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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Vertebrates > Mammals
Baring-Gould's eye-opening history of lycanthropy - the werewolf
curse - delves deep into the lore, unearthing various historical
cases, several of which date back to Ancient or Medieval times. The
concept of a human transforming into a wolf has ancient origins,
with several Greek and Roman authors such as Virgil, Ovid,
Herodotus and Pliny raising the concept in their poetry and other
writings. Rumors of sorcery that could induce a human to change was
attributed to magicians in far off places such as Scythia, and such
beliefs were widely held. Later, the Norse civilization's mythology
introduced lycanthropy and other kinds of transformation. Humans as
wolves, bears, birds and other beasts were said to appear in the
northern wilds; the Norse God Odin took the form of a bird on
regular occasions. Berserker warriors would clad themselves in wolf
skins; Bj rn, son of Ulfheoin, was famed for his ability to shift
between human and wolf forms.
All humans share certain components of tooth structure, but show
variation in size and morphology around this shared pattern. This
book presents a worldwide synthesis of the global variation in
tooth morphology in recent populations. Research has advanced on
many fronts since the publication of the first edition, which has
become a seminal work on the subject. This revised and updated
edition introduces new ideas in dental genetics and ontogeny and
summarizes major historical problems addressed by dental
morphology. The detailed descriptions of 29 dental variables are
fully updated with current data and include details of a new
web-based application for using crown and root morphology to
evaluate ancestry in forensic cases. A new chapter describes what
constitutes a modern human dentition in the context of the hominin
fossil record.
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS PLACING THE HUMAN-WOLF RELATIONSHIP IN
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVEInternational in range and chronological in
organisation, this volume aims to grasp the maincurrents of thought
about interactions with the wolf in modern history. It focuses on
perceptions, interactions and dependencies, and includes cultural
and social analyses as well as biological aspects. Wolves have been
feared and admired, hunted and cared for. At the same historical
moment, different cultural and social groups have upheld widely
diverging ideas about the wolf. Fundamental dichotomies in modern
history, between nature and culture, wilderness and civilisation
and danger and security, have been portrayed in terms of wolf-human
relationships. The wolf has been part of aesthetic, economic,
political, psychological and cultural reasoning albeit it is
nowadays mainly addressed as an object of wildlife management.
There has been a major shift in perception from dangerous predator
to endangered species, but the big bad fairytale wolf remains a
cultural icon. This volume roots study of human-wolf relationships
coherently within the disciplines of environmental and animal
history for the first time.
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Monkeys
(Paperback)
Alfred Russel Wallace
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R327
Discovery Miles 3 270
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Ships in 18 - 22 working days
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The behaviour of domesticated animals is a subject of great
importance to students of animal behaviour and veterinary medicine,
as well as interested pet owners. This book presents an engaging
overview of the behaviour of the domestic cat, adopting both a
mechanistic and functional approach. Physiological, developmental
and psychological aspects are addressed, including domestication,
the development of the senses, learning, communication and feeding
behaviour. The authors build on these themes to discuss social
behaviour, hunting and predation, cat-human interactions and
welfare. Fully updated throughout, this new edition also includes
two new chapters on behavioural disorders due to pathologies and
from misdirected natural behaviour. It is an essential source of
cat behaviour information for students, ethologists, veterinarians
and pet owners.
Ethnoprimatology, the combining of primatological and
anthropological practice and the viewing of humans and other
primates as living in integrated and shared ecological and social
spaces, has become an increasingly popular approach to primate
studies in the twenty-first century. Offering an insight into the
investigation and documentation of human-nonhuman primate relations
in the Anthropocene, this book guides the reader through the
preparation, design, implementation, and analysis of an
ethnoprimatological research project, offering practical examples
of the vast array of methods and techniques at chapter level. With
contributions from the world's leading experts in the field,
Ethnoprimatology critically analyses current primate conservation
efforts, outlines their major research questions, theoretical bases
and methods, and tackles the challenges and complexities involved
in mixed-methods research. Documenting the spectrum of current
research in the field, it is an ideal volume for students and
researchers in ethnoprimatology, primatology, anthropology, and
conservation biology.
The Neotropics contains the greatest abundance and diversity of
primate species of any bio-region in the world. They make up an
impressive and varied assemblage of species, from the small pigmy
marmoset weighing one hundred grams, to the woolly spider monkey
tipping the scale at 10-14 kg. Some in the group, such as the
bearded capuchin, show signs of high intelligence evidenced by
their use of primitive tools to open nuts and fruit, and many of
these species are flagships whose very presence is crucial for the
dispersal of seeds and maintenance of primary forests.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of Neotropical primate species
are threatened or endangered due to various anthropogenic
activities including deforestation, illegal hunting, illegal
wildlife trade, mining, and road construction. Moreover, there is a
general paucity of data of this group because their habitats can be
difficult to access and the sheer expansiveness of the Neotropical
area. In this book, the authors present new research findings from
sixty of the worlds leading Neotropical primate scientists in order
to bridge this information gap. Specifically, the authors provide
up-to-date biological, molecular, conservation, and phylogenic
information on many of these poorly understood, yet amazing
creatures. It is the authors intention that this new information
will be used as a resource by the novice and professional alike in
order to improve societys understanding of Neotropical primates and
to help protect them long into the future.
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