz, a fluent and spellbinding popular-science writer, agglomerates into the narrative spine of a book brimming with fascination.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)