In most respects, Abigail and Brittany Hensel are normal American twins. Born and raised in a small town, they enjoy a close relationship, though each has her own tastes and personality. But the Hensels also share a body. Their two heads sit side-by-side on a single torso, with two arms and two legs. They have not only survived, but have developed into athletic, graceful young women. And that, writes Mark S. Blumberg, opens an extraordinary window onto human development and evolution.
In Freaks of Nature, Blumberg turns a scientist's eye on the oddities of nature, showing how a subject once relegated to the sideshow can help explain some of the deepest complexities of biology. Why, for example, does a two-headed human so resemble a two-headed minnow? What we need to understand, Blumberg argues, is that anomalies are the natural products of development, and it is through developmental mechanisms that evolution works. Freaks of Nature induces a kind of intellectual vertigo as it upends our intuitive understanding of biology. What really is an anomaly? Why is a limbless human a "freak," but a limbless reptile-a snake-a successful variation?
What we see as deformities, Blumberg writes, are merely alternative paths for development, which challenge both the creature itself and our ability to fit it into our familiar categories. Rather than mere dead-ends, many anomalies prove surprisingly survivable-as in the case of the goat without forelimbs that learned to walk upright. Blumberg explains how such variations occur, and points to the success of the Hensel sisters and the goat as examples of the extraordinary flexibility inherent in individual development.
In taking seriously asubject that has often been shunned as discomfiting and embarrassing, Mark Blumberg sheds new light on how individuals-and entire species-develop, survive, and evolve.

Now more than ever, doctors are being targeted by government prosecutors and whistleblowers challenging the legality of their relationships with drug and device companies. With reputations at stake and the risk of civil and criminal liability, it is incumbent upon doctors to protect themselves.
Managing Relationships with Industry: A Physician s Compliance Manual is an indispensable resource for doctors, professional societies, academic medical centers, community hospitals, and group practices struggling to understand the ever changing law and ethical standards on interactions with pharmaceutical and device companies. It is the first comprehensive summary of the law and ethics on physician relationships with industry written for the physician. Authored by a former state Attorney General, Harvard Medical School Professor, health care lawyer and professor of ethics, Managing Relationships approaches the topic from a balanced and reasoned perspective adding to the on-going national dialogue and debate on the proper limits to medicine s relationship with industry.
* The first complete and up-to-date summary and analysis of the law and ethics on physician-industry relationships
* Focuses on major enforcement actions and whistleblower lawsuits and the lessons learned for physicians
* Provides options and guidance for maintaining compliant relationships and avoiding traps for the unwary
* Covers both drug and device company relationships
* Summarizes the types of industry relationships that are necessary and productive and those that are harmful and abusive
* Details the law and ethics for each type of relationship including gifts, off-label uses and marketing, CME, speaker s bureaus, free samples, grants, consulting arrangements, etc.
* Includes sample contracts for permissible consulting and CME speaker engagements"

This exceptional laboratory manual describes thirty-seven procedures most likely to be used in the next decade for molecular, biochemical, and cellular studies on Drosophila. They were selected after extensive consultation with the research community and rigorously edited for clarity, uniformity, and conciseness.
The outstanding features of this protocol collection are:
Scope: The methods included permit investigation of chromosomes, cell biology, molecular biology, genomes, biochemistry, and development.
Depth: Each protocol includes the basic information needed by novices, with sufficient detail to be valuable to experienced investigators.
Format: Each method is carefully introduced and illustrated with figures, tables, illustrations, and examples of the data obtainable.
Added value: The book's appendices include key aspects of Drosophila biology, essential solutions, buffers, and recipes. An evolution of Michael Ashburner's 1989 classic Drosophila: A Laboratory Manual, this book is an essential addition to the personal library of Drosophila investigators and an incomparable resource for other research groups with goals likely to require fly-based technical approaches.

Biology of Drosophila was first published by John Wiley and Sons in 1950. Until its appearance, no central, synthesized source of biological data on Drosophila melanogaster was available, despite the fly's importance to science for three decades. Ten years in the making, it was an immediate success and remained in print for two decades. However, original copies are now very hard to find. This facsimile edition makes available to the fly community once again its most enduring work of reference.

Crustaceans that are now called copepods have been known, not necessarily by that name, since Aristotle. Published reports of their post-embryonic development, however, date only from the last 250 years. This monograph is a first attempt to gather all published information about copepod post-embryonic development. Careful diagnoses of nauplius and copepodid allow comparisons of specific developmental stages among species. Changes from the last naupliar stage to the first copepodid stage are used to interpret the naupliar body. Body and limb patterning are discussed, and models of limb patterning are used to generate segment homologies for the protopod and both rami. Contributions of post-embryonic development to phylogenetic hypotheses are considered and suggestions for future studies are provided.

Modern biology is increasingly focused on the role of repetitive anatomical structures in the embryological construction of organisms. The discovery of the homeobox (Hox) genes by Edward Lewis in 1978 ushered in a series of stunning revelations such as the fundamental commonality of insect segments and mammalian vertebrae - a wild and ridiculed idea first proposed by Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1822 that has now been proven correct. Axial Character Seriation in Mammals is an unabridged edition of the 1986 Harvard University PhD Thesis of Aaron G. Filler, MD, PhD that pioneered our modern reassessment of mammalian vertebrae in the light of the new homeotic biology. As Dr. Filler points out in fascinating detail, the leading explanations of similarity among animals before Darwin were arrayed around the vertebrae of the spine in works by Sir Richard Owen, Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. This was the theoretical structure that was overturned and demolished by Darwin's ideas about similarity due to common descent. In a stunning reversal, modern homeotic genetics has shown that repeating structures are indeed critical to understanding animal similarity. This work is the first study of the modern era that views vertebrae as a key to unlocking the way in which Nature has organized repeating biological structures. For the 150 years since the Great Academy Debate of 1830 appeared to demolish Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's ideas, vertebrae have been seen as no more than some bones in Vertebrate animals that are involved in support and locomotion. Axial Character Seriation in Mammals, however, explores the fascinating traces of how the morphogenetic genes sculpt and organizeserially repeating structures, thus re-establishing the vertebrae as a legitimate and compelling subject of modern science.

The new field of evolutionary developmental biology is one of the most exciting areas of contemporary biology. The fundamental principle of evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") is that evolution acts through inherited changes in the development of the organism. "Evo-devo" is not merely a fusion of the fields of developmental and evolutionary biology, the grafting of a developmental perspective onto evolutionary biology, or the incorporation of an evolutionary perspective into developmental biology. Evo-devo strives for a unification of genomic, developmental, organismal, population, and natural selection approaches to evolutionary change. It draws from development, evolution, paleontology, ecology, and molecular and systematic biology, but has its own set of questions, approaches, and methods.

"Keywords and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology" is the first comprehensive reference work for this expanding field. Covering more than fifty central terms and concepts in entries written by leading experts, Keywords offers an overview of all that is embraced by this new subdiscipline of biology, providing the core insights and ideas that show how embryonic development relates to life-history evolution, adaptation, and responses to and integration with environmental factors.

However, the Amphioxus is important not merely because it fills the deep gulf between the Invertebrates and Vertebrates, but also because it shows us to-day the typical vertebrate in all its simplicity. We owe to it the most important data that we proceed on in reconstructing the gradual historical development of the whole stem. All the Craniota descend from a common stem-form, and this was substantially identical in structure with the Amphioxus.

There are many difficulties in the way of understanding this partial segmentation and the gastrula that arises from it. We have only recently succeeded, by means of comparative research, in overcoming these difficulties, and reducing this cenogenetic form of gastrulation to the original palingenetic type. This is comparatively easy in the small meroblastic ova which contain little nutritive yelk--for instance, in the marine ova of a bony fish, the development of which I observed in 1875 at Ajaccio in Corsica.

Originally published in 1993, and long out-of-print, this book has become a classic. The book covers the developmental anatomy of large, complex plants, particularly of perennial shrubs and trees that grow and survive for decades and centuries. The book is focused on the meaning of that anatomy, the integrated structure, as a determinant of effective function. A pervading theme is that the plant structures that have "survived" evolution within the larger context of geologic and climatic evolution are well attuned to biochemical and biophysical principles that determine and define efficient function. This book is intended for those who have already studied the anatomy and development of plants. It is addressed to advanced students, teachers and researchers in the broad, interrelated fields of botany, forestry, horticulture and agronomy, and to others having professional interests in the culture of woody plants and the stewardship of ecosystems. It is especially addressed to those who, by study and research, seek to narrow the wide gap between the cellular and molecular biology approaches to understanding the format and content of inherited information, and the actual morphogenesis and integrated functioning of higher plant organisms. The book is focused on vegetative growth and development. Limitations of space precluded a treatment of reproductive development and of morphogenesis in fruits and seeds. The authors, however, have included a chapter on embryogeny as the beginning of development of the individual higher plant organism. "Plant Structure: Function and Development, first published in 1993, remained in print for such a short time that many of us missed the opportunity to purchase a copy (I have been working with a tattered photocopy for the past 7 years). The authors note in the preface that "complex plants, particularly woody plants . . . have survived eons of organismal evolution" and as such "are well attuned to biochemical and biophysical principles that determine and define efficient function." Too often plant anatomy has been treated in isolation from its' all-important functional significance. The authors of this book provide a welcome and well-developed bridge between structure and physiology, as well as providing the developmental aspects critical to a complete understanding. Not only does the book provide valuable insights for biologists studying extant plants (including applied areas of horticulture, agronomy and forest biology), but it is also, in my view, a valuable resource for paleobotanists, particularly those interested the rapidly growing area of paleo-ecophysiology. Often woody plants are given only cursory attention in plant structure texts, but not so here. Both Romberger and Hejnowicz spent their professional careers studying woody plants, and their insights are critical to the success of this treatise. Although the book is primarily a very turgid reference source, it could also serve as a text for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses - and then would become a valuable library addition for those students." Richard Jagels Professor of Forest Biology University of Maine

what is death?

A Scientist Looks at the Cycle of Life

Answering the question "What is death?" by focusing on the individual is blinkered. It restricts attention to a narrow zone around the individual body of a creature. Instead, how expansive is the answer we receive when we look at the context of death within the biosphere. Death now is tied to all of life, via the atmosphere and ocean. Death supports the awesome biological enterprise of making abundant the green and squiggly life. Talk about death has headed us straight into a contemplation of life, not only individual life, but big life, life on a global scale. Death and life are neatly dovetailed by the supreme cabinetmaker of evolution. Again, the crucial feature is not the death of any one creature per se, but rather what is done with death. To reach into the meaning of death, we must reach out into the wider context of which death is a part.

Coordination between infant and adult is thought to be essential to infant development. However, the study is theoretically and methodologically grounded in a dyadic systems perspective and relational psychoanalysis. Our automated apparatus explores the micro-second timing of 4-month infant-adult vocal coordination to predict 12-month infant attachment and cognition. This work also further defines a fundamental dyadic timing matrix that guides the trajectory of infant development.

The application of homology varies depending on the data being examined. This volume represents a state-of-the-art treatment of the different applications of this unifying concept. Chapters deal with homology on all levels, from molecules to behavior, and are authored by leading contributors to systematics, natural history, and evolutionary, developmental, and comparative biology.
This paperback reprint of the original hardbound edition continues to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Sir Richard Owen's seminal paper distinguishing homology from analogy.
Special features include:
* Commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Sir Richard Owen's seminal paper distinguishing homology from analogy
* Contributors who are renowned leaders in comparative biology
* Coverage that is both comprehensive and interdisciplinary

Since Darwin's time, comparative psychologists have searched for a good way to compare cognition in humans and nonhuman primates. In "Origins of Intelligence, " Sue Parker and Michael McKinney offer such a framework and make a strong case for using human development theory (both Piagetian and neo-Piagetian) to study the evolution of intelligence across primate species. Their approach is comprehensive, covering a broad range of social, symbolic, physical, and logical domains, which fall under the all-encompassing and much-debated term "intelligence."

A widely held theory among developmental psychologists and social and biological anthropologists is that cognitive evolution in humans has occurred through juvenilization--the gradual accentuation and lengthening of childhood in the evolutionary process. In this work, however, Parker and McKinney argue instead that new stages were added at the end of cognitive development in our hominid ancestors, coining the term "adultification by terminal extension" to explain this process.

Drawing evidence from scores of studies on monkeys, great apes, and human children, this book provides unique insights into ontogenetic constraints that have interacted with selective forces to shape the evolution of cognitive development in our lineage.

In recent decades, Susan Oyama and her colleagues in the burgeoning field of developmental systems theory have rejected the determinism inherent in the nature/nurture debate, arguing that behavior cannot be reduced to distinct biological or environmental causes. In "Evolution's Eye" Oyama elaborates on her pioneering work on developmental systems by spelling out that work's implications for the fields of evolutionary theory, developmental and social psychology, feminism, and epistemology. Her approach profoundly alters our understanding of the biological processes of development and evolution and the interrelationships between them.
While acknowledging that, in an uncertain world, it is easy to "blame it on the genes," Oyama claims that the renewed trend toward genetic determinism colors the way we think about everything from human evolution to sexual orientation and personal responsibility. She presents instead a view that focuses on how a wide variety of developmental factors interact in the multileveled developmental systems that give rise to organisms. Shifting attention away from genes and the environment as causes for behavior, she convincingly shows the benefits that come from thinking about life processes in terms of developmental systems that produce, sustain, and change living beings over both developmental and evolutionary time.
Providing a genuine alternative to genetic and environmental determinism, as well as to unsuccessful compromises with which others have tried to replace them, "Evolution's Eye" will fascinate students and scholars who work in the fields of evolution, psychology, human biology, and philosophy of science. Feminists and others who seek a more complex view of human nature will find her work especially congenial.

In recent decades, Susan Oyama and her colleagues in the burgeoning field of developmental systems theory have rejected the determinism inherent in the nature/nurture debate, arguing that behavior cannot be reduced to distinct biological or environmental causes. In "Evolution's Eye" Oyama elaborates on her pioneering work on developmental systems by spelling out that work's implications for the fields of evolutionary theory, developmental and social psychology, feminism, and epistemology. Her approach profoundly alters our understanding of the biological processes of development and evolution and the interrelationships between them.
While acknowledging that, in an uncertain world, it is easy to "blame it on the genes," Oyama claims that the renewed trend toward genetic determinism colors the way we think about everything from human evolution to sexual orientation and personal responsibility. She presents instead a view that focuses on how a wide variety of developmental factors interact in the multileveled developmental systems that give rise to organisms. Shifting attention away from genes and the environment as causes for behavior, she convincingly shows the benefits that come from thinking about life processes in terms of developmental systems that produce, sustain, and change living beings over both developmental and evolutionary time.
Providing a genuine alternative to genetic and environmental determinism, as well as to unsuccessful compromises with which others have tried to replace them, "Evolution's Eye" will fascinate students and scholars who work in the fields of evolution, psychology, human biology, and philosophy of science. Feminists and others who seek a more complex view of human nature will find her work especially congenial.

This book brings together for the first time, a collection of classic texts combined with a number of contemporary syntheses on the widely studied topic of behavioral development in animals.

Behavioral development is a major subject area in both animal behavior and experimental psychology since throughout the history of psychology and ethology, the study of development has played a crucial role and has been the subject of some of the major intellectual debates, for example the "Nature versus Nurture" issue. More recently, biological approaches to development, derived from work on animals, have become increasingly important and influential. "The Development of Animal Behaviour: A Reader" provides the key readings in these important areas of research in one volume. This "Reader" will therefore prove an invaluable resource for students and scholars who wish to engage with the study of animal behavioral development.

This book comprehensively summarizes the biological mechanisms of coloration and pattern formation of animals at molecular and cellular level, offering up-to-date knowledge derived from remarkable progress in the last 10 years. The brilliant coloration, conspicuous patterns and spectacular color changes displayed by some vertebrates and invertebrates are generally their strategies of the utmost importance for survival. Consists of mainly three parts, starts with introductory chapter, such as Pigments and Pigment Organelles, Developmental Genetics of Pigment Cell Formation, Adult Pigment Patterns, and Color Changes, this book introduces new pigment compounds in addition to classically known pigments and organelles, explains how the generation of multiple types of pigment cell is genetically controlled, describes the mechanisms underlying the zebrafish stripe formation as well as other animals and also summarizes the mechanism of physiological and morphological color changes of teleost, amphibian and cephalopod. Written by experts in the field, this book will be essential reading for graduate students and researchers in biological fields who are interested in pigmentation mechanisms of animals.

Rudolf Raff is recognized as a pioneer in evolutionary developmental biology. In their 1983 book, "Embryos, Genes, and Evolution," Raff and co-author Thomas Kaufman proposed a synthesis of developmental and evolutionary biology. In "The Shape of Life," Raff analyzes the rise of this new experimental discipline and lays out new research questions, hypotheses, and approaches to guide its development.
Raff uses the evolution of animal body plans to exemplify the interplay between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary patterns. Animal body plans emerged half a billion years ago. Evolution within these body plans during this span of time has resulted in the tremendous diversity of living animal forms.
Raff argues for an integrated approach to the study of the intertwined roles of development and evolution involving phylogenetic, comparative, and functional biology. This new synthesis will interest not only scientists working in these areas, but also paleontologists, zoologists, morphologists, molecular biologists, and geneticists.

This original and ingenious book presents a new theory of the origins of human culture. Integrating perspectives of evolutionary biology and social anthropology within a Marxist framework, Chris Knight rejects the common assumption that human culture was a modified extension of primate behavior and argues instead that it was the product of an immense social, sexual, and political revolution initiated by women.

Designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this textbook explores both the psychological and biological influences on the development of behavior, using data from both animal and human subjects to support principles and hypotheses. The arrangement of the book is both chronological and topical, commencing with embryonic behavior and the influence of prenatal exposure to hormones and teratological agents and moving on to postnatal maternal influences and early stimulation. Play, learning and memory, and finally weaning and puberty complete this volume.
This comprehensive work provides a history of this subdiscipline from the earliest research of Wilhelm Preyer in 1885 to the most recent findings on the psychobiology of behavioral development.