1 Introduction The esophagus is a relatively simple though vital organ. It consists of a two-layered muscular tube whose lumen is lined by squamous strati?ed epithelium. Beyond its role of propelling food from the pharynx to the stomach by a propulsive contraction wave representing the esophageal phase of deglutition (Conklin and Christensen 1994; Jean 2001), it is more and more recognized as a sensory organ from which a variety of respiratory and cardiovascular re?exes can be triggered, thus coop- ating with the larynx in protecting the lower airways from aspiration (Barthelemy et al. 1996; Lang et al. 2002; Lang et al. 2001; Loomis et al. 1997; Medda et al. 2003). In ruminants, there is additional antiperistalsis for regurgitation. During emesis, the esophagus is a merely passive conduit except for some antiperistalsis in its upper part. In the interval between swallows, both oral and aboral ends of the esophagus are tonically closed by the upper and lower esophageal sphincters, UES and LES respectively, while the tubular esophagus is ?accid and partly ?lled with air. Despite this apparent simplicity, neuronal control of esophageal functions is quite complex.

African mole-rats are a unique taxon of subterranean rodents that range in sociality from solitary-dwelling species to two "eusocial" species, the Damaraland mole-rat and the naked mole-rat. The naked mole-rat is arguably the closest that a mammal comes to behaving like social insects such as bees and termites, with large colonies and a behavioral and reproductive division of labor. As a family, the Bathyergidae represent a model system with which to study the evolution and maintenance of highly social cooperative breeding strategies. In this book, Nigel Bennett and Chris Faulkes provide a synthesis of the current knowledge of bathyergid systematics, ecology, reproductive biology, behavior, and genetics. They explore the role of these factors in the evolution of sociality in the Bathyergidae in the context of both vertebrates and invertebrates. This volume will be an important new resource for anyone interested in the evolution of sociality, specifically in mole-rats.

Once famous for the beauty of its white beaches, reef-ringed islands, and lush forests, today the Philippines is known as an example of the deep costs of ecological decline. In less than a generation, large and small users alike felled the forests, shattered the coral reefs, and over-fished the oceans. The rapid harvest of the once-abundant resources has brought environmental changes: droughts, deadly flash floods, and the collapse of vital fisheries. The consequences have reverberated throughout the country. As the rural economy weakened, millions migrated to the cities, overwhelming the infrastructure and deepening the problems of urban health. Pioneering efforts have been launched to curtail the environmental damage and manage the resources that remain. Trained as a botanist and plant ecologist, writer Barbara Goldoftas traveled extensively throughout the archipelago to document the loss of the natural resources, the dramatic human costs, and efforts to reverse the decline. Along the forest frontier, she met villagers whose fields had been washed away by mudslides and church workers risking their lives to defend the dwindling forests. In coastal villages, she spoke with fishermen who, having watched their catches diminish with the dying reefs, enforced the boundaries of no-take zones. In towns and villages alike, she interviewed local politicians and leaders of non-governmental organizations working to combine conservation and development and keep their communities intact. Written about a country often described as an environmental worst-case scenario, The Green Tiger offers an unusually close look at the consequences of ecological decline and determined efforts to reverse them. Itargues that, rather than destroying a natural resource base, development should integrate conservation and economic growth. It gives a realistic, but optimistic vision of the long process of "nation-building" that is the backdrop of environmental work in a developing country and a new democracy.

Throughout North America, non-native wild pigs have become an ecologically and economically destructive invasive species. Though they are regarded as a popular game species by some, provide economic benefits to others, and are even engrained into societal heritage in some areas, wild pigs are responsible for an extraordinary amount of damage in both natural and anthropogenic systems throughout North America. As the density and range of wild pig habitat have substantially increased over the last several decades, the magnitude and diversity of their negative impacts are not yet fully realized or quantified. With various conflicts continually emerging, wild pig management is difficult and expensive to achieve. As a result, wild pigs represent one of the greatest wildlife management challenges North America faces in the 21st century. Invasive Wild Pigs in North America: Ecology, Impacts, and Management addresses all aspects of wild pig biology, ecology, damage, and management in a single comprehensive volume. It assimilates and organizes information on the most destructive introduced vertebrate species in the United States, establishing a foundation from which managers, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders can build upon into the future. The book provides comprehensive coverage of wild pig biology and ecology, techniques for management and research, and regional chapters. It is an asset to readers interested in wild pigs, the resources they impact, and how to mitigate those impacts, and establishes a vision of the future of wild pigs in North America. Features: Compiles valuable knowledge for a broad audience including wild pig managers, researchers, adversaries, and enthusiasts from across North America Addresses taxonomy, morphology, genetics, physiology, spatial ecology, population dynamics, diseases and parasites, and the naturalized niche of wild pigs Includes chapters on damage to resources, management, research methods, human dimensions and education, and policy and legislation Contains full color images and case studies of interesting and informative situations being created by wild pigs throughout North America Includes a chapter on wild pigs at the wildland-urban interface, a more recent and especially challenging issue

Research on the mental abilities of chimpanzees and bonobos has been widely celebrated and used in reconstructions of human evolution. In contrast, scant attention has been paid to the abilities of gorillas and orangutans. This volume aims to complete the picture of hominoid cognition by bringing together the work on gorillas and orangutans and setting it in comparative perspective. This book's introductory chapters set the evolutionary context for comparing cognition in gorillas and orangutans to that of chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. The remaining chapters focus primarily on the kinds and levels of intelligence displayed by orangutans and gorillas compared to other great apes, including performances in the classic domains of tool use and tool making, imitation, self awareness, social communication, and symbol use.

Our ability to 'think' is really one of our most puzzling characteristics. What it would be like to be unable to think? What would it be like to lack self-awareness? The complexity of this activity is striking. 'Thinking' involves the interaction of a range of mental processes--attention, emotion, memory, planning, self-consciousness, free will, and language. So where did these processes arise? What evolutionary advantages were bestowed upon those with an ability to deceive, to plan, to empathize, or to understand the intention of others? In this compelling new work, Peter Gardenfors embarks on an evolutionary detective story to try and solve one of the big mysteries surrounding human existence--how has the modern human being's way of thinking come into existence. He starts by taking in turn the more basic cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, then builds upon these to explore more complex behaviors, such as self-consciousness, mindreading, and imitation. Having done this, he examines the consequences of "putting thought into the world" -i.e., using external media like cave paintings, drawings, and writing. Immensely readable and humorous, the book will be valuable for students in psychology and biology, and accessible to readers of popular science.

Humans and Hyenas examines the origins and development of the relationship between the two to present an accurate and realistic picture of the hyena and its interactions with people. The hyena is one of the most maligned, misrepresented and defamed mammals. It is still, despite decades of research-led knowledge, seen as a skulking, cowardly scavenger rather than a successful hunter with complex family and communal systems. Hyenas are portrayed as sex-shifting deviants, grave robbers and attackers of children in everything from African folk tales through Greek and Roman accounts of animal life, to Disney's The Lion King depicting hyenas with a lack of respect and disgust, despite the reality of their behaviour and social structures. Combining the personal, in-depth mining of scientific papers about the three main species and historical accounts, Keith Somerville delves into our relationship with hyenas from the earliest records from millennia ago, through the accounts by colonisers, to contemporary coexistence, where hyenas and humans are forced into ever closer proximity due to shrinking habitats and loss of prey. Are hyenas fated to retain their bad image or can their amazing ability to adapt to humans more successfully than lions and other predators lead to a shift in perspective? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the environmental sciences, conservation biology, and wildlife and conservation issues.

Marsupial Nutrition describes the food resources used by marsupials from small insectivores to large folivores. It discusses the ways in which these animals' digestive systems and metabolism are designed to cope with foods as different as nectar and fungus, tree sap and tough perennial grasses, and insects and eucalypt foliage. Although the subject species are marsupials, the general principles of nutritional ecology and digestive strategies that are introduced at the beginning of the chapters are applicable to all mammals. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students in the areas of vertebrate zoology, nutrition, ecology, and digestive physiology will find Marsupial Nutrition particularly instructive, and wildlife biologists, veterinarians, and nutritionists will also find much of interest.

In this book, field and laboratory researchers show that the Great Apes are capable of thinking at symbolic levels, traditionally considered uniquely human. They show these high-level abilities in both social and ecological domains, including tool use, imitation, pretense, self-awareness, deception, consolation, teaching and proto-culture itself. Here, contributors emphasize the mechanisms involved in building these abilities--especially the lengthy developmental and "enculturation" processes--suggesting changes to current views on how primate and human intelligence have evolved. Researchers and professionals in the fields of primatology, animal behavior, anthropology, linguistics, and cognitive psychology will find much useful information in this book.

Unlike humans, who came down from the trees and developed bipedal locomotion, chimpanzees have remained in the original habitat of our ancestors: the tropical rainforests of Africa.
In this book, Vernon Reynolds describes in detail the work of a large number of students and senior researchers on the wild chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest Reserve in Western Uganda. He presents a coherent and in-depth account of one chimpanzee community of more than 60 individuals living in the Sonso area in the middle of the Budongo Forest, which he and his colleagues have studied intensively over the last 15 years. The chimpanzees have never been provisioned and live in an entirely natural state. Reynolds describes their forest habitat, their diet and culture, their social organization and behavior, their diseases, and the threats to them that derive from the actions of people in the surrounding villages, the most serious of these being the presence of snares set by hunters to catch small antelopes and pigs.
As founder and head of the Budongo Forest Project, Professor Reynolds has been responsible for compiling the numerous publications, reports, and dissertations written about these chimpanzees. In this book, he combines these new and often unpublished studies with past publications about Budongo Forest. Where appropriate, he also compares the Budongo chimpanzees with wild chimpanzees studied at other sites across Africa. The result is the most comprehensive account of the Budongo chimpanzees ever published, with a wealth of referenced material that will serve as a source of information for many years to come.

Marine mammals have long captured the attention of humans. Ancient peoples etched seals and dolphins on the walls of Paleolithic caves; today, engineers develop microprocessors to track these denizens of the deep. This groundbreaking book from highly respected marine mammal paleontologist Annalisa Berta delves into the story of the extraordinary adaptations that gave the world these amazing animals. The Rise of Marine Mammals reveals remarkable fossil record discoveries that shed light on the origins, relationships, and diversification of marine mammals. Focusing on evolution and paleobiology, Berta provides an overview of marine mammal species diversity, enhanced with gorgeous life restorations by Carl Buell, Robert Boessenecker, William Stout, and Ray Troll and extensive line drawings by graphics editor James L. Sumich. The book also considers ongoing conservation challenges, demonstrating how the fossil record of adaptation in response to past environmental shifts may illuminate the way that marine mammals respond to global climate change. This invaluable biological framework is essential for helping us understand how best to protect and conserve today's polar bears, whales, dolphins, seals, and fellow warm-blooded ocean dwellers. The Rise of Marine Mammals also describes exciting breakthroughs that rely on new techniques of study, including 3-D imaging, and molecular, finite element, and morphometric analyses, which have enhanced scientists' understanding of everything from the anatomy of fetal whales to the genes behind limb loss in cetaceans. Mammalogists, paleontologists, and marine scientists will find Berta's insights absorbing, while developmental and molecular biologists, geneticists, and ecologists exploring integrative research approaches will benefit from her fresh perspective.

This book is an up-to-date comprehensive resource on the names (scientific, English and vernacular) of the mammals of South Asia. This work is first of its kind that deals with explanation of names of mammals at the species and subspecies level.

How can the intelligence of monkeys and apes, and the huge brain expansion which marked human evolution be explained? In 1988, Machiavellian Intelligence was the first book to assemble the early evidence suggesting a new answer: that the evolution of intellect was primarily driven by selection for manipulative, social expertise within groups where the most challenging problem faced by individuals was dealing with their companions. Since then a wealth of new information and ideas has accumulated. This new book will bring readers up to date with the most important developments, extending the scope of the original ideas and evaluating them empirically from different perspectives. It is essential reading for reseachers and students in many different branches of evolution and behavioural sciences, primatology, and philosophy.

What special qualities of mind set the great apes apart from other nonhuman primates, and indeed from ourselves? In this book, field and laboratory researchers show that the great apes have high level abilities in both social and ecological domains, including tool use, pretense, self-awareness, deception, consolation, teaching and culture itself. Great apes are also shown to be capable of thinking at symbolic levels, traditionally considered to be uniquely human. Here, the mechanisms involved in building these abilities - especially the lengthy developmental and 'enculturation' processes - are emphasized, showing how new discoveries are changing views on how primates and human intelligence evolved. This book is for anyone interested in current research and theoretical views of great ape cognition.

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.

What does it mean to be a horse? The definitive and bestselling book explaining the mysteries of the horse using insights of modern science. What makes a winning racehorse? How intelligent are horses? What are horses trying to tell us when they stamp their hooves and snort? Do horses talk to each other? The horse, long symbol of beauty and athletic prowess, has made and lost fortunes and transformed human history and culture, and yet has retained mysteries that baffle even those who work with them every day. There has recently been an explosion of scientific research on the horse. In this book Stephen Budiansky brings the insights of modern science to a wider audience of horse enthusiasts and animal-lovers.

This is the only book entirely devoted to the sensory circumventricular organs. It reviews research into their detailed anatomy, neurochemistry, neural connections, and functions, and provides the reader with many illustrations previously unpublished.

Key features: Beautifully illustrated with detailed, full-colour images - very user-friendly for investigators, students, and technicians who work with animals Provides essential information for research and clinical purposes, describing some structures not usually shown in any other anatomy atlas In each set of illustrations, the same view is depicted in the mouse and the rat for easy comparison Text draws attention to the anatomical features which are important for supporting the care and use of these animals in research Endorsed by the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) Comparative Anatomy of the Mouse and Rat: a Color Atlas and Text provides detailed comparative anatomical information for those who work with mice and rats in animal research. Information is provided about the anatomical features and landmarks for conducting a physical examination, collecting biological samples, making injections of therapeutic and experimental materials, using imaging modalities, and performing surgeries.

In this unique book, Sir Donald Harrison draws on his wide-ranging experience as a surgeon and comparative anatomist to produce an authoritative and detailed account of the anatomy and physiology of the mammalian larynx. His investigation of the larynx has involved the study of over 1400 specimens of mammalian larynges from around the world, as well as using data from his own clinical experiences. The comparative morphology of the larynx is discussed from a developmental and functional perspective and the involvement of the larynx in respiration, locomotion and vocalisation is highlighted. Throughout the book the relationship of structure to function is drawn out and the clinical relevance of features of the human larynx is emphasised. This book will be an invaluable reference for all researchers and clinicians involved in laryngology as well as for anatomists, zoologists and anaesthesiologists.

The aim of this study was to investigate the development and diffferentiation of the adrenal glands in the grass snake during early stages of ontogenesis. After light microscopy and ultrastructural investigation, six developmental phases were distinguished in the grass snake adrenal glands. Similar developmental phases were described in pig embryos but they slightly differ from those presented above. In reptile and mammal embryos a similar direction of changes is observed in primaordia of both tissues forming adrenal glands.

Colobine monkeys have a unique digestive system, analogous to that of ruminants, which allows them to exploit foliage as a food source. This gives them a niche in Old World forests where they are often the only abundant medium-sized arboreal folivorous mammal. From a possible Miocene origin, Colobine monkeys have radiated into a wide variety of forms inhabiting a range of tropical woodlands in Africa and Asia. Most of the extant species have been subject to long term field studies, but until this book, no synthesis of work on this group has been available. The central theme is that of adaptive radiation, showing how the special features of Colobine anatomy interacted with a range of ecosystems to produce the distinctive species of today. The book also discusses parallels with other mammalian groups.

However well the anatomy of the gastrointestinal tracts of a wide range of mammals are described and quantified, there can be no real explanation of observed patterns without consideration of the mechanical and chemical properties of the food consumed, and digestive stages involved in its processing. This book aims to integrate findings from the many different types of investigations of mammalian digestive systems into a coherent whole. Using the themes of food, form and function, researchers discuss models of digestive processes, linking this with evolutionary aspects of food utilization. Macroscopic and ultrastructural studies of the gastrointestinal tract are also presented, as are physiological, ecological and biochemical aspects of the digestion of different food types. The book ends with an integrative chapter, bringing together the themes running through the earlier sections.

Interest in marine mammals has increased dramatically in the last few decades, as evidenced by the number of books, scientific papers, and conferences devoted to these animals. Nowadays, a conference on marine mammals can attract between one and two thousand scientists from around the world. This upsurge of interest has resulted in a body of knowledge which, in many cases, has identified major conservation problems facing particular species. At the same time, this knowledge and the associated activities of environmental organisations have served to introduce marine mammals to a receptive public, to the extent that they are now perceived by many as the living icons of biodiversity conservation. Much of the impetus for the current interest in marine mammal conservation comes from "Save the Whale" campaigns started in the 1960s by environmental groups around the world, in response to declining whale populations after over-exploitation by humans. This public pressure led to an international moratorium on whaling recommended in 1972 by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, and eventually adopted by the International Whaling Commission ten years later. This moratorium largely holds sway to this day, and further protective measures have included the delimitation of extensive areas of the Indian Ocean (1979) and Southern Ocean (1994) as whale sanctuaries.

This collection of articles is completely and explicitly devoted to the new field of comparative developmental evolutionary psychology--that is, to studies of primate abilities based on frameworks drawn from developmental psychology and evolutionary biology. These frameworks include Piagetian and neo-Piagetian models as well as psycholinguistic ones. The articles in this collection--originating in Japan, Spain, Italy, France, Canada, and the United States--represent a variety of backgrounds in human and nonhuman primate research. The authors focus on such areas as the nature of culture, intelligence, language, and imitation; the differences among species in mental abilities and developmental patterns; and the evolution of life histories and of mental abilities and their neurological bases.

The rapid development of molecular biology and genetics has led to renewed interest in embryology, comparative embryology, and studies of the relations between ontogeny and phylogeny. In fact, genes have been identified which are involved in the formation of shapes and structures, and it is becoming apparent that their primary morphological expressions are conspicuously similar in different species. The primarily identical shapes do not become diversified until advanced individualization of embryos, and it is here that it is possible to employ the knowledge of comparative embryology, the branch of science engaged in the study of the development and differentiation of tridimensional structures in different animal groups. However, comparative embryology has been neglected during the past decades, as its development has appeared to have been completed. In our opinion, the decreased interest in comparative embryology has been caused by the fact that often the time factor was not or could not be respected. In fact, in the case of embryos of wild animals even their ontogenetic age and sometimes the duration of intrauterine development are unknown.