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This monograph on the biology of animal building embraces all groups, from simple invertebrates to primate toolmakers. It looks at the behavioral and anatomical equipment animals have in order to build, as well as the materials available to them. It examines how architects are able, singly or collectively, to produce complex structures often much larger than themselves. It also looks at the costs of building, the properties of completed structures, the ecological impact of them ,and their effects on the evolution of animal builders. ... Read more

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While neo-Darwinism has considerable explanatory power, it is widely recognized as lacking a component dealing with individual development, or ontogeny.This lack is particularly conspicuous when attempting to explain the evolutionary origin of the thirty-five or so animal body plans, and of the developmental trajectories that generate them. This significant work examines both the origin of body plans in particular and the evolution of animal development in general. Wallace Arthur ranges widely in his treatment, covering topics as diverse as comparative developmental genetics, selection theory, and Vendian/Cambrian fossils. He places particular emphasis on gene duplication, changes in spatio-temporal gene-expression patterns, internal selection, coevolution of interacting genes, and coadaptation. The book will be of particular interest to students and researchersin evolutionary biology, genetics, paleontology, and developmental biology. ... Read more

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Different evolutionary contexts when body plans originated
Let's see, my take on the book in a nutshell: the conditions under which evolution operated during the Cambrian/Vendian times were different from the conditions following that time in two main ways, and these differences can potentially account for the origin of the many animal body plans during those early periods and the lack of new ones since.

First, ~550 million years ago most animals were very much simpler (fewer cells, for example) than they are today, so changes to their developmental programs would have been better tolerated.The more complex any system is (the more parts it has, the more coordinated and well-matched those parts must be, etc.), the more rigidly constrained and less amenable to a given magnitude of change it is.So the simpler developmental processes (simpler adult-form end product, fewer interactions between developmental genes, etc.) of early animals would have allowed for a 'large-scale' change to be incorporated into that animal's ontogeny, though if a change of the same magnitude were to occur today, it would be too disruptive to the complex developmental program and would be eliminated (note that 'large-scale change' refers to the adult form: the actual change that caused that altered end result could be a typical small scale mutation, in an early developmental stage).The author is not proposing Goldschmidt's "hopeful monsters" that occur due to 'macromutations', but rather an intermediate position between that and the "only micromutations" view of gradualistic neo-Darwinism.And, as just mentioned, mutations in developmental processes (even ones that resulted in 'macromutations' in the adult form) would have been more tolerated in the simpler animals that existed ~550 mya than they would be in today's.

Second, ~550 million years ago animal diversity was extremely more limited than it is today, so there was a huge number of open niches: a plentitude the likes of which has never again existed on our planet.An organism that happened to find itself in one of the multitude of open niches (by means of a "semi-macro" mutation, the product of a change in a developmental gene) would have faced little if any competition.The reduced external competition would potentially allow the morpholigical variation(s), that would otherwise likely have been eliminated, to persist. (The sudden change could leave the organism with a lower level of internal coordination: over time, internal cooadaptation could evolve to 'catch up' with the change in morphology: these internal adjustments would leave no trace in the fossil record).

Combining these two ideas produces a reasonable explanation of the 'explosion' in new body plans in Vendian/Cambrian times.

Of course there's much more to the book than my above "nutshell" presentation.The Evo-Devo perspective presented in the book allowed me to view evolution in a new way: it gave me a better understanding of the "creative" side of evolution than I had before when viewing things solely from a gradualistic, neo-Darwinian frame of reference.

PS:The book is "aged" (1997) but is not outdated.

Body plans, hox genes, and developmental biology
This work is a technical introduction to evolutionary developmental biology and introduces a very different perspective on evolution from what one is used to in the usual biology texts. In spite of its moderate difficulty, to a non-specialist, it is actually much clearer than simplified versions of Darwinism, and one can recommend it strongly as a perspective on the separate current to the Neo-Darwinian synthesis that has flowed from its nineteenth century origins parallel to Darwin. In the age of the Genome this dark side of the moon as to theoretical paradigms is coming into full view. The book starts with an exhortation to the reader "to believe that current evolutionary theory based on natural selection and adaptation in natural lineages is, at the very least, incomplete..." The author asks, did "evolution really have an early 'morphogenetic' phase during which most major body plans originated?" The difficulty of explaining the fact that no phylum-level body plans have arisen in the last 500 my becomes one of the starting points of the book. In general this perspective asks for the creative aspect of development beyond the destructive aspect of natural selection models. From there the book proceeds to the issues of cladism, body plans, genetic regulation, and many other topics in a comprehensive presentation.The crucial significance of all this for understanding evolution and extricating oneself from disinformation in the Darwin debate are obvious. Much of the boilerplate and blah-blah of the public discourse on evolution can be left behind in a fast getaway into some better fare than the current offerings. We are beginning to catch a glimpse of a new world of evolution, one that has been with us all along in embryo, as forseen by such biologists as Soren Lovtrup in Darwinism: Refutation of a Myth. That day is now arriving. ... Read more

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Essentials of Animal Behaviour is an introduction to the study of animal behavior that is primarily intended for first- or second-year undergraduates. The book aims to get across the basic principles of the subject as briefly and lucidly as possible with the aid of carefully selected examples from both recent and classic research, together with numerous illustrations. The text will stimulate readers with its active and exciting treatment of the research, and will lay a solid foundation on which further study may be based. Its simple and readable style, helped by an extensive glossary, will make it useful and enjoyable reading for all those with an interest in the subjects of animal behavior, behavioral ecology, and comparative psychology. ... Read more

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Essential!
This is an essential book for anyone interested in Ethology and a great beginning for someone who is descovering animal behaviour. It's light (so you can carry it to the beach!) and it's very fluid writting making it easyto grasp the subjects. It's organized according to the four main questionsby Nicolaus Tinbergen, and filled with picturestic descriptions ofexperiments helping you comprehend the topics and working as a memory aid.Essential! ... Read more

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Animal Developmental Ecology is the first book to focus specifically on the interactions between the environment and developmental mechanisms with particular emphasis given to the consequences for animal populations.The underlying premise of the book is that the study of physiological mechanisms alongside the analysis of adaptive values will enable rapid advances in our knowledge of this important field.With contributors from well-known experts, the book will be invaluable for all postgraduates and researchers in this area. ... Read more

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Endothelial Cell Culture contains chapters by experts on endothelial cells derived from the lung, bone marrow, brain, mammary glands, skin, adipose tissue, female reproductive system, and synovium. ... Read more

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This book examines the effects of spaceflight at cellular and organism levels. Research on the effects of gravity - or its absence - and ionizing radiation on the evolution, development, and function of living organisms is presented in layman's terms. The book describes the benefits of space biology for basic and applied research to support human space exploration and the advantages of space as a laboratory for scientific, technological, and commercial research.

Customer Reviews (1)

Sometimes interesting, deeply career focused
As "almost" an engineer that will probably focus part of its future in Space technology, this book showed me the current biology research's state of the art. To this point, I must clarify that this book indeed got some of the info that I have been looking for in order to design future biological related space flight systems, but many of its contents are deeply dark for the vast people's majority. I have been trained into Biology basics before entering University, so I got some back-knowledge to understand most of this book's content genetics and cell's basic working. For the non topic related trained people, this book will flood you with an impressive useless and not understable amount of data, so your final impression should be somehow a deception.

This books, in general, shows how many and which biology experiments have been accomplished into space, even if you do not know whaever the flora and fauna it is speaking of, so at the end, biological more than basics trainning is a must.

As engineer, there is little information about working systems. Where they are mentioned, there is no explananation on why and how system works, which in some cases may lead to the finality of such an invention. Maybe for a biologist this book may be ok, but not for an engineer, or just, systems engineer.

For a technical's point of view, many of the approaches into biological systems are fairly poor, since most of the experiments achieved in space lacks of the most basic scientific accuracy it should be expected from. Basic physics shows that space centrifugators used to mimic Earth's gravity are positioning dependant, so maybe just at edges, real 1g is obtained (not just for 2D (plane) centrifugators, but also for 3D ones). This partial "avoiding" of Earth's g influence, in essence, makes almost all biological experiments in space, not conclusive,since many of this book's content just study gravity's effect on cells and bio-systems.Thus, in my opinion, many of the "succeded" experiments are not just but expensive tries.

To this point, I cannot say it is completelly a useless try, or even an useless book, cause as usual, many biological developments on cells have been discovered.

The only interesting point I have seen is the radioactive direct effects on bio-systems, although at the beginning's introduction, some trained radiologist may get lost with un-accurate radiology definitions. Later on, in the related topic part, it is better explained and corrected. Since there is no apparent gravity's effect on radiactivity behaviour on cells, this study may be certainly a good starting point, considering auto-regenerative limitations on special's g environment.

Finally, as engineer, I asked myself: well, you enjoy a lot speaking and studying gravity, so, why the hell dont you study which minimum gravity is required to maintain a complex human bio-system working as it will on Earth?. Maybe a stupid question, but not resolved as of yet. Instead seeing how gravity affects living organisms, look for the Earth's bio-systems minimum gravity point. Then, study what happens under such a limits.

I have set this 4 star qualifications because topic seems to be interesting (I ordered it due it), and I am sure it is for biologist, but some "real" engineer will miss tons of things that should be explained first. I enjoyed a lot the NASA crew members photos along the whole book, but little useless, cause there is no information in there, just "family photos". I know there have been some photos inside from the Columbia's astronauts, but there are better ways to remember them, than publishing without any sense. For me, in general, it is a boring reading book, although there are few interesting data among its 300 paper sheets.

If you want to see how some animals and plants reacts to gravity, expect funny things as the Homer Simpson and chip's flight in space. If you want to know how to maintain those living organism alive on space, this book isnt for you. ... Read more

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Animal Science Biology and Technology, 3rd edition is the ideal animal science book that combines the empirical and the practical in a book suitable for readers of all ages and stages. This book takes the reader from the basics of production through to evaluation, while delivering a contemporary industry overview. Readers will find the opportunities for experiential learning found in this book will be especially helpful in planning supervised agricultural experience projects and FFA career development events. The career focus sections found in Animal Science Biology and Technology, 3rd edition present opportunities in a story format that will pique the reader's interest and the accompanying laboratory manual and additional activities will provide readers with hands on engagement that enhances learning. This outstanding book was written by nationally renowned educators, MeeCee Baker and Robert Mikesell, who also own and operate a beef cattle farm and who bring academia into the pasture. ... Read more

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Animal Science Biology and Technology
Nice textbook.smaller in size (amt. of pages) than I thought...but I never checked that out before purchase. It's being used for my high school aged daughters home school class as another high school science class. She begged to take the class when it was offered!She is lovingit so far. ... Read more

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Ninety percent of the cells in the human body are bacteria, and humans may be host to many thousands of different species of bacteria. These striking statistics are part of a new paradigm in microbiology in which bacteria are no longer viewed as disease-causing killers but more as lifelong partners which are often essential for the survival of their host. This book brings together a group of diverse scientists - evolutionary biologists, immunologists, molecular biologists, microbiologists, pathologists and mathematicians - to discuss the evolution and mechanisms of bacteria-host interactions at all levels of complexity. Chapters deal with the evolution of these interactions over the last 60 years (since the introduction of antibiotics) to a period of 3.8 billion years (since the evolution of single-celled life) and discuss bacterial interactions with multicellular life forms from coral reefs to humans. Researchers and graduate students across the life sciences will find this book of interest. ... Read more

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Our Little Friends
It turns out that most bacteria is not pathogenic and many species are essential to the proper functioning of the human body. This book presents a whole new way of viewing bacteria, the human body, and their relationship to one another. 90% of the cells in our bodies are, by count, bacteria. We are more collectives of organisms then we are single beings.

This book is highly technical, but very well written and surprisingly easy to follow with a basic understanding of biology. It not only is helpful for scientists, but also for persons interested in new theories about what it means to be human and our relationship with our environment. It provides some ideas to chew on about how to develop a better relationship with our bacteria as sterilizing the body of it does not offer any real benefit and is even harmful to our survival. ... Read more

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The two main aims of this book are to increase the general availability of classical contributions to animal biology and to present the development of thought in this field in the words of those who produced it.

The first of these aims is realized by assembling in one volume works previously scattered and, in some cases, rather rare.

The second object, that of tracing the principal patterns of development in the field, is made possible through the selection of appropriate materials and the inclusion of brief critical comments indicating the historical position of each work and its author.

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Soil Biology PrimerAuthors:Dr. Elaine Ingham Andrew R. Moldenke & Clive A. EdwardsLimited Availibility online. Buy it here NOW!!For farmers, ranchers, ag professionals, resource specialists, conservationists, soil scientists, students and educators. The Soil Biology Primer is an introduction to the living component of soil and how it contributes to agricultural productivity, and air and water quality. The Primer includes units describing the soil food web and its relationship to soil health, and units about bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworm ... Read more

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Good Information
This book explains soil biology well. However, there are several really good books on this subject that go into more detail and are less expensive. At 48 pages, it is really more of a magazine size.Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition

The basics -- perfectly clear
This book would fit in many types of classrooms from elementary science to
applied biology.I originally read it to get background on organic horticulture. I now use its excellent charts and illustrations to show my clients why the products from Urban Worms Organics work so well.

soil biology
excellent reference and for teaching. Great photos and text. This a full view of life in our soil and their relationships. Very readable. ... Read more

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Commonsense challenge to behaviorism in ethology
Donald Griffin wants, in this book, to challenge the behaviorism that has dominated much thinking about animal behavior for the past several decades.In several books, such as THE QUESTION OF ANIMAL AWARENESS and his later ANIMAL MINDS, Griffin has been intent on challenging assumptions that most or all animal behavior is merely instinctive.

Griffin's basic argument is that, counter to what many behaviorists have assumed, the presupposition that animals have the ability to think and undertake much of their actions on the basis of deliberation rather than pure instinct, is actually a simpler thesis than behaviorism.One example he gives are leaf cutter ants, and shows how a behaviorist model does not explain how they are able to adapt to each leaf they need to cut.Not having the ability to think on a least a very elementary level, Griffin argues, would require a large cognitive capacity merely to store all the instinctive behavior patterns that not being able to think would require.

Griffin also provides many instances from the animal world at large of instances in which the assumption that all animal behavior is instinctive is rendered untenable.For instance, lions hunting cooperatively, where a group splits up, several members gaining attention of the prey, while another stealthily sneaks up on the prey animals from behind.

I am not a trained ethologist, so I have no idea how one of Griffin's colleagues would respond to this book, but I think any reasonably perceptive and intelligent person who has owned pets will find this book to be intuitively correct.I was left wondering at the end of the book why behaviorism, which originated in human psychology and which has long since been rejected, would continue to hold sway in ethological studies.I did, however, find this to be a highly illuminating book about animal behavior in general. ... Read more

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The evolutionary roots of human communication are difficult to trace, but recent comparative research suggests that the first key step in that evolutionary history may have been the establishment of basic communicative flexibility—the ability to vocalize freely combined with the capability to coordinate vocalization with communicative intent. The contributors to this volume investigate how some species (particularly ancient hominids) broke free of the constraints of "fixed signals," actions that were evolved to communicate but lack the flexibility of language—a newborn infant's cry, for example, always signals distress and has a stereotypical form not modifiable by the crying baby. Fundamentally, the contributors ask what communicative flexibility is and what evolutionary conditions can produce it.

The accounts offered in these chapters are notable for taking the question of language origins farther back in evolutionary time than in much previous work. Many contributors address the very earliest communicative break of the hominid line from the primate background; others examine the evolutionary origins of flexibility in, for example, birds and marine mammals. The volume's interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives illuminate issues that are on the cutting edge of recent research on this topic.

Contributors: Stéphanie Barbu, Curt Burgess, Josep Call, Laurance Doyle, Julia Fischer, Michael Goldstein, Ulrike Griebel, Kurt Hammerschmidt, Sean Hanser, Martine Hausberger, Laurence Henry, Allison Kaufman, Stan Kuczaj, Robert F. Lachlan, Brian MacWhinney, Radhika Makecha, Brenda McCowan, D. Kimbrough Oller, Michael Owren, Ron Schusterman, Charles T. Snowdon, Kim Sterelny, Benoît Testé, Gert Westermann.

Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology ... Read more

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Paul A. Johnsgard's first glimpse of a North American ruddy duck a chestnut-brown bird with a blue bill, black head, and white cheeks led to decades of observing the eight extant species of stiff-tailed ducks. In Ruddy Ducks and Other Stifftails, he and Montserrat Carbonell introduce general readers and ornithologists to the ruddy's morphology, behavior, ecology, and diverse relatives. This richly illustrated volume highlights these unique species at a critical time, when their wetlands habitats are increasingly at risk. ... Read more

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Perspectives on Animal Behavior introduces biologists and psychologists to the scientific reasoning and methodology in the field while also addressing development and mechanisms. Rather than just focusing on evolutionary behavior, the book presents a variety of different perspectives including genetics, neurological, learning, and behavioral ecology. The third edition walks them through experimentation and data analysis, which are critical in the field. It includes classical studies that form the foundation of this field but concentrates on more current work in order to present the thinking and experiments. Biologists and psychologists will then gain a modern understanding of animal behavior. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fantastic Experience
The book was in absolutely perfect condition and arrived within three days of purchase, even though they estimated it would take 8-12 days. I would definitely purchase from the same seller again.

A nice book to learn about Ethology and Animal Behavior
I'm glad I found this book. It is a very good text to start learning abou animal behavior and ethology. I had the impression tha this book is easier to read and more organized than other books about the subject, especially if you have a Psychology background, since it's approach to the subject dosen't require a lot of Zoology knowledge from the reader, as other books on the subject do. ... Read more

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Genetic-based animal biotechnology has produced new food and pharmaceutical products and promises many more advances to benefit humankind. These exciting prospects are accompanied by considerable unease, however, about matters such as safety and ethics. This book identifies science-based and policy-related concerns about animal biotechnology - key issues that must be resolved before the new breakthroughs can reach their potential. The book includes a short history of the field and provides understandable definitions of terms like cloning. Looking at technologies on the near horizon, the authors discuss what we know and what we fear about their effects - the inadvertent release of dangerous microorganisms, the safety of products derived from biotechnology, the impact of genetically engineered animals on their environment. In addition to these concerns, the book explores animal welfare concerns, and our societal and institutional capacity to manage and regulate the technology and its products. This accessible volume will be important to everyone interested in the implications of the use of animal biotechnology. ... Read more

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Molecular Principles of Animal Development by Alfonso Martinez-Arias and Alison Stewart is the only textbook in the field that focuses on the molecules and mechanisms that underlie the developmental process. Offering a compellingly modern way of looking at developmental biology, it reflects recent literature and the dramatic advances and changes in the field over the last decade. It works from the molecular and cellular principles up to the organism level, rather than the traditional top-down emphasis on the complete organism. The authors demonstrate that an understanding of animal development requires an understanding of the universal mechanisms that emerge from molecular networks. Designed for advanced undergraduates and early graduate students, this well-organized book can be used to teach courses at different levels. It includes an introduction and three sections that increase in level of complexity while building on previous sections. It shows that development is not programmed into the genome but is an output of the opportunistic use of molecular networks and routines. Written with a rigorous but readable style, Molecular Principles of Animal Development is a stunningly useful addition to the field of developmental biology. ... Read more