Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds, Second Edition provides the most updated and comprehensive review on the evolution of behavior in tropical landbirds. The book reviews gaps in our knowledge that were identified twenty years ago when the first edition was published, highlights recent discoveries that have filled those gaps, and identifies new areas in urgent need of study. It covers key topics, including timing of breeding, movement ecology, life history traits, slow vs. fast pace of life, mating systems, mate choice, territoriality, communication, biotic interactions, and conservation. Written by international experts on the behavior of tropical birds, the book explores why the tropics is a unique natural laboratory to study the evolution of bird behavior and why temperate zone species are so different. A recent surge of studies on tropical birds has helped to reduce the temperate zone bias that arose because most avian model species in behavioral ecology were adapted to northern temperate climates. This is an important resource for researchers, ecologists and conservationists who want to understand the rich and complex evolutionary history of avian behavior.

WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2022 'Exhilaratingly whizzes through billions of years . . . Gee is a marvellously engaging writer, juggling humour, precision, polemic and poetry to enrich his impossibly telescoped account . . . [making] clear sense out of very complex narratives' - The Times 'Henry Gee makes the kaleidoscopically changing canvas of life understandable and exciting. Who will enjoy reading this book? - Everybody!' Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel For billions of years, Earth was an inhospitably alien place - covered with churning seas, slowly crafting its landscape by way of incessant volcanic eruptions, the atmosphere in a constant state of chemical flux. And yet, despite facing literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter, life has been extinguished and picked itself up to evolve again. Life has learned and adapted and continued through the billions of years that followed. It has weathered fire and ice. Slimes begat sponges, who through billions of years of complex evolution and adaptation grew a backbone, braved the unknown of pitiless shores, and sought an existence beyond the sea. From that first foray to the spread of early hominids who later became Homo sapiens, life has persisted, undaunted. A (Very) Short History of Life is an enlightening story of survival, of persistence, illuminating the delicate balance within which life has always existed, and continues to exist today. It is our planet like you've never seen it before. Life teems through Henry Gee's words - colossal supercontinents drift, collide, and coalesce, fashioning the face of the planet as we know it today. Creatures are engagingly personified, from 'gregarious' bacteria populating the seas to duelling dinosaurs in the Triassic period to magnificent mammals with the future in their (newly evolved) grasp. Those long extinct, almost alien early life forms are resurrected in evocative detail. Life's evolutionary steps - from the development of a digestive system to the awe of creatures taking to the skies in flight - are conveyed with an alluring, up-close intimacy.

The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic explores a pivotal conceptual moment in the history of evolutionary theory: the development of its extensive reliance on a wide array of concepts of chance. It tells the history of a methodological and conceptual development that reshaped our approach to natural selection over a century, ranging from Darwin's earliest notebooks in the 1830s to the early years of the Modern Synthesis in the 1930s. Far from being a "pompous parade of arithmetic," as one early critic argued, evolution transformed during this period to make these conceptual and technical tools indispensable. This book charts the role of chance in evolutionary theory from its beginnings to the earliest days of modern evolutionary theory, making it an ideal resource for evolutionary biologists, historians, philosophers, and researchers in science studies or biological statistics.

Myxomycetes: Biology, Systematics, Biogeography and Ecology, Second Edition provides a complete collection of general and technical information on myxomycetes microorganisms. Its broad scope takes an integrated approach, considering a number of important aspects surrounding their genetics and molecular phylogeny. The book treats myxomycetes as a distinct group from fungi and includes molecular information that discusses systematics and evolutionary pathways. Written and developed by an international team of specialists, this second edition contains updated information on all aspects of myxomycetes. It incorporates relevant and new material on current barcoding developments, plasmodial network experimentation, and non-STEM disciplinary assimilation of myxomycete information. This book is a unique and authoritative resource for researchers in organismal biology and ecology disciplines, as well as students and academics in biology, ecology, microbiology, and similar subject areas. Cover image used with permission from Steve Young Photography

Is warfare a uniquely human behavior? Do you know how many human races there are? Have you ever wondered how evolution can be both a fact and a theory? How can we know about the distant past if we weren't there to witness it? How did we become who we are as a species, and what does that mean for other species and the rest of the planet? The Human Experiment: Origins and Evolution of Humanity touches on these and other big questions, and provides students with an introduction to what anthropologists know about the origins of the human condition. Topics include the study of anthropology; science, myth, religion and pseudoscience; evolution; common misconceptions about race; why anthropologists study nonhuman primates; and the emergence of biologically modern humans. Students learn about culture as human adaptation, peopling of the New World, the origins and consequences of food production, civilizations, and global warming. Designed to help students better understand the evolution of humankind, The Human Experiment is an ideal textbook for introductory anthropology courses. It provides a concise and accessible overview of the key developments in human prehistory and examples of how the knowledge of our shared past is continually being updated as new information is discovered.

Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field, Second Edition provides a comprehensive manual on animal behavior lab activities. This new edition brings together basic research and methods, presenting applications and problem-solving techniques. It provides all the details to successfully run designed activities while also offering flexibility and ease in setup. The exercises in this volume address animal behavior at all levels, describing behavior, theory, application and communication. Each lab provides details on how to successfully run the activity while also offering flexibility to instructors. This is an important resource for students educators, researchers and practitioners who want to explore and study animal behavior. The field of animal behavior has changed dramatically in the past 15 - 20 years, including a greater use and availability of technology and statistical analysis. In addition, animal behavior has taken on a more applied role in the last decade, with a greater emphasis on conservation and applied behavior, hence the necessity for new resources on the topic.

Many people have written biographies of Charles Darwin, but the story of his family and roots in Shrewsbury is little known. This book, containing original research, fills that gap. The key player is Charles' father, Dr Robert Darwin, a larger-than-life character whose financial acumen enabled Charles to spend his whole life on research unencumbered by money worries. Through Susannah, Charles' mother, we are introduced to the Wedgwood family, whose history was so closely interwoven with the Darwins. The stories of Charles' five siblings are detailed, and there is a wealth of local material, such as information on Shrewsbury School and its illustrious headmaster, Samuel Butler. The book is fully illustrated with contemporary and modern pictures, and will be of interest to anyone wanting to discover more about the development of Shrewsbury's most famous son.

Sometimes history seems like a laundry list of malevolent monarchs, pompous presidents and dastardly dictators. But are they really the ones in the driving seat? Sapiens: A Graphic History – The Masters of History takes us on an immersive and hilarious ride through the human past to discover the forces that change our world, bring us together, and – just as often – tear us apart.

Grab a front-row seat to the greatest show on earth and explore the rise of money, religion and empire. Join our fabulous host Heroda Tush, as she wonders: which historical superhero will display the power to make civilisations rise and fall? Will Mr Random prove that luck and circumstance prevail? Will Lady Empire convince us of the irrefutable shaping force of conquerors? Or will Clashwoman beat them all to greatness by reminding us of the endless confrontations that seem to forever plague our species?

In this next volume of the bestselling graphic series, Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave continue to present the complicated story of humankind with wit, empathy and originality. Alongside the unlikely cast of new characters, we are rejoined by the familiar faces of Yuval, Zoe, Professor Saraswati, Bill and Cindy (now Romans), Skyman and Captain Dollar. As they travel through time, space and human drama in search of truth, it's impossible not to wonder: why can’t we all just get along?

This third instalment in the Sapiens: A Graphic History series is an engaging, insightful, and colourful retelling of the story of humankind for curious minds of all ages, and can be browsed through on its own or read in sequence with Volumes One and Two.

Integrated Population Biology and Modeling: Part B, Volume 40, offers very delicately complex and precise realities of quantifying modern and traditional methods of understanding populations and population dynamics, with this updated release focusing on Prey-predator animal models, Back projections, Evolutionary Biology computations, Population biology of collective behavior and bio patchiness, Collective behavior, Population biology through data science, Mathematical modeling of multi-species mutualism: new insights, remaining challenges and applications to ecology, Population Dynamics of Manipur, Stochastic Processes and Population Dynamics Models: The Mechanisms for Extinction, Persistence and Resonance, Theories of Stationary Populations and association with life lived and life left, and more.

Biodiversity of Pantepui: The Pristine "Lost World" of the Neotropical Guiana Highlands provides the most updated and comprehensive knowledge on the biota, origin, and evolution of the Pantepui biogeographical province. It synthesizes historical information and recent discoveries, covering the main biogeographic patterns, evolutionary trends, and conservational efforts. Written by international experts on the biodiversity of this pristine land, this book explores what makes Pantepui a unique natural laboratory to study the origin and evolution of Neotropical biodiversity under the influence of only natural drivers. It discusses the organisms living in Pentepui, including algae, plants, several groups of invertebrates, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. The latter portion of the book delves into the effects of human activity and global warming on Pantepui, and current conservational efforts to combat these threats. Biodiversity of Pantepui is an important resource for researchers in ecology, biogeography, evolution, and conservation, who want to understand the biodiversity and natural history of this region, and how to help conserve and protect the Guiana Highlands from environmental and human damages.

Plant Development and Evolution, the latest release in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on the Evolution of the plant body plan, Lateral root development and its role in evolutionary adaptation, the Development of the vascular system, the Development of the shoot apical meristem and phyllotaxis, the Evolution of leaf diversity, the Evolution of regulatory networks in land plants, The role of programed cell death in plant development, the Development and evolution of inflorescence architecture, the Molecular regulation of flower development, the Pre-meiotic another development, and much more.