Vertebrate Life


Book Description

This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come packaged with the bound book. For courses in Vertebrate Zoology, Vertebrate Biology Function, and Paleontology Widely praised for its comprehensive coverage and exceptionally clear writing style, this best-selling text explores how the anatomy, physiology, ecology, and behavior of animals interact to produce organisms that function effectively in their environments and how lineages of organisms change through evolutionary time. The Ninth Edition features dozens of new figures and photos, updated information from molecular data and evolutionary development, and expanded discussions on global climate change, extinction, and conservation.




Mesozoic Vertebrate Life


Book Description

Presenting important new research on the vertebrate life of the Mesozoic as reported by 45 leading workers in the field, this volume is organized into sections on theropods, sauropods, and other areas of life that represent a cross section of current research. Includes a portfolio of dinosaur paintings and sculptures by the world's finest paleoartists. 200 photos, 19 in color.




Great Transformations in Vertebrate Evolution


Book Description

How did flying birds evolve from running dinosaurs, terrestrial trotting tetrapods evolve from swimming fish, and whales return to swim in the sea? These are some of the great transformations in the 500-million-year history of vertebrate life. And with the aid of new techniques and approaches across a range of fields—work spanning multiple levels of biological organization from DNA sequences to organs and the physiology and ecology of whole organisms—we are now beginning to unravel the confounding evolutionary mysteries contained in the structure, genes, and fossil record of every living species. This book gathers a diverse team of renowned scientists to capture the excitement of these new discoveries in a collection that is both accessible to students and an important contribution to the future of its field. Marshaling a range of disciplines—from paleobiology to phylogenetics, developmental biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology—the contributors attack particular transformations in the head and neck, trunk, appendages such as fins and limbs, and the whole body, as well as offer synthetic perspectives. Illustrated throughout, Great Transformations in Vertebrate Evolution not only reveals the true origins of whales with legs, fish with elbows, wrists, and necks, and feathered dinosaurs, but also the relevance to our lives today of these extraordinary narratives of change.







Vertebrate Biology


Book Description

The most trusted and best-selling textbook on the diverse forms and fascinating lives of vertebrate animals. Covering crucial topics from morphology and behavior to ecology and zoogeography, Donald Linzey's popular textbook, Vertebrate Biology, has long been recognized as the most comprehensive and readable resource on vertebrates for students and educators. Thoroughly updated with the latest research, this new edition discusses taxa and topics such as • systematics and evolution • zoogeography, ecology, morphology, and reproduction • early chordates • fish, amphibians, reptiles (inclusive of birds), and mammals • population dynamics • movement and migration • behavior • study methods • extinction processes • conservation and management For the first time, 32 pages of color images bring these fascinating organisms to life. In addition, 5 entirely new chapters have been added to the book, which cover • restoration of endangered species • regulatory legislation affecting vertebrates • wildlife conservation in a modern world • climate change • contemporary wildlife management Complete with review questions, updated references, appendixes, and a glossary of well over 300 terms, Vertebrate Biology is the ideal text for courses in zoology, vertebrate biology, vertebrate natural history, and general biology. Donald W. Linzey carefully builds theme upon theme, concept upon concept, as he walks students through a plethora of topics. Arranged logically to follow the most widely adopted course structure, this text will leave students with a full understanding of the unique structure, function, and living patterns of all vertebrates.




Vertebrate Zoology


Book Description

This is a major new textbook that is intended to lead students away from purely descriptive zoology courses into an experimental approach that emphasizes asking and answering questions about nature. The book gives a panoramic view of vertebrate life, classification, ecology and behaviour. Section I of the book describes the major groups of vertebrates and their origins. The second section covers classification and its methodology. Section III describes the ecology of vertebrates from two standpoints: how individuals cope with environmental extremes, and principles of population and community ecology as illustrated by experiments carried out in the field. Section IV describes the geographic distribution of vertebrates. The fifth section discusses migration. Vertebrate behaviour is the subject of the final section and covers observations and the theories and experiments they have inspired.







Respiratory Physiology of Vertebrates


Book Description

How do vertebrates get the oxygen they need, or even manage without it for shorter or longer periods of time? How do they sense oxygen, how do they take it up from water or air, and how do they transport it to their tissues? Respiratory system adaptations allow numerous vertebrates to thrive in extreme environments where oxygen availability is limited or where there is no oxygen at all. Written for students and researchers in comparative physiology, this authoritative summary of vertebrate respiratory physiology begins by exploring the fundamentals of oxygen sensing, uptake and transport in a textbook style. Subsequently, the reader is shown important examples of extreme respiratory performance, like diving and high altitude survival in mammals and birds, air breathing in fish, and those few vertebrates that can survive without any oxygen at all for several months, showing how evolution has solved the problem of life without oxygen.




Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution


Book Description

New discoveries of ancient vertebrates, filling in gaps in the fossil record, are quickly eroding the traditionally recognized differences between the principal groups of vertebrates—for example, between dinosaurs and birds—and radically changing our understanding of the evolutionary history of the major group of animals to which our species belongs. This book describes this changing scientific landscape and contributes to the revolution in our knowledge of the developmental mechanisms that underlie evolutionary transformation.




How Vertebrates Left the Water


Book Description

More than three hundred million years ago—a relatively recent date in the two billion years since life first appeared—vertebrate animals first ventured onto land. This usefully illustrated book describes how some finned vertebrates acquired limbs, giving rise to more than 25,000 extant tetrapod species. Michel Laurin uses paleontological, geological, physiological, and comparative anatomical data to describe this monumental event. He summarizes key concepts of modern paleontological research, including biological nomenclature, paleontological and molecular dating, and the methods used to infer phylogeny and character evolution. Along with a discussion of the evolutionary pressures that may have led vertebrates onto dry land, the book also shows how extant vertebrates yield clues about the conquest of land and how scientists uncover evolutionary history.