Fino a che punto l uomo, grazie alla scienza e alla tecnologia, puo migliorare se stesso, allungandosi la vita e potenziando le proprie funzioni fisiche e mentali? Il libro cerca di rispondere a questa domanda in sette capitoli. Nel primo e nel secondo si parla del sogno dell'immortalita e della possibilita di raggiungere quei 120 anni di vita inscritti nel genoma umano. Nel terzo capitolo si affronta il tema del miglioramento dell aspetto fisico e del potenziamento delle capacita mentali, illustrando le possibili conseguenze di queste applicazione su vasta scala. Nel quarto e quinto si illustrano gli scenari della comunicazione globale, i rischi e le possibili contromisure da prendere. Nel sesto e settimo capitolo si accenna agli scenari possibili del post-umano e si analizzano le conseguenze, sul piano morale e teoretico, di cio che gli autori considerano un atto di delega alla tecnologia. Il libro, con brevi citazioni di autori classici e moderni, ha alcune illustrazioni di opere originali degli artisti Luigi Battisti e Fabrizio Bosco."

In these autobiographical essays by pioneers in the field of animal behavior, the authors discuss childhood, education, moments of discovery, and the attractions of the research that each pursued. The field of animal behavior has been interdisciplinary throughout its history, and the two psychologists and seventeen biologists in Donald Dewsbury's collection provide a fascinating assortment of backgrounds and interests. Chosen by a panel of seven distinguished animal behaviorists, the men whose essays are collected here include two Nobel Prize winners and one Pulitzer Prize winner. All provide unique accounts of the development of the field written by its original leading practitioners.

Pleasurable Kingdom marshalls the latest evidence that animals, like humans, enjoy themselves. It debunks the popular perception that life for most is a continuous, grim struggle for survival. Instead it suggests that creatures from birds to bats to baboons may feel good thanks to play, sex, touch, food, anticipation, comfort, aesthetics and more. Combining rigorous evidence, elegant argument and amusing anecdote, leading animal behaviour researcher Dr Jonathan Balcombe proposes that evolution favours sensory rewards because they drive living things to stay alive and reproduce. Animal pain and stress, once controversial, are now acknowledged by legislation in many countries. Likewise the possibility of positive feelings in creatures other than humans has important ramifications for science and society and is thus ripe for informed debate, Balcombe concludes.

Plants face a daunting array of creatures that eat them, bore into them, and otherwise use virtually every plant part for food, shelter, or both. But although plants cannot flee from their attackers, they are far from defenseless. In addition to adaptations like thorns, which may be produced in response to attack, plants actively alter their chemistry and physiology in response to damage. For instance, young potato plant leaves being eaten by potato beetles respond by producing chemicals that inhibit beetle digestive enzymes.
Over the past fifteen years, research on these induced responses to herbivory has flourished, and here Richard Karban and Ian T. Baldwin present the first comprehensive evaluation and synthesis of this rapidly developing field. They provide state-of-the-discipline reviews and highlight areas where new research will be most productive. Their comprehensive overview will be welcomed by a wide variety of theoretical and applied researchers in ecology, evolutionary biology, plant biology, entomology, and agriculture.

This handbook lays out the science behind how animals think, remember, create, calculate, and remember. It provides concise overviews on major areas of study such as animal communication and language, memory and recall, social cognition, social learning and teaching, numerical and quantitative abilities, as well as innovation and problem solving. The chapters also explore more nuanced topics in greater detail, showing how the research was conducted and how it can be used for further study. The authors range from academics working in renowned university departments to those from research institutions and practitioners in zoos. The volume encompasses a wide variety of species, ensuring the breadth of the field is explored.

Unsere Sinne - Sehen, Hoeren, Riechen, Schmecken und Tasten - bestimmen wesentlich unser Leben. Alles was wir wissen, wurde uns von unseren Sinnen vermittelt. Aber wie funktionieren unsere Sinne und wie kommt das Wissen uber die Welt in unseren Kopf? Nach welchen Kriterien entscheidet unser Gehirn, was zu tun ist? In diesem Sachbuch wird allgemeinverstandlich dargelegt, wie hoch entwickelt die Sinnesorgane bei Tieren und Menschen sind. Oft erreichen Sinnesleistungen die Grenze des physikalisch Moeglichen. Das Buch erklart, wie Sinnesreize erfasst werden, wie sie in die Sprache des Nervensystems ubersetzt werden und wie unser Gehirn Sinnesinformation verarbeitet. Das Gehirn setzt dabei auf wohl bewahrte Strategien, die ein Ziel verfolgen: die UEberlebenschance des Organismus zu erhoehen. Deshalb wird in diesem Buch gezeigt, wie sehr die Sinnesleistungen durch die Evolution geformt und bestimmt wurden. Das Buch zeigt auch, dass viele Tiere ihre Umwelt vollkommen anders wahrnehmen als wir. Fur die Neuauflage haben die Autoren den Text durchgesehen und auf den aktuellen Stand gebracht.

Today's therapy dog handlers recognize the need to be teammates with their dogs, not just supervisors. Teaming with one's dog involves unobtrusively providing physical and emotional support as well as respectful guidance in what to do. Being a teammate requires attention to the handler's behavior, not just the dog's. This book reminds all handlers that being conscious of what they do with their dogs increases the effectiveness of therapy visits as well as providing a more rewarding experience for all involved.Written by a nationally famous practitioner with decades of real-world experience, the book introduces the "STEPs of Teamwork" and how those STEPs fit with a Therapy Dog's Bill of Rights. These general principles free handlers to apply them in their own way to their therapy dog's individual personality and work. As the author writes, "The book explores a way of being conscious of what you do with and to your therapy dog to support him in his work. It describes functional principles of behavior you can learn and use immediately, either together as a package or independently." Using an exciting new methodology, the author guides readers to deepen their relationship with their dogs by acting consciously and respectfully.

Drawing on expertise from around the world, this volume identifies our current state of knowledge about the behavior and physiology of root herbivores. In particular, this work describes prevailing concepts and theories based on historical and current literature and identifies what new technologies and approaches are available to researchers in the field. Chapters address how root herbivore behavior and physiology is affected by the biotic and abiotic soil environment, cover case studies of globally significant pests and discuss advances in molecular techniques. Covering all aspects of behavioral and physiological responses of root herbivores to their environment, this will be valuable reading for researchers and professionals in agricultural entomology, plant science, ecology and soil science.

Key topics include: Molecular approach to root herbivoresPhylloxeraPlant metabolitesSoil climateBehavioral ecology / wireworms

This book presents topical research on human and animal mating strategies, gender differences and environmental influences. Topics include the mating effects on female reproductive organs and the paradigm of oestrogen signalling pathways in the oviduct; sexual maturation, mating strategies and neuroendocrinology in social insects; plasticity in mating patterns of a benthic nest-holding fish related to the effects of nest-site abundance and social interactions; and human sexual strategies of short-term mating and parental control over mate choice.

Ever since Jane Goodall unlocked the mysteries of wild chimpanzees, and Dian Fossey lived among Mountain gorillas, the world has been captivated by primates and the people who study them. Here at last, is the riveting story of Birute Galdikas, a pioneering primatologist who has spent much of herlive studying orangutans.

In 1971, twenty-five-year-old Galdikas began living in the remote jungles of Indonesian Borneo, where she encountered menacing poachers, blood-sucking leeches and swarms of carnivorous insects. Determined to penetrate the world of the elusive "red ape" in the name of science and conservation, Galdikas embarked on a quest of more than twenty years to become the foremost chronicler of orangutan life. Her first task was to form a bond of trust with the animals, but her initial forays into their world were thwarted by skeptical and territorial orangutans like handsome Cara, who hurled dead branches at Galdikas from the tree canopy above. Eventually Galdikas became a surrogate member of the community, triumphantly claimed as "mother" by little Sugito, who clung to her fiercely, night and day, for months. Reflections of Eden is an exotic adventure, a history of vital scientific research, and the memoir of a remarkable woman.

In more ways than we may sometimes care to acknowledge, the human being is just another primate--it is certainly only very rarely that researchers into cognition, emotion, personality, and behavior in our species and in other primates come together to compare notes and share insights. This book, one of the few comprehensive attempts at integrating behavioral research into human and nonhuman primates, does precisely that--and in doing so, offers a clear, in-depth look at the mutually enlightening work being done in psychology and primatology.

Relying on theories of behavior derived from psychology rather than ecology or biological anthropology, the authors, internationally known experts in primatology and psychology, focus primarily on social processes in areas including aggression, conflict resolution, sexuality, attachment, parenting, social development and affiliation, cognitive development, social cognition, personality, emotions, vocal and nonvocal communication, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopathology. They show nonhuman primates to be far more complex, cognitively and emotionally, than was once supposed, with provocative implications for our understanding of supposedly unique human characteristics. Arguing that both human and nonhuman primates are distinctive for their wide range of context-sensitive behaviors, their work makes a powerful case for the future integration of human and primate behavioral research.

For cognitive ecologists, fish biologists, animal behaviorists, and inquiring anglers. How and why do trout think? How do they decide where to eat and which food to eat? Why do they refuse to behave as predicted, stumping anglers by rejecting a larger fly for a smaller one or not responding at all to anything in an angler's box? How do trout know to bolt to one particular covered area after being hooked or flushed? Why can trout smell better than humans but not remember as well? Citing the most recent scientific findings in a readily understandable form, Thomas C. Grubb, Jr. addresses these questions and more in The Mind of the Trout. It is the first book to bring together many varied concepts of cognitive ecology as applied to trout and their salmonid relatives: char, salmon, grayling, and whitefish.

Walk near woods or water on any spring or summer night and you will hear a bewildering (and sometimes deafening) chorus of frog, toad, and insect calls. How are these calls produced? What messages are encoded within the sounds, and how do their intended recipients receive and decode these signals? How does acoustic communication affect and reflect behavioral and evolutionary factors such as sexual selection and predator avoidance?
H. Carl Gerhardt and Franz Huber address these questions among many others, drawing on research from bioacoustics, behavior, neurobiology, and evolutionary biology to present the first integrated approach to the study of acoustic communication in insects and anurans. They highlight both the common solutions that these very different groups have evolved to shared challenges, such as small size, ectothermy (cold-bloodedness), and noisy environments, as well as the divergences that reflect the many differences in evolutionary history between the groups. Throughout the book Gerhardt and Huber also provide helpful suggestions for future research.

Can a parrot understand complex concepts and mean what it says? Since the early 1900s, most studies on animal-human communication have focused on great apes and a few cetacean species. Birds were rarely used in similar studies on the grounds that they were merely talented mimics--that they were, after all, "birdbrains." Experiments performed primarily on pigeons in Skinner boxes demonstrated capacities inferior to those of mammals; these results were thought to reflect the capacities of all birds, despite evidence suggesting that species such as jays, crows, and parrots might be capable of more impressive cognitive feats.

Twenty years ago Irene Pepperberg set out to discover whether the results of the pigeon studies necessarily meant that other birds--particularly the large-brained, highly social parrots--were incapable of mastering complex cognitive concepts and the rudiments of referential speech. Her investigation and the bird at its center--a male Grey parrot named Alex--have since become almost as well known as their primate equivalents and no less a subject of fierce debate in the field of animal cognition. This book represents the long-awaited synthesis of the studies constituting one of the landmark experiments in modern comparative psychology.

A home aquarium seems a peaceful place. Gazing at its inhabitants as they swim slowly through their small universe is a soothing, even hypnotic, experience. But this seeming tranquillity is only surface deep. Like their wild counterparts, these tiny, glittering beings exhibit a wide array of fascinating behaviors.Stephan Reebs provides a delightfully entertaining, yet scientifically grounded, look at what fishes do and how they do it. From defending their young, to seeking out the perfect sexual partner, to telling time, fishes display a variety of behaviors that may not be readily apparent to the casual observer. Reebs not only describes the behaviors, but also outlines simple experiments that can be performed by observers wishing to learn for themselves just how resourceful and bizarre these creatures can be.How Fish Behave introduces us to damselfishes that sing like birds, elephantfishes that communicate electrically, and sticklebacks that deceive other fish into believing they have found food. Drawing on the experimental evidence behind such intrinsically interesting responses, Reebs demonstrates how science is conducted in the field of animal behavior."

A home aquarium seems a peaceful place. Gazing at its inhabitants as they swim slowly through their small universe is a soothing, even hypnotic, experience. But this seeming tranquillity is only surface deep. Like their wild counterparts, these tiny, glittering beings exhibit a wide array of fascinating behaviors.Stephan Reebs provides a delightfully entertaining, yet scientifically grounded, look at what fishes do and how they do it. From defending their young, to seeking out the perfect sexual partner, to telling time, fishes display a variety of behaviors that may not be readily apparent to the casual observer. Reebs not only describes the behaviors, but also outlines simple experiments that can be performed by observers wishing to learn for themselves just how resourceful and bizarre these creatures can be.How Fish Behave introduces us to damselfishes that sing like birds, elephantfishes that communicate electrically, and sticklebacks that deceive other fish into believing they have found food. Drawing on the experimental evidence behind such intrinsically interesting responses, Reebs demonstrates how science is conducted in the field of animal behavior."

This unique volume of thirty essays, by fifty-three internationally known scholars, honours C.S. (Rufus) Churcher, the distinguished Canadian palaeontologist. The papers focus on late Cenozoic mammals in North America and Africa and provide both site-specific descriptions of faunas and their associated geological contexts, and more general syntheses of regional palaeoenvironments and biogeography. The volume provides a much-needed overview of current research. The stature of the researchers who have contributed to the volume, and the breadth of the material presented, is a reflection of Churcher’s diverse research interests. The first section contains eleven papers on the palaeoenvironment and palaeoecology of Quaternary mammals in North America; the second section has 9 contributions describing faunas and morphological analyses of North American Quaternary mammals; and the final section contains nine papers on the palaeoecology and palaeoenvironments of late Cenozoic mammals of Africa. In this final section, Alan Gentry pays tribute to Churcher by naming a species after him: Budorcas churcheri. The volume contains individual discussions of North American fossil prairie dogs, mastodons, zebras, short-faced bears, sabre cats, lions, giant armadillos, elk-moose, caribou and muskrats, as well as African hyaenas, zebras, hipparion horses, antelopes, rodents, and giraffes.

Do chimpanzees have something akin to culture? Bringing together studies of behavioral variation within and among chimpanzees and bonobos --the sibling species of the genus "Pan"--this book provides the basis for answering this question. In "Chimpanzee Cultures," the world's leading authorities on chimpanzees and bonobos chronicle the animals' behaviors from one study site to the next, in both captive and wild groups, in laboratory and field settings.

To observe a dog's guilty look. to witness a gorilla's self-sacrifice for a wounded mate, to watch an elephant herd's communal effort on behalf of a stranded calf--to catch animals in certain acts is to wonder what moves them. Might there he a code of ethics in the animal kingdom? Must an animal be human to he humane? In this provocative book, a renowned scientist takes on those who have declared ethics uniquely human Making a compelling case for a morality grounded in biology, he shows how ethical behavior is as much a matter of evolution as any other trait, in humans and animals alike. World famous for his brilliant descriptions of Machiavellian power plays among chimpanzees-the nastier side of animal life--Frans de Waal here contends that animals have a nice side as well. Making his case through vivid anecdotes drawn from his work with apes and monkeys and holstered by the intriguing, voluminous data from his and others' ongoing research, de Waal shows us that many of the building blocks of morality are natural: they can he observed in other animals. Through his eyes, we see how not just primates but all kinds of animals, from marine mammals to dogs, respond to social rules, help each other, share food, resolve conflict to mutual satisfaction, even develop a crude sense of justice and fairness. Natural selection may be harsh, but it has produced highly successful species that survive through cooperation and mutual assistance. De Waal identifies this paradox as the key to an evolutionary account of morality, and demonstrates that human morality could never have developed without the foundation of fellow feeling our species shares with other animals. As his work makes clear, a morality grounded in biology leads to an entirely different conception of what it means to he human--and humane.

This is a critical survey of the physiological approach to learning, memory and intelligence in animals. Emphasis has been placed on the implications of physiological research for theories of the intelligence processes of animals.

This fully-revised new edition of the best-selling Equine Clinical Medicine, Surgery and Reproduction is supported by over 1800 illustrations of the highest quality: colour photographs, diagnostic images including MRI and CT, and diagrams. System-based, the chapters introduce each individual system with precise information on the relevant basic anatomy and physiology, standard clinical examination techniques and useful differential diagnostic aids. This is followed by diseases and disorders that are pertinent to that system, grouped together either anatomically or based on presenting clinical signs. Each condition is described using consistent headings: definition/overview, etiology and pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, management/treatment, and prognosis. Additional chapters deal with the foal and wounds. New to the second edition: - All chapters are updated throughout - Additional chapters on the axial musculoskeletal system (neck, back and pelvis) and muscle diseases and problems - A whole new section on soft tissue injuries of the foot - More information on diagnostic tests including over-ground endoscopy, chest and liver ultrasonography, head CT, and foot MRI - Material on equine dentistry, neurology, endocrine system, the foal, and the liver has been considerably expanded - All illustrations and photographs have been reviewed and many replaced with higher quality images. The focus throughout remains on providing clinically relevant information required for practical case management, plus sufficient background on causes and disease processes to enable readers to understand the conditions and the rationale for diagnostic and treatment options. An international group of respected clinicians have come together under the editorship of Dr Graham Munroe to create a textbook that will be of lasting value as a teaching and training resource for equine clinical teachers and their students in veterinary medicine and related equine courses, as well as a ready reference for non-specialist mixed or equine clinical practitioners

This book presents the discoveries made during nearly three decades of research on the parental shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis inhabiting Kyushu Island, Japan. P. japonensis has evolved a unique and fascinating life history, characterized by extreme behavioral and physiological adaptations that have culminated in a singularly dependent relationship with its lone host tree, Schoepfia jasminodora (Olacaceae), which is a generally scarce and unreliable resource. It is expected that the evolution of parental care behaviors in the strictly semelparous P. japonensis was more directly influenced by the benefit to females that arises from enhanced survivorship of current offspring, rather than any possible cost the females might incur in terms of reduced future reproductive success, because no future reproduction is possible. The authors explain how the different parental cares in this species enhance offspring survivorship in the context of the ecological conditions it has experienced over evolutionary time. The book begins with a recap of the earliest studies, the reports through 1991, and then introduces the many fascinating aspects of the life history, neurobiology, physiology and behavior of P. japonensis that have been newly discovered since, and those aspects that have been confirmed through experimentation over the past thirty years. This comprehensive review of information will be useful for comparative studies of parental care in other semelparous and iteroparous organisms experiencing both similar and different ecological constraints. The book will be of academic interest to undergraduate and graduate students of entomology, zoology, behavior, and behavioral ecology.

Despite their diversity, amphibians and reptiles share many physiological traits, such as their dependence on external heat sources for body temperature regulation, that are of pivotal importance to their ability to cope with the environment. Considerable variation in physiological capabilities exists in these groups and often can be related to seasonal and geographic differences in environmental parameters. This book provides a comprehensive and integrative view of the interplay between physiology and behavior in amphibians and reptiles, leading to a better understanding of the subject. The book covers topics that have recently been in the spotlight for scientific research on the physiology, behavior, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. It brings together recent information from a range of disciplines that address critical topics for understanding their biology. As these studies are scattered across articles in specialized journals, this book provides a single and expanded source summarizing such advancements. Amphibian and Reptile Adaptations to the Environment: Interplay Between Physiology and Behavior maintains a solid scientific basis for the biological topics covered. However, it presents the material in a clear and direct manner so that it is accessible even to non-biologists interested in the basic biology, behavior, and ecology of these animals as well as how these elements are connected to their conservation.