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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Vertebrates
Passive acoustic monitoring is increasingly used by the scientific community to study, survey and census marine mammals, especially cetaceans, many of which are easier to hear than to see. PAM is also used to support efforts to mitigate potential negative effects of human activities such as ship traffic, military and civilian sonar and offshore exploration. Walter Zimmer provides an integrated approach to PAM, combining physical principles, discussion of technical tools and application-oriented concepts of operations. Additionally, relevant information and tools necessary to assess existing and future PAM systems are presented, with Matlab code used to generate figures and results so readers can reproduce data and modify code to analyse the impact of changes. This allows the principles to be studied whilst discovering potential difficulties and side effects. Aimed at graduate students and researchers, the book provides all information and tools necessary to gain a comprehensive understanding of this interdisciplinary subject.
Compiles data and information on the management of important game fish, completing a trilogy of handbooks, the first two recognized as classics in the field.
Comparative Neuropsychology is a collection of state-of-the-art essays by some of the world's leading neuropsychologists. It is prepared as a tribute to the late George Ettlinger, one of the leading figures in comparative neuropsychology research over the last 40 years, and reflects current research in the many areas where Ettlinger made a particular contribution to our understanding. Taking as their starting point the assumption that the human brain shares many of its most important functional systems with its primate relatives, the authors take a comparative evolutionary approach to understanding human cognition and brain function. The book's fifteen chapters cover a wide range of subject areas, including memory, visual and somatosensory perception, motor control, attention, cross-modality integration, interhemispheric transmission, and behavioural intelligence. The final chapters of the book critically discuss questions basic to the comparative enterprise: whether we can in fact apply concepts derived from human cognitive psychology to primate neuropsychology, and whether there are evolutionary discontinuities in cortical brain structure among the higher primate species. One of the first and most comprehensive books to be written on the topic, Comparative Neuropsychology forms a fascinating and wide-ranging collection. It will be read by undergraduate and post-graduate students in psychology, neuroscience, and neuropsychology, as well as researchers in those areas.
Woolly monkeys are large, attractive and widespread primates found throughout many parts of the Amazon basin. It is only in the last twenty-five years or so that long-term studies of woollies in their forest habitat have been successful; they have not generally been successfully kept in captivity. But now, especially because of their size, these creatures are pressed on all sides by bush meat hunters and forest fragmentation. Their future is becoming critically precarious and the editors feel that it is time to showcase these animals with a full book. The editors draw together a number of recent woolly monkey studies from three Amazonian countries, including five taxa of woolly monkeys, four of which have recently been reclassified without using new biological criteria as species rather than subspecies (Groves, 2001, 2005; Rylands & Mittermeier, 2009). This volume provides a diversity of studies by well-known researchers and advanced students on a wide range of subjects using newly generated data, including a criticism of the recent taxonomic changes. The varied information contained within "The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics and Captive Research "will help readers understand these handsome animals and will, we hope, energize them to contribute to their conservation.
Because of its central situation in the Eastern United States and the variety of habitats to be found within its borders, Kentucky has an interesting mixture of mammals, including some characteristic of the Deep South, the West, and the North. All 63 species native to the state are described and illustrated in this volume, the fifth in a series of guides to the wildlife of Kentucky. The book is conveniently arranged by orders, families, and species, and identification is facilitated by illustrated keys and by a series of dramatic color photographs. In the account of each species, the authors describe its distinguishing features, similar species with which it might be confused, its habitat, range, characteristic behavior, and life history. Much of the information in these accounts is drawn from the authors' personal observation of the animals in the wild and, in some cases, in captivity.
Raptors of the World (Helm, 2001) is the definitive handbook to this most popular group of birds. This new field guide uses all of the plates from Raptors of the World, with a concise, revised text on facing pages, to create a conveniently-sized, lightweight field reference covering all 340 raptor species. Several of the plates have been reworked and repainted for this guide. The book also has an updated colour distribution map for each species. Much of the extensive introductory material has been retained in this guide, with the addition of a complete species list containing all subspecies and brief details of their ranges. Armed with this guide, birders will be able to identify with confidence any raptor encountered anywhere in the world.
This book describes the bird life of the various upland regions of the British Isles and presents the various species from an ecological standpoint. The book relates the bird distribution and abundance to the various environmental influences of climate, topography, geology, soil type and human land use. The book initially sets the scene by describing and examining the changes and bird fauna following the major climatic shift since the end of the Ice Age. The uplands are grouped into several main types - sheep-walks, grouse moors, deer forests, flows (peat bogs), maritime hills and high tops and the distinctive bird assemblages are described together with details of the natural history of the more important species. The book will appeal to the informed layman and to the keen bird-watcher who wants to learn more about the life of upland birds and the ways in which they are adapted to their environments.
Fish Diseases: Prevention and Control Strategies provides essential information on disease prevention and treatment by the most experienced fish culturists in the industry. The book presents both traditional and novel methodologies of identifying and addressing fish disease risk, along with preventative and responsive insights to the challenges impacting fish production today. Both specific (vaccination) and non-specific (immunostimulation) approaches are explored, from maintaining optimal environmental conditions, to understanding how stressors in fish affect their immune system.
A comprehensive book intended for anyone maintaining bats in captivity. Bats in Captivity is the only book of its kind, detailing the captive care of bats worldwide. This volume comprises 38 papers by 41 contributing authors. It contains a user-friendly guide to bat identification, subjects on reproductive patterns and parental care, social organization and communication, capturing and handling, releasing bats into the wild, marking bats for individual identification, torpor and hibernation, lactation and postnatal growth, simulating mother's milk and hand rearing pups of all bat groups, plus much more.
It is a great honor to be asked to introduce this exciting new volume, having been heavily involved in the first comprehensive synthesis in the early 1980s. Gibbons are the most enthralling of primates. On the one hand, they are the most appealing animals, with their upright posture and body shape, facial markings, dramatic arm-swinging locomotion and suspensory postures, and devastating duets; on the other hand, the small apes are the most diverse, hence biologically valuable and informative, of our closest relatives. It is hard for me to believe that it is 40 years to the month since I first set foot on the Malay Peninsula to start my doctoral study of the siamang. I am very proud to have followed in the footsteps of the great pioneer of primate field study, Clarence Ray Carpenter (CR or Ray, who I was fortunate to meet twice, in Pennsylvania and in Zurich), first in Central America (in 1967) and then in Southeast Asia. It is 75 years since he studied howler monkeys on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone. It is 70 years since he studied the white-handed gibbon in Thailand.
Here, experts in different areas of the field provide an overview of the bioacoustics of whales and dolphins as well as a thorough introduction to the subject for investigators of hearing in other animals. Topics covered include the structure and function of cetacean auditory systems, the unique sound production system of odontocetes, acoustic communication, psychoacoustics, echolocation and models of sound propagation.
The Teeth of Non-Mammalian Vertebrates is the first comprehensive publication devoted to the teeth and dentitions of living fishes, amphibians and reptiles. The book presents a comprehensive survey of the amazing variety of tooth forms among non-mammalian vertebrates, based on descriptions of approximately 400 species belonging to about 160 families. The text is lavishly illustrated with more than 600 high-quality color and monochrome photographs of specimens gathered from top museums and research workers from around the world, supplemented by radiographs and micro-CT images. This stimulating work discusses the functional morphology of feeding, the attachment of teeth, and the relationship of tooth form to function, with each chapter accompanied by a comprehensive, up-to-date reference list. Following the descriptions of the teeth and dentitions in each class, four chapters review current topics with considerable research activity: tooth development; tooth replacement; and the structure, formation and evolution of the dental hard tissues. This timely book, authored by internationally recognized teachers and researchers in the field, also reflects the resurgence of interest in the dentitions of non-mammalian vertebrates as experimental systems to help understand genetic changes in evolution of teeth and jaws.
Another title in the ‘Quick Guide’ series, this compact little book is
a handy identification guide to the surprising variety of nests built
by southern African birds. Covering multiple species, it is arranged
according to nest type - ground, woven, stick, cup, mud-pellet and
A simple key to nest types on the inside front cover directs readers to the relevant section in the book.
Bats are the only true flying mammals and account for about a quarter of all mammal species. The Megochiroptera (flying foxes, fruit bats) are larger animals than the Microchiroptera which can be quite small, and the two groups have very different feeding habits. Zoologists are currently debating whether they are even closely related, thus creating a body of research as diverse as the bats themselves. This book covers many aspects of bat biology, including their evolutionary origins, roles in ecosystems, reproductive biology, foraging behaviour, hibernation, and genetics, all of which will interest both professional and amateur naturalists.
An ambitious, comprehensive assessment of the current status of neotropical migratory birds in the USA, and the methods and strategies for conserving migrant populations. This book covers the full scope of the subject, with chapters reviewing and assessing the topics written as consensus documents by several of the leading workers. Contents include population trends, seasonal variations, habitat requirements during migration, impacts and effects of silviculture and agricultural practices, landscape ecology, habitat grazing effects, and single-species versus multiple-species approaches.
Recent decades have witnessed strong declines in fish stocks around
the globe, amid growing concerns about the impact of fisheries on
marine and freshwater biodiversity. Fisheries biologists and
managers are therefore increasingly asking about aspects of
ecology, behaviour, evolution and biodiversity that were
traditionally studied by people working in very separate fields.
This has highlighted the need to work more closely together, in
order to help ensure future success both in management and
conservation.
The "Handbook of Fish Biology and Fisheries" has been written by
an international team of scientists and practitioners, to provide
an overview of the biology of freshwater and marine fish species
together with the science that supports fisheries management and
conservation.
This volume, subtitled "Fisheries," focuses on a wide range of
topics, including the history of fisheries science, methods of
capture, marketing, economics, major models used in stock
assessments and forecasting, ecosystem impacts, marine protected
areas and conservation. It builds on material in Volume 1, "Fish
Biology," which ranges from phylogenetics and biogeography to
physiology, recruitment, life histories, genetics, foraging,
reproductive behaviour and community ecology.
Together, these books present the state of the art in our
understanding of fish biology and fisheries and will serve as
valuable references for undergraduates and graduates looking for a
comprehensive source on a wide variety of topics in fisheries
science. They will also be useful to researchers who need
up-to-date reviews of topics that impinge on their fields, and
decision makers who need to appreciate the scientific background
for management and conservation of aquatic ecosystems. To order volume II, go to the box in the top right hand corner.
Alternatively to order volume I, go to: http:
//www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?ref=0632054123 or to order
the 2 volume set, go to: http:
//www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?ref=0632064838.
Thomas Pennant (1726 98) was a keen geologist, naturalist and antiquary. Linnaeus supported his election to the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences in 1757, and in 1767 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. His History of Quadrupeds (1793), aimed to promote natural history among a wider readership, originated in an informal index to John Ray's Synopsis of 1693. In his preface, Pennant acknowledges the monumental Histoire naturelle by the Comte de Buffon, as well as works by Klein (1751), Brisson (1756), and particularly the work of Linnaeus, though Pennant strongly disagreed with Linnaueus's classification of primates as including humans with apes. Pennant's two-volume book, beautifully illustrated with over 100 engravings, provides an overview of the state of zoological classification at the end of the eighteenth century. Charles Darwin owned a copy and had it sent to him in South America during the Beagle voyage.
Thomas Pennant (1726 98) was a keen geologist, naturalist and antiquary. Linnaeus supported his election to the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences in 1757, and in 1767 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. His History of Quadrupeds (1793), aimed to promote natural history among a wider readership, originated in an informal index to John Ray's Synopsis of 1693. In his preface, Pennant acknowledges the monumental Histoire naturelle by the Comte de Buffon, as well as works by Klein (1751), Brisson (1756), and particularly the work of Linnaeus, though Pennant strongly disagreed with Linnaueus's classification of primates as including humans with apes. Pennant's two-volume book, beautifully illustrated with over 100 engravings, provides an overview of the state of zoological classification at the end of the eighteenth century. Charles Darwin owned a copy and had it sent to him in South America during the Beagle voyage.
First published in 1987, this volume presents the scientific results of an expedition, promoted by the British Ornithologists' Union, to study the endangered birds of the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean. This group of islands is of unique importance to bird conservation and is perhaps best known as the last home of the famous dodo. Thirty endemic species of birds are already extinct and the populations of several others are now so small as to be of doubtful validity. The data presented here will enable the appropriate government departments and conservation bodies to proceed on the basis of a sound knowledge of the needs of the threatened birds, and it is hoped that the survival of at least a proportion of the unique wildlife of this island group can be ensured. Studies of Mascarene Island Birds will also provide the keen amateur ornithologist with a serious interest in conservation with a direct appreciation of field work aimed at protecting rate species in their natural habitat.
An expansive and detailed review of the biology of Caribbean amphibians, considering their threats, conservation and outlook in a changing world. Amphibians are the group of vertebrates undergoing the fastest rate of extinction; it is urgent that we understand the causes of this and find means of protecting them. This landmark illustrated volume brings together the leading experts in the field. As well as offering an overview of the region as a whole, individual chapters are devoted to each island or island-group and the measures used to protect their amphibians through legislation or nature reserves. The biological background of insular biogeography, including its methods, analysis and results, is reviewed and applied specifically to the problems of Caribbean amphibians - this includes a re-examination of patterns and general ideas about the status of amphibians in the Anthropocene. The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean offers an important baseline against which future amphibian conservation can be measured in the face of climate change, rising sea level and a burgeoning human population. Covers over 300 species.
Starting with concise species accounts for all the marmoset and tamarin monkeys, this important new book then goes on to review their geographical distributions and still-contested taxonomy, along with comparative reviews of vocalizations, scent-marking, mating systems, infant care and development, social organization, and behaviour and ecology in the wild. As several of these small primates are rare or threatened, these subjects are strongly relevant to their management in captivity as well as for understanding natural populations. This is the first volume for several years to review current knowledge of this family, which comprises 52 species and subspecies found from Panama to northeastern Paraguay to southern Brazil.
Mediterranean Marine Mammal Ecology and Conservation, the latest edition of the Advances in Marine Biology series providing in-depth and up-to-date reviews on all aspects of marine biology since 1963, presents the latest information on Mediterranean marine mammal ecology and conservation. The series is well known for its excellent reviews and editing, and is now edited by Barbara E. Curry (University of Central Florida, USA), along with an internationally renowned Editorial Board. This serial will appeal to postgraduates and researchers in marine biology, fisheries science, ecology, zoology, and biological oceanography. Volumes cover all areas of marine science, both applied and basic, a wide range of topical areas from all areas of marine ecology, oceanography, fisheries management, molecular biology, and the full range of geographic areas from polar seas to tropical coral reefs.
A comprehensive treatment of primate paleontology. Profusely illustrated and up to date, it captures the complete history of the discovery and interpretation of primate fossils. The chapters range from primate origins to the advent of anatomically modern humans. Each emphasizes three key components of the record of primate evolution: history of discovery, taxonomy of the fossils, and evolution of the adaptive radiations they represent. The Primate Fossil Record summarizes objectively the many intellectual debates surrounding the fossil record and provides a foundation of reference information on the last two decades of astounding discoveries and worldwide field research for physical anthropologists, paleontologists and evolutionary biologists. |
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