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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Vertebrates > Mammals
This book is actually a product of efforts of many people, not only of the authors. W ide investigations of marine mammals began in Russia (that time, in the former Soviet Union) in the 1960s when a few teams of enthusiasts founded in captivity experimental stations intended for keeping dolphins and seals and for performing experimental studies of these fascinating animals. It was a time when attention of many people throughout the world was attracted to dolphins and other marine mammals due to appearance of oceanariums and dolphinariums, which demonstrated unique capabilities of these animals. So scientists in many countries concentrated on studies of them. There was much to learn about the morphology, physiology, and psychology of marine mammals, and investigators spending their time and efforts on studies in this field were rewarded by a number of surprising findings. The authors of this book represent one of such research teams focused on the neuro- and sensory physiology of marine mammals. A few decades of studies naturally resulted in the idea to summarize in a book both the results of these studies and a large body of data in adjacent fields. Our goal was to synthesize the many research findings and the present knowledge on sensory capabilities and mechanisms of sensory systems of aquatic mammals. We realize, however, that the appearance of this book was made possible due to the help and assistance of many colleagues.
This volume provides the reader with an overview of an intriguing and interdisciplinary field of research. For the first time the mammalian pineal gland, its mode of action and its physiological effects are discussed in a comprehensive, single-authored work.
From an evolutionary perspective, understanding chimpanzees offers a way of understanding the basis of human nature. This book on cognitive development in chimpanzees is the first of its kind to focus on infants reared by their own mothers within a natural setting, illustrating various aspects of chimpanzee cognition and the developmental changes accompanying them. The subjects are chimpanzees of three generations inhabiting an enriched environment, as well as a wild community in West Africa. There is a foreword by Jane Goodall and 26 color photos of chimpanzees in the laboratory and in the field in West Africa are included.
This comprehensive introduction demonstrates the theoretical perspectives and concepts that are applied to primate behavior, and explores the relevance of non-human primates to understanding human behavior. Using a streamlined and student-friendly taxonomic framework, King provides a thorough overview of the primate order. The chapters cover common features and diversity, and touch on ecology, sociality, life history, and cognition. Text boxes are included throughout the discussion featuring additional topics and more sophisticated taxonomy. The book contains a wealth of illustrations, and further resources to support teaching and learning are available via a companion website. Written in an engaging and approachable style, this is an invaluable resource for students of primate behavior as well as human evolution.
A review of our understanding of this area of the brain, showing how it fits into the general picture of those areas concerned with modulating mammalian behavior. The chapters, all written by leading figures in behavioral neuroscience, discuss the anatomy, neurochemistry, physiology, and behavioral relations in the septal area. Due to the great deal of current research shown in the related areas of hippocampus and the amygdala, this book will be of great interest to all those who research the hippocampus and the amygdala in addition to the septum itself.
This reference provides comprehensive information on the taxonomy and distribution in time and space of all currently recognized southern African fossil mammals. After an introductory background chapter on southern Africa, mammals, sites and dating, the following chapters are presented by epoch, covering the Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene. Individual maps provide information on where in the landscape specific taxa have been found, and a comprehensive index lists all the fauna and site locations. The book ends with a chapter on how the book can be used, and lines of future research. Collecting a vast amount of information together in an accessible format, this is an essential reference for non-specialist taxonomists and palaeontologists, as well as for those using fossil data for other applications, such as archaeology, neontology and nature conservation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The renowned British primatologist continues the "engrossing account" of her time among the chimpanzees of Gombe, Tanzania (Publishers Weekly). In her classic, In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall wrote of her first ten years at Gombe. In Through a Window she continues the story, painting a more complete and vivid portrait of our closest relatives. On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, Gombe is a community where the principal residents are chimpanzees. Through Goodall's eyes we watch young Figan's relentless rise to power and old Mike's crushing defeat. We learn how one mother rears her children to succeed and another dooms hers to failure. We witness horrifying murders, touching moments of affection, joyous births, and wrenching deaths. As Goodall compellingly tells the story of this intimately intertwined community, we are shown human emotions stripped to their essence. In the mirror of chimpanzee life, we see ourselves reflected. "A humbling and exalting book . . . Ranks with the great scientific achievements of the twentieth century."--Washington Post "[An] absolutely smashing account . . . Thrilling, affectionate, intelligent--a classic."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
The genus Macaca is the most widely distributed of nonhuman primates and is found in twenty countries in Southeast Asia and North Africa. Over the comparative short time span of five million years, macaques have evolved diverse forms, from long-tailed arboreal types to robust terrestrial animals, and inhabit a variety of habitats. Although macaques are probably one of the most studied monkeys both in the wild and in captivity, data from long-term studies and pioneering work of little-known species are only just emerging. In this book, world authorities on macaques interpret recent research and present up-to-date syntheses of many aspects of macaque ecology, evolution, behavior and conservation.
The field of marine mammal science has made enormous strides in the last ten years of the 20th century, as well as attracting a large amount of interest, due no doubt to the public appeal of whales, dolphins, and seals, which are never out of media attention. The purpose of this book is to review key topics through chapters on the major disciplines from invited authorities around the world. Subjects covered include evolution and genetics, life histories, ecology, physiology, behaviour, medicine (diseases, parasitology), survey methodology, and all the main conservation issues (pollution, fisheries interactions, and sound disturbance). The book has an ecological and conservation emphasis since these are subject areas calling for the most attention in the modern world, but other areas such as evolution, physiology, and medicine are also given in-depth treatment. The book is written at the level of the undergraduate or above, although its style should appeal to anyone with a serious interest in marine mammal science.
This volume covers aspects of ecology, behavior, genetics, taxonomy, 'cultural' patterns, hunting by non-human primates, physiology, dietary chemistry, and ecotourism, in several major clades of primates from galagos and pottos, through cercopithecoids, to hominoids.
Over 1000 people a year in the UK report seeing 'big cats', possibly pumas or panthers. Have these animals escaped from zoos? Are they the descendants of pets released into wild? Or is there another solution to the mystery? In this extraordinary book, big cat tracker Merrily Harpur interviews farmers, gamekeepers, ornithologists, policemen and even parents who have seen curious cats on the school run. In the process she discovers our mystery felines may have been with us for longer than we imagine, and draws some startling conclusions from what is now the commonest encounter with the unknown in Britain.
Wolfgang Koehler demonstrated that chimpanzees could solve problems by applying insight. His research showed that the intellectual gap between humans and chimpanzees was much narrower than previously thought. The work was revolutionary when originally published in 1917 in German, but it was largely ignored for decades because it violated the conventional wisdom that animal behavior is simply the result of instinct or conditioning.
Mammary Development: Growth and Growth Factors: The Environment of the Mammary Secretory Cell (C.H. Knight). Role of Bovine Placental Lactogen in Intercellular Signalling during Mammary Growth and Lactation (R.J. Collier et al.). Expression of Hox Genes in Normal and Neoplastic Mouse Mammary Gland (Y. Friedmann, C.W. Daniel). Apoptosis in Mammary Gland Involution: Isolation and Characterization of Apoptosisspecific Genes (W. Bielke et al.). Mammary Development: Differentiation and Gene Expression: Extracellular Matrix Dependent Gene Regulation in Mammary Epithelial Cells (C. Schmidhauser et al.). Regulation of Milk Secretion and Composition by Growth Hormone and Prolactin (D.J. Flint). Basement Membrane in the Control of Mammary Gland Function (C.H. Streuli). Heterogeneous Expression and Synthesis of Human Serum Albumin in the Mammary Gland of Transgenic Mice (I. Barash et al). Milk Secretion: Autocrine Control of Milk Secretion: Development of the Concept (M. Peaker). Endocrine and Autocrine Strategies for the Control of Lactation in Women and Sows (P.E. Hartmann et al.). Autocrine Control of Milk Secretion: From Concept to Application (C.J. Wilde et al.). A Role for Mediumchain Fatty Acids in the Regulation of Lipid Synthesis in Milk Stasis? (D.H. Williamson et al.). 41 additional articles. Appendix. Index.
Orangutans, together with chimpanzees and gorillas, are our closest living relatives. Photographic and Descriptive Musculoskeletal Atlas of Orangutans, the first photographic and descriptive musculoskeletal atlas of the genus Pongo, adopts the same format as the photographic atlases of Gorilla, Pan and Hylobates previously published by the same authors. These four books are part of a series of monographs that will set out the comparative and phylogenetic context of the gross anatomy and evolutionary history of the soft tissue morphology of modern humans and their closest relatives. The present atlas, which includes detailed high-quality photographs of musculoskeletal structures from most anatomical regions of the body as well as textual information about the attachments, innervation, function and weight of the respective muscles, is based on dissections of five orangutans and on an extensive review of the literature. It provides an updated review of the anatomical variations within orangutans as well as an extensive list of the synonyms used in the literature to designate the structures we discuss. It will be of interest to students, teachers and researchers studying primatology, comparative anatomy, functional morphology, zoology, and physical anthropology and to medical students, doctors and researchers who are curious about the origin, evolution, homology and variations of the musculoskeletal structures of modern humans.
We have long attributed man's violent, aggressive, competitive nature to his animal ancestry. But what if we are just as given to cooperation, empathy and morality by virtue of our genes? From a scientist and writer whom E. O. Wilson has called 'the world authority on primate social behavior' comes a lively look at the most provocative aspects of human nature - power, sex, violence, kindness, and morality - through our two closest cousins in the ape family. For nearly twenty years, Frans de Waal has worked with both the famously aggressive chimpanzee and the lesser-known egalitarian, erotic, matriarchal bonobo, two species whose DNA is nearly identical to that of humans. He brings these apes to life on every page, revealing their personalities, relationships and power struggles, creating an engrossing narrative that explores what their behaviour can teach us about ourselves and each other.
Winner of the Whitley Award for Best Natural History Book 2022 A compelling, funny, first-hand account of Australia's wonderfully unique mammals and how our perceptions impact their future. Think of a platypus: they lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), they produce milk without nipples and venom without fangs and they can detect electricity. Or a wombat: their teeth never stop growing, they poo cubes and they defend themselves with reinforced rears. Platypuses, possums, wombats, echidnas, devils, kangaroos, quolls, dibblers, dunnarts, kowaris: Australia has some truly astonishing mammals with incredible, unfamiliar features. But how does the world regard these creatures? And what does that mean for their conservation? In Platypus Matters, naturalist Jack Ashby shares his love for these often-misunderstood animals. Informed by his own experiences meeting living marsupials and egg-laying mammals on fieldwork in Tasmania and mainland Australia, as well as his work with thousands of zoological specimens collected for museums over the last 200-plus years, Ashby's tale not only explains the extraordinary lives of these animals, but the historical mysteries surrounding them and the myths that persist (especially about the platypus). He also reveals the toll these myths can take. Ashby makes it clear that calling these animals ‘weird’ or ‘primitive’ – or incorrectly implying that Australia is an ‘evolutionary backwater’ – a perception that can be traced back to the country's colonial history – has undermined conservation: Australia now has the worst mammal extinction rate of anywhere on Earth. Important, timely and written with humour and wisdom by a scientist and self-described platypus nerd, this celebration of Australian wildlife will open eyes and change minds about how we contemplate and interact with the natural world – everywhere.
Knowledge about the structure and function of the inner ear is vital to an understanding of vertebrate hearing. This volume presents a detailed overview of the mammalian cochlea from its anatomy and physiology to its biophysics and biochemistry. The nine review chapters, written by internationally distinguished auditory researchers, provide a detailed and unified introduction to sound processing in the cochlea and the steps by which the ensuing signals are prepared for the central nervous system.
The Eurasian beaver was near extinction at the start of the twentieth century, hunted across Europe for its fur, meat and castoreum. But now the beaver is on the brink of a comeback, with wild beaver populations, licensed and unlicensed, emerging all over Britain. As a keystone species, the beaver plays a vital role in the creation of sustainable wetland habitats through its damming activities, providing living opportunities for a broad spectrum of wildlife. Yet as proposals for reintroducing beavers are underway, re-establishing the beaver in Britain is still a controversial issue. This book presents a case for our future coexistence with beavers by providing factual information on this species that has now passed from national memory, covering the biology, behaviour and ecology of the Eurasian beaver in a British context, from their early history in archaeology and folklore to their contemporary field signs in the wild. This book familiarises readers once again, after almost 400 years of its absence, with the Eurasian beaver, providing essential information on its requirements in our human dominated landscape. This book is for those with a specific interest in beavers and their reintroduction, and for anyone with a general curiosity in natural history, ecology or animal behaviour. It can be used as a field guide to identify beaver field signs and observe beavers in the wild by wildlife surveyors or general land users, or as an introductory guide for anyone with an interest in beavers and how to recognise them. The authors have been actively involved in the study of beaver ecology, behaviour and reintroduction for many years. They have a first-hand knowledge of beavers in captivity and in the wild in both Britain and a range of other European countries.
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, Shortlisted for the Stella Prize, Highly Commended in the Wainwright Prize for writing on global conservation, and a Sunday Independent Book of the Year. How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them? Fathoms blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore these questions. Giggs introduces us to whales so rare they have never been named and tells us of whale 'pop' songs that sweep across hemispheres. She takes us into the deeps to discover that one whale's death can spark a great flourishing of creatures. We travel to Japan to board whaling ships, examine the uncanny charisma of these magnificent mammals, and confront the plastic pollution now pervading their underwater environment.
East Africa comprises a varied range of habitats, which provide living space for more than 360 diverse species of mammal. These range in size from the elephant to the tiniest bats, shrews and mice. This compact guide covers all of the common and some of the less common mammal species of the region. For each species it offers: key identification features; behaviour, diet, breeding biology, occurrence and size; clear, full-colour photographs; track illustrations; silhouettes to indicate size relative to human figure; and, distribution map. There is a section on droppings/dung of many of the animals that concludes the book. Compact and easy-to-use, this is the ideal companion both for regulars and visitors to the region.
"The Mouse Nervous System" provides a comprehensive account of
the central nervous system of the mouse. The book is aimed at
molecular biologists who need a book that introduces them to the
anatomy of the mouse brain and spinal cord, but also takes them
into the relevant details of development and organization of the
area they have chosen to study. "The Mouse Nervous System" offers a
wealth of new information for experienced anatomists who work on
mice. The book serves as a valuable resource for researchers and
graduate students in neuroscience.
Detailed information on all aspects of bat surveying - The Bat Workers' Manual is an essential reference for anyone wishing to obtain a licence to carry out bat work in the UK. With excellent drawings by Tom McOwat. The manual incorporates required changes and includes recommendations on the handling of bats, vaccinations against EBLV and a list of contact details for finding up-to-date advice on the subject. Updated information on legislation, and other advice, has also been included. This version of The Bat Workers' Manual is a reprint of the 3rd edition (with no change or updates from the 3rd edition 1861075588, published in 2004)
"Even though the gorilla is our closest living relative, information about its anatomy, and particularly its musculature, is scarce. This book is the first photographic and descriptive musculoskeletal atlas of the gorilla. It includes high-quality photographs of musculoskeletal structures from most anatomical regions of the body, along with textual information about the attachments, innervations, and weight of the reported muscles. The atlas is an up-to-date review of the anatomical variations within gorillas as well as an extensive list of the synonyms used in the literature to designate the structures covered in the book. It also contains dissection observations of other primates and vertebrates, which are crucial for examining and understanding the homologies between the muscular structures of gorillas, humans, and other taxa"-- |
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