Vertebrate invasive species are important ecologically, socially, and scientifically throughout much of the globe. However, the interdiction and options for management of invasive species are driven by localized regulation at the country or even state level and thus the management of species must be framed within that context. This book is focused around the management of invasive vertebrate species in the United States, although readers will find much of the material broadly applicable to invasive species in other regions. Vertebrate invasive species cause damage to agriculture, property, natural resources, and threaten human health and safety. However, most of these species occur in the United States resulting from human-mediated activities, often being released intentionally. For the first time, the wealth of scientific information about vertebrate invasive species in the United States is summarized and synthesized in a single volume to be easily accessible to ecologists and natural resource managers. With a focus on prominent terrestrial invasive species that have a history of policy and management and highlighting contemporary issues and management, this book consists of 18 chapters written by experts from across the United States. The first section of the book focuses on overarching policy and management topics associated with vertebrate invasive species; including biosecurity threats and risk assessment, policy and regulation, and the economics of their management. The second section provides in-depth reviews of noteworthy invasive mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. After finishing this book, the reader should understand the complexity of managing invasive species, the unique challenges that each new species may present, and the steps forward that may decrease the impact of these species on the environment, human health, and the economy.

This book outlines the principles of flight, of birds in particular. It describes a way of simplifying the mechanics of flight into a practical computer program, which will predict in some detail what any bird, real or hypothetical, can and cannot do. The Flight program, presented on the companion website, generates performance curves for flapping and gliding flight, and simulations of long-distance migration and accounts successfully for the consumption of muscles and other tissues during migratory flights. The program is effectively a working model of a flying bird (or bat or pterosaur) and is the skeleton around which the book is built. The book provides a wider background and then explains how Flight works and shows how to set up and test hypotheses generated by the program.
The book and the program are based on adapting the conventional (and well-tested) thinking of aeronautical engineers to the biological problems of bird flight. Their primary aim is to convince biologists that this is the appropriate way to handle problems that involve flight, to make the engineering background accessible to biologists, and to provide a tool kit in the shape of the Flight program, which they can use to solve practical problems involving bird flight and migration. In addition, the book will be readily accessible to engineers who want to know how birds work, and should be of interest to the ever-growing community working on flapping "micro air vehicles" (MAVs). The program can be used to predict the flight performance and capabilities of reconstructed fossil birds and pterosaurs, flying in ancient atmospheres that differ from present conditions, and also, of course, to predict and account for the results of experiments and observations on living birds and bats.

* An up to date work by the world's leading expert on bird flight
* Examines the biology and biomechanics of bird flight with added reference to the flight of bats and pterosaurs.
* Uses proven aeronautical principles to help solve biological issues in understanding and predicting the flight capabilities of birds and other vertebrates.
* Provides insights into the evolution of flight and the likely capabilities of extinct birds and reptiles.
* Gives a detailed explanation of the science behind, and use of, the author's predictive bird flight simulation program - Flight - which is available on a companion website.
* Presents often difficult concepts in easily understood language.

Most vertebrate cranial sense organs arise from placodes. These placodes give rise to sensory neurons that transmit information to the brain and neurosecretory cells. This book reviews the evolutionary origin of the sensory and neurosecretory cell types. It summarizes our current understanding of vertebrate evolution, clarifies conceptual issues relating to homology and evolutionary innovation of cell types, compares the sensory and neurosecretory cell types with similar cell types in other animals, and addresses the question of how cranial placodes evolved as novel structures in vertebrates by redeploying pre-existing and sometimes evolutionarily ancient cell types.

Dramatic changes in the environment, including habitat degradation and climate change, have focused attention on how individuals and populations respond to a shifting biotic and abiotic landscape. A critical step toward meeting this goal is a clear understanding of the capacity of individuals to defend themselves against threats. Changes in water quality and temperature have direct and indirect effects on fishes. Defensive responses can occur at many levels, from cellular to behavioral actions. The authors in this volume have attempted to provide a general view of the current state of knowledge of fish defenses with respect to pathogens, parasites, and predators, and to point out gaps where further study is needed.

The greatest complexity of the immune response is shown by vertebrates which are endowed with innate and acquired immunity. Immunological studies performed mostly in mammals have been the reference for studies in other vertebrates. The study of immunological fish defenses has advanced considerably in recent decades. This has been due to the key status of fish in terms of the evolution of acquired immunity and due to the rapid expansion of aquaculture over this period, wherein disease control is of prime concern. Most of the chapters not only review the current advances on fish immune defenses, but also show perspective for future research. The book will be of interest to scientists involved in fish immunology, fisheries and aquaculture as well as for students of fish biology.

Sturkie's Avian Physiology, Seventh Edition is the classic comprehensive single volume on the physiology of domestic as well as wild birds. This latest edition is thoroughly revised and updated and features several new chapters with entirely new content on such topics as vision, sensory taste, pain reception, evolution, and domestication. Chapters throughout have been greatly expanded due to the many recent advances in the field. This book is written by international experts in different aspects of avian physiology. For easy reading and searches, this book is structured under a series of themes, beginning with genomic studies, sensory biology and nervous systems, and major organs. The chapters then move on to investigate metabolism, endocrine physiology, reproduction, and finally cross-cutting themes such as stress and rhythms. New chapters on feathers and skin are featured as well. Sturkie's Avian Physiology, Seventh Edition is an important resource for ornithologists, poultry scientists, and other researchers in avian studies. It is also useful for students in avian or poultry physiology, as well as avian veterinarians.

This guide is designed as an introduction to the basic methods for identifying mammal bones and teeth. It is intended to highlight for beginners the main points on which identifications can be made on the bulk of bones and teeth from a small range of common Old World mammals.

Harvest of Fish and Wildlife: New Paradigms for Sustainable Management unites experts in wildlife and fishery sciences for an interdisciplinary overview of harvest management. This book presents unique insights for embracing the complete social-ecological system to ensure a sustainable future. It educates users on evolutionary and population dynamics; social and political influences; hunter and angler behavior; decision processes; impacts of regulations; and stakeholder involvement. Features: Written by twenty-four teams of leading scientists and managers. Promotes transparent justification for fishing and hunting regulations. Provides examples for integrating decision making into management. Emphasizes creativity in management by integrating art and science. This book appeals to population biologists, evolutionary biologists and social scientists. It is a key resource for on-the-ground managers and research scientists developing harvesting applications. As the book's contributors explain: "Making decisions that are robust to uncertainty...is a paradigm shift with a lot of potential to improve outcomes for fish and wildlife populations." -Andrew Tyre and Brigitte Tenhumberg "Temporal shifts in system states...must somehow be anticipated and dealt with to derive harvest policies that remain optimal in the long term." -Michael Conroy "Proactive, effective management of sportspersons...will be essential in the new paradigm of harvest management." -Matthew Gruntorad and Christopher Chizinski

Most of the cranial sense organs of vertebrates arise from embryonic structures known as cranial placodes. Such placodes also give rise to sensory neurons that transmit information to the brain as well as to many neurosecretory cells. This book focuses on the development of sensory and neurosecretory cell types from cranial placodes by introducing the vertebrate head with its sense organs and neurosecretory organs and providing an overview of the various cranial placodes and their derivatives, including evidence of common embryonic primordia. Schlosser discusses how these primordia are established in the early embryo and how individual placodes develop. The latter chapters explain how various placodally derived sensory and neurosecretory cell types differentiate into discrete structures.

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.

Primatologists have long viewed small fruiting trees, like figs, as the reason for gibbons' territorial and monogamous behavior. However, at Khao Yai National Park in Thailand where gibbons are prevalent, figs are one of the largest trees in the forest. In this long-term field study, Bartlett addresses this apparent contradiction and follows gibbons as their major food sources fluctuate over time. The titles in the Primate Field Studies series impart the comprehensive results of long-term field studies to a broad audience at a critical time. Long-term field studies often have a cohesive story to tell which encompasses many different topics, from group size and food distribution, to social behavior, reproduction, and demography. The comprehensive and accessible monographs can supplement textbooks, or may be used as a stand-alone text in upper-level primatology courses.

After drawing its first breath, every newborn mammal turns his or her complete attention to obtaining milk. This primal act was once thought to stem from a basic fact: milk provides the initial source of calories and nutrients for all mammalian young. But it turns out that milk is a much more complicated biochemical cocktail and provides benefits beyond nutrition. In this fascinating book, biologists Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin reveal this liquid's evolutionary history and show how its ingredients have changed over many millions of years to become a potent elixir. Power and Schulkin walk readers through the early origins of the mammary gland and describe the incredible diversification of milk among the various mammalian lineages. After revealing the roots of lactation, the authors describe the substances that naturally occur in milk and discuss their biological functions. They reveal that mothers pass along numerous biochemical signals to their babies through milk. The authors explain how milk boosts an infant's immune system, affects an infant's metabolism and physiology, and helps inoculate and feed the baby's gut microbiome. Throughout the book, the authors weave in stories from studies of other species, explaining how comparative research sheds light on human lactation. The authors then turn their attention to the fascinating topic of cross-species milk consumption-something only practiced by certain humans who evolved an ability to retain lactase synthesis into adulthood. The first book to discuss milk from a comparative and evolutionary perspective, Power and Schulkin's masterpiece reveals the rich biological story of the common thread that connects all mammals.

For many, birds represent freedom and spirituality since they are created to be free. Although this may be true for people as well, we are of course not able to be as truly free as our winged friends. Looking out of his office window and seeing the birds flying, emphasising his confinement indoors and the unnecessary complexities of life in general, the author regrets his lost freedom. Life tends to be over-complicated and many would advocate following a simpler life. Birds, on the other hand, live the life they are destined for and this book shows how a common love of birds bridges cultures and distance. The Birds are our Friends is a wonderful and enlightening collection of essential information, curiosities, myths and folklore of birds and people. The author has discovered the role that birds play in people's imagination, and their significance for various cultures. People's accounts of birds give an insight to themselves - what they strive for, what they are afraid of and what they find important. Some birds predict the weather and construct unbelievably sophisticated nests or engage in elegant mating rituals. The author provides new insights on these facts and myths which confound some widely-held assumptions of their activities. Yessengali has a deeply personal connection and relationship with some birds. His fondest memories from childhood or young adulthood are associated with cuckoos, storks, and other birds that remind him of love and friendship. He hopes that these stories will interest readers, remind them of their spirituality and also evoke fine memories. In any event, it is a book that illuminates the world of birds from a slightly different viewpoint.

Molt is an important avian life history event in which feathers are shed and replaced. The timing, duration, seasonality, extent and pattern of molt follows certain strategies and this book reviews and describes these strategies for nearly 190 species based on information gathered from a 30-year study of Central Amazonian birds. Most species accounts are illustrated with several color photos focusing on wing and tail feather molt, molt limits, and how to use these patterns to accurately age birds. Published in collaboration with and on behalf of the American Ornithological Society, this volume in the highly-regarded Studies in Avian Biology series is a rich source of life history information for ornithologists working on tropical birds.

This book sets out to bridge the order scales among pike researchers, populations, communities, management, and fisheries. It emphasizes the progress of pike research during the last two decades, during which the order-bridging approach emerged. This framework underpins the text and the message, to convey its importance to pike research and to fish research in general. In addition, a considerable part of the book is devoted to management implications and highlights aspects of human dimensions in recreational fisheries.

To study physiology is to examine how organisms have evolved solutions to the business of living in an inanimate world. Our world is and has always been dominated by physical and chemical forces. A physicist might tell us that all things are physical, while a chemist is more concerned with the elementary nature of reactions. A physical chemist sees the bonds between these views, and a biochemist draws out the organic symphony of the vital pathways. A structural biologist adds shape to the chemical building blocks of life, while a molecular biologist tinkers with these structures.This book is intended as a resource for students and researchers interested in developmental biology and physiology and specifically addresses the larval stages of fish. Fish larvae (and fish embryos) are not small juveniles or adults. Rather they are transitionary organisms that bridge the critical gap between the single-celled egg and sexually immature juvenile. Fish larvae represent the stage of the life cycle that is used for differentiation, feeding and distribution.This book aims at providing a single-volume treatise that explains how fish larvae develop and differentiate, how they regulate salt, water and acid-base balance, how they transport and exchange gases, acquire and utilise energy, how they sense their environment, and move in their aquatic medium, how they control and defend themselves, and finally how they grow up.

Fishes are by far the most species-rich vertebrate taxon, and it is also the vertebrate group with the most strikingly diverse repertoire of behaviours and behavioural adaptations. As such, they provide us with many opportunities to explore the fascinating complexities of animal behaviour. Central questions addressed in this book include: How do sensory input, hormones, genetics and experience interact to shape individual behaviour? What should a fish do to be in the right place at the right time and how should it behave to be an efficient predator yet not become the subject of predation itself? How to find a mate or to find the best mate? Should all fish do the same, or is the optimal behaviour dependent on individual characteristics? How does reproductive behaviour affect what fish look like, in terms of colour, body form or body size? And how do fish cope with their complex social and biological environment, including parasites, competitors and collaborators? This new book provides an exciting overview of the many new insights offered by recent research on fish behaviour. The chapters are written by prominent international scientists and are aimed not only at fish biology students and researchers but anyone interested in the interplay between behaviour, ecology and evolution.

Anguillid eels have fascinated biologists for centuries due to their spectacular long-distance migrations between freshwater habitats and their spawning areas far out in the ocean. This book provides a long overdue update on the biology and ecology of anguillid eels and features comprehensive coverage of the key features of the genus Anguilla. It covers a broad spectrum of topics on the biology (taxonomy, phylogeny, evolution, reproduction, feeding, salinity adaptation) and ecology (life history, recruitment, migration) of anguillid eels. It also brings together important information on the state of eel fisheries, conservation, exploitation, and management.

Featuring in-depth contributions from an international team of experts, the Biology of Turtles provides the first comprehensive review of the Testudinata. The book starts with the premise that the structure of turtles is particularly interesting and best understood within the context of their development, novelty, functional diversity, and evolution. It provides a robust discussion of the development and diversity of the shell. The book also explores the turtle body plan, its physiological and ecological consequences, evolutionary novelties, and their importance. The 200 illustrations found throughout the text enhance the chapters combine with color illustrations of the development of the shell, aspects of bone structural diversity, growth, and skeletochronology, to make this book an unparalleled resource. The volume concludes with a thoughtful discussion of the more than century long debate on the origins of turtles and the reasons why our understanding of the phylogenic origins and evolution of turtles remains tentative. Currently available books on this subject are woefully out of date and no overall review of Testudinata has been undertaken...until now. Each chapter represents a milestone in synthesizing a wide range of available information on specific subjects. The book's challenge: look both inside and outside the shell to build a clearer understanding of the diversity and evolution of turtles.

Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) are migratory songbirds that breed in temperate North America, primarily in the Great Lakes region with remnant populations throughout the Appalachian Mountains, and winter in Central and northern South America. Their breeding range has contracted dramatically in the Appalachian Mountains and many populations have dramatically declined, likely due to habitat loss, competition and interbreeding with Blue-winged Warblers (Vermivora pinus), andglobal climate change.. As a result of population declines in much of the eastern portion of their breeding range, Golden-winged Warblers are listed as endangered or threatened in 10 U.S. states and in Canada and have been petitioned for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Published in collaboration with and on behalf of The American Ornithological Society, this volume in the highly-regarded Studies in Avian Biology series compiles extensive, current research on Golden-winged Warblers and summarizes what is known and identifies many remaining unknowns, providing a wealth of peer-reviewed science on which future research and listing decisions can be based.

Part of the Prentice Hall's Primate Filed Studies series. This text can be used for any undergraduate or graduate course with a primate behavior or primate ecology component. It can also be used as supplemental reading, for any advanced animal behavior class. There are very few books that address the biology of nocturnal primates. There are even fewer that delve with any detail regarding the behavior of specific species. These animals are difficult to follow. Their diminutive size, the thickness of the vegetation, and their nocturnal habits, make the study of their habits a demanding task.Through a trial of patience, Sylvia Atsalis has undertaken this task. Here she provides an in depth view at the life and behavioral patterns of these tiny primates. A Natural History of the Brown Mouse Lemur provides the most complete look at the behavior and ecology of mouse lemurs.

These original contributions on the evolution of primates and the techniques for studying the subject cover an enormous range of material and incorporate the work of specialists from many different fields, showing the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to problems of primate morphology and phylogeny. Collectively, they demonstrate the concerns and methods of leading contemporary workers in this and related fields. Each contributor shows his way of attacking fundamental problems of evolutionary primatology.The range of findings in this book include new clues to the evolution of the middle ear and the subsistence behavior of early primates, a persuasive critique of the Smith-Jones hypothesis that many features of primate cranial morphology are adaptations to the special vicissitudes of arboreal habitation, the remarkable association of relative muscle mass in the hands and feet of catarrhine primates with the particularities of prehensile behaviors, the wealth of behavioral data that may be obtained by the concentrated study of certain primates in the vicinity of waterholes, the striking differences between inferences about the same behavioral phenomena that are based on long-term as opposed to short-term observations of one primate social group, and the strategy of sophisticated mathematical techniques for elucidating biomechanical, evolutionary, and behavioral problems.Each chapter conveys the status and progress of research in these and other particular areas of special interest, pointing the way toward further clarification of the functional biology and phylogeny of primates through the application of relatively new techniques or the comprehensive employment of available methods. No attempt is made to smooth over controversial points of view, or to endorse a single uniform model of primate evolution. This work will be an important reference for evolutionary and physical anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, comparative morphologists, human anatomists, behavioralists, and students of evolution.

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of all the Pleistocene species in Europe, classified according to modern taxonomic principles. For each species there is a description of its descent and migration history, its range, and its mode of life.

The first version of this book was a semi popular paperback in the Swedish Aldus series. The present edition is completely rewritten and greatly expanded, but retains the non-technical approach to make the story accessible to readers with varying backgrounds. The first part of the book is an outline of the Pleistocene history of Europe, with its climatic changes and succession of mammalian faunas. In the second part are listed all the species of Mammalia known from the Pleistocene and Postglacial of Europe, with the evolution, range in time and space, and mode of life set down for each species, as far as known. The final part is an evaluation of the story in terms of evolution and palaeogeography.

The author begins with a description of the floral and faunal succession in Europe, from the Villafranchian period, when climatic changes were moderate, to the increasing temperature oscillations of the later Pleistocene, with its recurrent faunal revolutions. Against this background Kurten then deals with the whole range of the mammalian species, and his account is fully illustrated by reconstructions and text figures showing skeletal and odontological characters. The book concludes with an analysis of the material available for this study, which throws fresh light on several aspects of zoogeography, evolution, and ecology.

This is the most complete account of the mammalian species of Europe yet to appear, and will be of great value to all paleontologists.

"Bjrn Kurtun" (1924-1988) was lecturer in palaeontology at the University of Helsinki. He is well known for his studies of the Pleistocene carnivores and of human evolution. He was a recipient of Unesco's Kalinga Award. Some of his most famous publications include "On the Variation and Population Dynamics of Fossil and Recent Mammal Populations" and "Pleistocene Mammals of North America."

This book describes in general how the chemosensory systems of fish function at various levels. In many ways, fish are typical vertebrates differing only slightly from other vertebrates including humans. In other ways, their aquatic environment imposes strict requirements or offers unique opportunities which have resulted in some unusual functions having no counterpart in higher vertebrates. This new volume is necessitated by advances in many vital areas as the field of chemical senses continues to grow at a rapid pace. Most significant is the application of the contemporary electrophysiological technique of patch-clamping, recognition of a second messenger system in chemosensory transduction processes and the identification of hormonal pheromones in fish reproductive behaviour. The last major synthesis of our knowledge about fish chemoreception, Chemoreception in Fishes, was published ten years ago (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1982). In that volume four aspects of fish chemoreception, Le. morphology of the peripheral chemoreceptors. primary sensory processes, roles in behaviour, and its interactions with environment, were discussed. This book is intended to be helpful to students, scientists and aquacul turists not only as a source book but also as a textbook on chemical senses."