Almost all evolutionary biologists, indeed all biologists, use particular
features to study life. These characteristics or features used by evolutionary
biologists are used in a particular way to unravel a tangled evolutionary
history, document the rate of evolutionary change, or as evidence of
biodiversity. "Characters" are the "data" of evolutionary biology and they can
be employed differently in research providing both opportunities and
limitations. The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology is about characters,
their use, how different sorts of characters are limited, and what are
appropriate methods for character analysis. Leading evolutionary biologists from
around the world are contributors to this authoritative review of the "character
concept." Because characters