Zoology and animal sciences Books

The subject area embraced by the term "biological control" in its classical sense is very broad indeed. The term itself was apparently first used in 1919 by the late Harry S. Smith, and was then used specifically in reference...

A considerable amount of information on the retinal morphology in fishes has been accumulating during the past century. Among the vertebrates, fishes are a highly successful group, both in number of species and in the adaptive...

Scientific investigation of the retina began with extensive studies of its anatomical structure. The selective staining of neurons achieved by the Golgi method has led to a comprehensive picture of the architecture of the...

In review, the amount of information available on the morphological and func­ tional properties of the frog nervous system is very extensive indeed and in certain areas is the only available source of information in vertebrates...

The originality of this volume is to reveal to the reader the fascination of some unfamiliar sensory organs that are sometimes ignored and often misunderstood. These receptors have only recently been identified and their...

In 1971 I published a review of ichnology other concentrating only on traces made (Houston AAPG: SEPM Trace Fossil Field by a certain group of organisms, regardless Trip Guidebook) that I thought could be of their setting...

The study of thermoregulation in endotherms has contributed much to the emergence of the concept of control theory in biology. By the same token, the study of tempera­ ture adjustment in ectotherms is likely to have a ...

The present volume contains papers presented on the occasion of the Ichthyological Symposium on Genetics and Mutagenesis held on October 13 through 15, 1972 at the Biology Institute of the Association for Radia­ tion and...

Sea urchin eggs are objects of wonder for the student who sees them for the first time under the microscope. The formation of the fertil­ ization membrane after insemination, the beauty of mitotic cleavage, the elegant swimming...

This section will consider the structure and function of muscle receptors, as well as the central nervous system mechanisms with which they are concerned. In volume I of this Handbook, receptor mechanisms are discussed in...

Within recent years man has become increasingly aware of the disastrous environmental changes that he has introduced, and therefore society is now more concerned about understanding the adaptations organisms have evolved in...

Production of food to meet the demands of an ever-increasing human population in the world is the major task and challenge to agriculture today. The conventional methods of plant breeding alone can no longer cope with the...

Radiation can only affect matter if absorbed by it. Within the broad range of 300-1000 nm, which we call "the visible", light quanta are energetic enough to produce excited electronic states in the atoms and molecules that...

The renin-angiotensin system and the mechanisms regulating this system developed during the adaptive evolution of verte­ brates, along with many other systems involved in the in­ tegrated survival of the organism. Because...

In the Preface to his volume on Ecophysiology of the Camelidae and Desert Ruminants in this series, Trevor Wilson mentions his hesitation at the invitation from John Cloudsley-Thompson to write the book, because he had been out...

The exigencies of life in the desert environment have resulted in the se­ lection of a diversity of adaptations, both morphological and physiologi­ cal, in the flora and fauna. At the same time, many plants and most small...

In the past years, much work has been carried out on either life-history evolu­ tion or structure and function of food webs. However, most studies dealt with only one of these areas and often touched upon the other only...

Even though transmitter release and re-uptake are very complementary and physically in close proximity, researchers usually focus on only one of these two aspects. This volume, however, covers both processes and brings together...

Deserts, whether hot or cold, are considered to be one of the most difficult environments for living systems, lacking the essential free water which ac­ counts for approximately 60-70% of their body mass and more than 98% of...

Unlike mammals, birds are not particularly well suited to desert life. Among the few types of birds that have successfully adapted to the desert ecosystem are the predators. With individual chapters devoted to each of the...

A description of the structural and functional adaptations of the key organs such as skin, kidneys, bladder, lungs and ovaries, with special emphasis placed on physiological adaptations: water, electrolyte, nitrogen, and...

An introduction to the evolution and adaptation of amphibians and reptiles, bridging the gulf between the plethora of 'popular' books and the more advanced texts directed towards the needs of specialist research workers, thus...

How do mammals manage to maintain their body temperature within the same narrow range in environments as different as polar regions and hot deserts? This advanced text describes the morphological features and physiological...

"Amongst animals, diversity of form and of environmental circumstances have given rise to a multitude of different adap­ tations subserving the relatively unified patterns of cellular metabolism. Nowhere else is this state of...

This book compiles for the first time the development of echinoderm research in Latin America. The book contains 17 chapters, one introductory, 15 country chapters, and a final biogeographic analysis. It compiles all the investigations published in...

Meiobenthology is the science of the tiny animals that live in huge numbers in all aquatic sediments. This fully revised and enlarged second edition emphasizes new discoveries and developments in this field. Major progress has been made in three general...

This book encapsulates over three decades of the author's work on comparative functional respiratory morphology. It provides insights into the mechanism(s) by which respiratory means and processes originated and advanced to their modern states. Pertinent...

Whereas the past few years have repeatedly been referred to as the "era of biotechnology", most recently the impression has emerged that at least the same degree of attention is being paid to the latest developments in the field of neurosciences. It has...

Latent knowledge in the field of pig reproduction is vast but scattered, making it difficult to take in all information at a glance. Moreover, nascent branches in biotechnology cannot grow if deprived of roots. The book Boar Reproduction: Fundamentals...

In light of mounting fishing pressures, increased aquaculture production and a growing concern for fish well-being, improved knowledge on the swimming physiology of fish and its application to fisheries science and aquaculture is needed. This book...

Some primate field studies have been on-going for decades, covering significant portions of individual life cycles or even multiple generations. In this volume, leading field workers report on the history and infrastructure of their projects in...

The mighty and majestic European bison is the relictual embodiment of the wildness of prehistoric Europe. Tragically, the millennia since that time have seen so many species driven to extinction by human impacts, and the European bison has only narrowly...

A satisfactory and healthy integration of work with other life domains is one of the key challenges of modern society. Work-life balance and work-life integration have become focal points of today's human resource management practice and theory...

Coordination in Human and Primate Groups presents one of the first collections of the different approaches and methods used to assess coordination processes in groups. Written by psychologists and primatologists, the book represents a broad range of...

The main message of this monograph is that the appearance of the mammalian brain with the ability to acquire drives ensured the development of social life, and eventually led to the evolution of the human society. This most sophisticated form of...

Fast jedes bis ins frühe 20. Jahrhundert erschienene Buch über Vögel enthält neben den damals üblichen wissenschaftlichen viele volkstümliche, sogenannte Trivialnamen. Der Autor Peter Bertau, ehemaliger Biologielehrer mit den...

Increasing rate of species extinction in the present day will lead to a huge biodiversity crisis; eventually, this will lead to the paucity of non-renewable resources of energy making our Earth unsustainable in future. To save our mother planet from this...

Mapping of animal genomes has generated huge databases and several new concepts and strategies, which are useful to elucidate origin, evolution and phylogeny. Genetic and physical maps of genomes further provide precise details on chromosomal location,...

Peste de Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild small ruminants that can significantly affect economies. The authors are experts in the field and provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review covering all...

Functional lateralization in the human brain was first identified in the classic observations by Broca in the 19th century. Only one hundred years later, however, research on this topic began anew, discovering that humans share brain lateralization not...

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are devices that enable people to communicate via thought alone. Brain signals can be directly translated into messages or commands. Until recently, these devices were used primarily to help people who could not move...

The spectacular success of the scientific enterprise over the last four hundred years has led to the promise of an all encompassing vision of the natural world. In this elegant picture, everything we observe is based upon just a few fundamental processes...

People have relied on medicinal products derived from natural sources for millennia, and animals have long been an important part of that repertoire; nearly all cultures, from ancient times to the present, have used animals as a source of medicine...

Most birds cannot cover the distance between their breeding and winter quarters in one hop. They have to make multiple flights alternated with stopovers. Which factors govern the birds' decisions to stop, to stop for how long, when to resume flight? What...

This volume reviews, for the first time, the broad range of issues that affect the welfare of commercially farmed ratites. Although ratites incorporate several families of flightless birds this book focuses on the most commonly farmed ratites, the...