Leading experts critically summarize the state of knowledge concerning the molecular, anatomical, physiological, and behavioral aspects of NPY and its congeners. Each article provides a comprehensive and in-depth survey, an overview of the role of NPY in the discipline covered, a discussion of the likely future direction that the field will take, and an up-to-date bibliography.
Chapters include a treatment of the evolution of the PP family of genes, the structure of the NPY gene, and the distribution of NPY on the cardiovascular system, actions of NPY on the electrophysiological properties of nerve cells, and the effects of NPY on feeding and behavior. The chapters are written in an accessible style and serve both as an introduction to the field and as an extensive and detailed treatment of the current state of knowledge.

This volume reviews the meaning of taxonomic statements and considers our present knowledge regarding the number and characteristics of species among living and extinct primates, including man and his ancestors. They also examine the relationship of behaviour changes and selection pressures in evolutionary sequences. First published in 1964.

Genetics and Fish Breeding provides a thorough review of this important subject, highlighting species which are bred commercially, such as salmon, trout, carp and goldfish. The author, who is an acknowledged expert in this subject, has drawn together a wealth of information, providing a book which should be bought by all fish biologists, fisheries scientists, geneticists and aquarists.

The need to gather available data on the Eurasien huchen - an important salmonid species - has been forced by a plain and, unfortunately, common fact of our times: the numbers and distribution of this biggest of salmonids have begun to decline and its range has begun to shrink. A seminar on the huchen - the European form of the species Hucha hucha - held in Zilina in February 1973 as a result of a suggestion of the Section for the Conservation of Fauna of the Slovak Zoological Society, indicated very clearly the sad situation. Data on the biology of the huchen are regrettably scarce despite several recent papers (Ivaska 1951, Svetina 1962, Prawochenski and Kolder 1968) with the aim of filling this gap. Supposing that without a thorough knowledge it is practically impossible to conserve any plant or animal species, the participants of the seminar concluded that the existing knowledge on the huchen should be compiled in an exhaustive monograph. The first such outline originated in 1977 under the authorship of J. Holcik, K. Hensel and L. Skacel, and was submitted as a research report to some of the central authorities. Even during the compilation of the report it became evident, however, that there is no difference between the huchen and its relative, the taimen. Consequently, we immediately began revising our first report, which took over three years.

With the substantial advances in the miniaturization of electronic components, wildlife biologists now routinely monitor the movements of free-ranging animals with radio-tracking devices. This book explicates the many analytical techniques and computer programs available to extract biological information from the radio tracking data.
Key Features:
* Presentation of software programs for solving specific problems
* Design of radio-tracking studies
* Mechanics of data collection
* Estimation of position by triangulation
* Graphic presentation of animal migration, dispersal, fidelity, and association
* Home range estimation, habitat utilization, and estimation of survival rates and population size

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."

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring From frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders, to the lesser-known caecilians, there are over 8,000 species of amphibians alive today. Characterised by their moist, naked skin and the tadpole phase of their lives, they are uniquely adapted to occupy the interphase habitat between freshwater and land. This Very Short Introduction explores amphibians' evolution, adaptations, and biology, from the first emergence of tetrapods onto land 370 million years ago, to how their permeable skin enables them to thrive in their habitat today. T. S. Kemp describes how different amphibians go about their lives, looking in particular at their complex courtship behaviour and their extraordinary means of providing care for their eggs and larvae. Finally, he considers amphibians' relationship to humans, and the ways in which they have been exploited as food, folk medicine, and pets, as well as used in many areas of scientific research. Today amphibians face a serious threat, with almost half of species judged to be at risk of extinction. As the causes include habitat destruction, pollution, and disease, mostly resulting from human activity, T. S. Kemp shows that the conservation of amphibians is very much in our hands. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The extended continental South American turtle record (Norian to Lujanian) allows us to follow the evolution of this reptile clade from its origins. Several significant stem turtle taxa such as: Palaeochersis talampayensis and Condorchelys antiqua provide information on the first steps of turtle evolution. Others such as: Chubutemys copelloi or Patagoniaemys gasparinae provide clues to the origin of the bizarre horned tortoises of the clade Meiolaniidae. The panpleurodiran species such as Notoemys laticentralis or Notoemys zapatocaensis shed light on the origin of modern pleurodiran turtles. This book explores aquatic and terrestrial cryptodiran turtles, South Gondwana pleurodiran turtles, North Gondwana pleurodiran turtles; Meiolaniforms and early differentiation of Mesozoic turtles.

This volume focuses on the effects of natural and introduced toxicants on organs and systems in marine mammals. It includes overview chapters on health status and contaminations with subsequent chapters devoted to whales, pinnipeds (seals), dolphins, polar bears, manatees, and sea otters. The concluding chapter addresses perspectives and issues for the future.
Toxicologists working in marine biology and veterinary medicine, conservation scientists, fisheries scientists, environmental scientists, and wildlife managers will all benefit from this comprehensive resource.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203165578

This book provides syntheses of ecological theories and overarching patterns of urban bird ecology that have only recently become available. The numerous habitats represented in this book ranges from rows of trees in wooded alleys, to wastelands and remnants of natural habitats encapsulated in the urban matrix. Authored by leading scientists in this emergent field, the chapters explore how the characteristics of the habitat in urban environments influence bird communities and populations at multiple levels of ecological organization and at different spatial and temporal scales, and how this information should be incorporated in urban planning to achieve an effective conservation of bird fauna in urban environments. Birds are among the most conspicuous and fascinating residents of urban neighborhoods and provide urban citizens with everyday wildlife contact all over the world. However, present urbanization trends are rapidly depleting their habitats, and thus knowledge of urban bird ecology is urgently needed if birds are to thrive in cities. The book is unique in its inclusion of examples from all continents (except Antarctica) in an effort to arrive at a more holistic perspective. Among other issues, the individual chapters address the censusing of birds in urban green spaces; the relationship between bird communities and the structure of urban green spaces; the role of exotic plant species as food sources for urban bird fauna; the influence of artificial light and pollutants on bird fauna; trends in long-term urban bird research, and transdisciplinary studies on bird sounds and their effects on humans. Several chapters investigate how our current knowledge of the ecology of urban bird fauna should be applied in order to achieve better management of urban habitats so as to achieve conservation of species or even increase species diversity. The book also provides a forward-looking summary on potential research directions. As such, it provides a valuable resource for urban ecologists, urban ecology students, landscape architects, city planners, decision makers and anyone with an interest in urban ornithology and bird conservation. Moreover, it provides a comprehensive overview for researchers in the fields of ecology and conservation of urban bird fauna.

This new series on The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Fishes grew out of the demand for state-of-the-art review articles in a rapidly expanding field of research. Up to the present, most research literature on biochemistry involved rats and humans, but new breakthroughs in the piscine setting have indicated that the field is ready for a review series of its own. Because of funding and experimental availability restrictions, most research in the field has dealt with fish and insects. Within the insect field, comparative biochemistry and comparative physiology have proceeded along independent paths as opposed to the piscine field, where the tendency has been for the latter to envelop the former.
This volume sets out to make comparative biochemistry and comparative physiology independent of each other within the piscine setting, another important rationale for this review series as well as detailing the phylogenetic evolution of fishes. The goal of the series is to provide researchers and students with an appropriate balance between experimental results and theoretical concepts.

Reviews advances in the understanding of the biology, ecology and management of the Atlantic salmon throughout its geographical range, and examines the effects on salmon of afforestation, pollution, acid rain, water abstraction and changing agricultural methods. The rapid escalation of salmon farming with its impact on wild stocks is analyzed as is the increasing threat of over-exploitation on both the open seas and in home waters.

Primate locomotion has typically been studied from two points of view. Laboratory-based researchers have focused on aspects like biomechanics and energetics, whereas field-based researchers have focused on (locomotor) behaviour and ecology. Unfortunately, to date, there is relatively little scientific exchange between both groups. With a book, which will be the result of a symposium on the 2008 Meeting of the International Primatological Society in Edinburgh, we would like to bring together laboratory and field-based primate locomotion studies. We are convinced this will be beneficial for both research lines. For example, biomechanists might wonder how frequently the locomotor style they study in the lab actually occurs in nature, and field workers might use calculated costs of locomotion to understand why certain locomotor behaviours are favoured under specific conditions. Thus, on the one hand, an established link between both groups may help interpret the results by using each other's findings. On the other hand, recent technological advances (e.g. portable high-speed cameras) make it possible to bridge the gap between lab-based and field-based research by actually collecting biomechanical data in situ. Again, communication between both groups is necessary to identify the specific needs and start up achievable and successful research projects in the field. In order to generate a wide interest, we have invited biomechanists, ecologists, and field-based researchers who combine both disciplines, and we hope their combined contributions will facilitate lasting cooperation between the mentioned disciplines and stimulate innovative research in Primatology. We are convinced that the most appropriate format to publish the different symposium contributions is a conference volume within an existing book series. Firstly, the chapters will not only contain new data but will also review existing data and elaborate on potential future work - more so than can be done in a journal article. Secondly, the combination of chapters will form an entity that is more valuable than the sum of the separate chapters and therefore they need to be presented together. Lastly, this volume will benefit from the typically long "shelf life" of a book in a renowned series, allowing it to be used as reference book for both researchers and students.

This book presents a detailed examination of the current state of knowledge in the field of paleoneurology in the main amniote groups (reptiles, birds and mammals), and advances resulting from new non-invasive technologies. The study of fossil endocasts is an area of considerable current interest, and has long been central to our understanding of the evolution of the brain, development of senses and behavioral adaptations in diverse vertebrate groups and across vertebrates as a whole. Recent advances in non-invasive imaging have significantly increased the number of fossil taxa for which brain morphology is known, and it may now be possible to quantitatively analyze the relative size of brain regions. Providing a general overview of current perspectives and problems in evolutionary neuroanatomy, this book is intended for a wide range of readers, including undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and anyone with a special interest in paleoneurology. It is also useful as supplementary reading for courses in digital anatomy, vertebrate comparative anatomy, computed morphometrics, paleontology, neurology and radiology as well as evolution programs

In this compelling book, Rien Fertel tells the story of humanity's complicated and often brutal relationship with the brown pelican over the past century. This beloved bird with the mythically bottomless belly-to say nothing of its prodigious pouch-has been deemed a living fossil and the most dinosaur-like of creatures. The pelican adorns the Louisiana state flag, serves as a religious icon of sacrifice, and stars in the famous parting shot of Jurassic Park, but, most significantly, spotlights our tenuous connection with the environment in which it flies, feeds, and roosts-the coastal United States. In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt inaugurated the first national wildlife refuge at Pelican Island, Florida, in order to rescue the brown pelican, among other species, from the plume trade. Despite such protections, the ubiquity of synthetic "agents of death," most notably DDT, in the mid-twentieth century sent the brown pelican to the list of endangered species. By the mid-1960s, not one viable pelican nest remained in all of Louisiana. Authorities declared the state bird locally extinct. Conservation efforts-including an outlandish but well-planned birdnapping-saved the brown pelican, generating one of the great success stories in animal preservation. However, the brown pelican is once again under threat, particularly along Louisiana's coast, due to land loss and rising seas. For centuries, artists and writers have portrayed the pelican as a bird that pierces its breast to feed its young, symbolizing saintly piety. Today, the brown pelican gives itself in other ways, sacrificed both by and for the environment as a bellwether bird-an indicator species portending potential disasters that await. Brown Pelican combines history and first-person narrative to complicate, deconstruct, and reassemble our vision of the bird, the natural world, and ourselves.

The seventh volume in the series "Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals" describes aspects of the often-complex relationship between humans and marine mammals. From a primeval condition of occasional predators, during the last century humans have become a major factor negatively affecting the status of most marine mammals through over-hunting, habitat encroachment and environmental degradation. This has led to the extirpation of many marine mammal populations and even to the extinction of species. However, in parallel to this destructive drive, since antiquity humanity has been influenced by a strong fascination for marine mammals, which contributes today to an increased human appreciation of the natural world admixed with widespread concern for its degrading condition. The special status occupied by marine mammals in human imagination and affection stands in stark contrast with the current predicament of many populations still threatened by the doings of Homo sapiens: a condition emblematic of the relationship of humanity with nature, and key to understanding where humanity is heading.

This book came about as a result of a review I had written earlier on fea tures of cellular changes occurring during anuran metamorphosis. Only a limited treatment of this subject was possible in such a circumscribed work and only specific examples of organic change were dealt with. Thus the sins of omission weighed heavily, for so much information could not be included to provide a more comprehensive and authenticated account of the elaborate, complex, and far-reaching changes that an aquatic larva undergoes to become a terrestrial froglet. A good deal of my working life has been spent investigating amphib ians, especially their larval developmental morphology during metamor phosis, first at the level of light microscopy and in later years by electronmicroscopy. Initially I was particularly concerned with morpho logical homologies of a variety of larval structures, such as the cranial and pharyngeal skeleton and the nerves and musculature, in order to learn more about amphibian phylogeny, for during my pre-and early postgrad uate years G. R. Beer and D. M. S. Watson inspired an undying interest in and respect for vertebrate comparative anatomy. However, it now seems to be that amphibian phylogenetic relationships are best dealt with by the paleontologists, so ably demonstrated by D. M. S. Watson and A. S. Romer and the contemporary enthusiasts in this field like A. L. Panchen, R. L. Carroll, E. Jarvik, and K. S. Thompson among a host of others, particularly in the USA."

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 extraordinary ability of dolphins to echolocate has fascinated scientists and the public since its discovery in the late 1950's. This is the first book to summarize modern research in this area, and presents a broad synthesis of this very interdisciplinary subject. The author is an internationally-recognized expert on dolphin sonar and is thus in a unique position to bring together research on the physiological, mathematical and engineering aspects of the subject. Of interest to auditory researchers, electrical engineers, acoustical physicists, and mammalian physiologists.

Nearly a decade ago I began planning this book with the goal of summarizing the existing body of knowledge on ecology of freshwater fishes in a way similar to that of H. B. N. Hynes' comprehensive treatise Ecology of Running Waters for streams. The time seemed appropriate, as there had been several recent volumes that synthesized much information on a range of topics important in fish ecology, from biogeographic to local scales. For example, the "Fish Atlas" (Lee et aI. , 1980) had provided range maps and basic entry to the original literature for all freshwater fishes in North America, and in 1986 Hocutt and Wiley's Zoogeography of North American Fishes provided a detailed synthesis of virtually everything known about distributional ecology of fishes on that continent. Tim Berra (1981) had summarized in convenient map form the worldwide distribution of all freshwater fish families, and Joe Nelson's 1976 and 1984 editions of Fishes of the World had appeared. To complement these "big picture" views of fish distributions, the volume on Community and Evolutionary Ecology of North American Freshwater Fishes, edited by David Heins and myself (Matthews and Heins, 1987), had provided an opportunity for more than 30 individuals or groups to summarize their work on stream fishes (albeit mostly for warmwater systems).

This pocket-sized photographic guide to the birds of East Africa features 296 birds likely to be spotted in the region.

- Colourful photographs illustrate diagnostic features and plumage differences between male and female or breeding and non-breeding birds.

- Comparative photographs help differentiate between confusing species.

- Important distinguishing characteristics are highlighted in the text.

- Distribution maps and Swahili common names for all species are included.

- Introduction features a labelled bird diagram, habitat map, glossary and useful advice to birdwatchers.

An invaluable guide for visitors to national parks and the many areas in East Africa that are rich in birdlife.

This book is the product of a NATO Advanced Study Institute of the same name, held at the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School on the island of Spetsai, Greece, in September 1994. The institute considered the molecular mechanisms which generate the body plan during vertebrate embryogenesis. The main topics discussed included: commitment and imprinting during germ cell differentiation; hierarchies of inductive cell interactions; the molecular functioning of Spemann's organizer and formation of embryonic axes; the extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton in relation to morphogenesis and cell migration; neurogenesis and patterning of the neuraxis; the regulation of pattern formation by Hox genes and other transcription factors. This ASI was marked by a number of special features. An important one was that it brought together three different generations of embryologists: pioneers in classical embryology; scientists who are now leading the present molecular elucidation of vertebrate embryogenesis; and the promising younger ASI participants, some of whom are already making important contributions to this field. This aspect was very important in determining the character of the meeting. It exposed ambiguities in the classical embryological dogma and thus facilitated a subtle application of the recent molecular findings to classical problems. The second shining feature of this ASI was its evolutionary emphasis. The findings presented were obtained in four different vertebrate systems: mammals (the mouse), avians (the chicken), amphibians (Xenopus) and the teleost fishes (zebrafish).