This volume offers a state-of-the-art overview of plethodontid salamanders. Readers will find the best current understanding of many aspects of the evolution, systematics, development, morphology, life history, ecology, and field methodology of these animals.

Elephants are a keystone species and have been a part of the magic of the thickly forested land of South Africa for millennia. This book focuses on the history and work of Knysna Elephant Park, a leading South African elephant research facility that has been home to more than 40 elephants in 25 years. Unfortunately, all the mystique of the Knysna elephant has been reduced to a single elephant left alive. Exploring a wide range of topics, this book covers the impact of elephants' interactions with tourists, how they recover from trauma and even their relevance in human healthcare. Renowned elephant researchers explain the majesty of the elephant brain, which has the largest temporal lobe devoted to communication, language, spatial memory and cognition. To this effect, the book emphasizes the threat of poaching to these gentle giants, which has almost forced them to extinction. Perhaps if humans pay attention to how elephants symbolize our relationship with nature, we can learn important lessons about humanity itself.

The first comprehensive coverage of a subject that has fascinated natural historians for centuries. Avian vagrancy is a phenomenon that has fascinated natural historians for centuries. From Victorian collectors willing to spend fortunes on a rare specimen, to today's high-octane bird-chasing 'twitchers', the enigma of vagrancy has become a source of obsession for countless birders worldwide. Vagrancy in Birds explores both pattern and process in avian vagrancy, drawing on recent research to answer a suite of fundamental questions concerning the occurrence of rare birds. For each avian family, the book provides an in-depth analysis of recent and historical vagrancy patterns, representing the first comprehensive assessment of vagrancy at a global scale. The accounts are accompanied by hundreds of previously unpublished images featuring many of the most exceptional vagrants on record. The book synthesises for the first time everything we know about the subject, making the case for vagrancy as a biological phenomenon with far-reaching implications for avian ecology and evolution.

More than 1 000 mammal species occur in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. These creatures vary in size from the massive elephant to the tiniest bats, shrews and mice. A Photographic Guide to Mammals of Southern, Central and East Africa was compiled with a view to easing identification of many of the larger and more conspicuous mammals in the region, as well as some of the smaller and more unusual ones.

This compact, easy-to-use guide features:

- 152 of the region's mammal species

- key identification features showing how to differentiate between similar species

- distribution maps and a list of major parks and reserves indicating where species are likely to be seen

- quick reference key on inside cover

- thumbnail silhouettes of each family group for quick identification

This new revised edition is an ideal pocket-sized travelling companion for nature lovers and visitors to nature reserves and wildlife areas.

Documents the utility of Next Generation Sequencing and RNAseq to a wide array of aquatic environmental and physiological issues as well as to human health. Provides insights into the ways transcriptomics of aquatic animals and fish ecology can contribute to the understanding of human diseases Gives an account of the evolution of the techniques used to determine the transcriptome in crustacean aquaculture. Describes the mechanisms of genetic interaction between different pathogens and the human host and their effects modifying gene expression levels. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students interested in subjects related to physiology of aquatic animals, aquaculture, ecology and phylogeny of fishes, and human health.

Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation explores how conservationists decide whether, and how, to undertake rehabilitation and reintroduction (R&R) when rescuing orphaned orangutans. The author demonstrates that exploring ethical dilemmas is crucial for understanding ongoing disagreements about how to help endangered wildlife in an era of anthropogenic extinction. Although R&R might appear an uncontroversial activity, there is considerable debate about how, and why, it ought to be practised. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research with orangutan conservation practitioners, this book examines how ethical trade-offs shape debates about R&R. For example, what if the orphan fails to learn how to be an orangutan again, after years in the company of humans? What if she is sent into the forest only to slowly starve? Would she have been better off in a cage? Could the huge cost of sending a rescued ape back to the wild be better spent on stopping deforestation in the first place? Or do we have a moral obligation to rescue the orphan regardless of cost? This book demonstrates that deconstructing ethical positions is crucial for understanding ongoing disagreements about how to help our endangered great ape kin and other wildlife. Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation is essential reading for those interested in conservation and animal welfare, animal studies, primatology, geography, environmental philosophy, and anthropology.

Nonhuman primates have played critical roles in biomedical research, and they are among the few animals whose use in research continues to increase. The scienti?c value of nonhuman primates derives from their close phylogenetic proximity to man and their consequent anatomic, physiologic, and genetic similarities to man. Only nonhuman primates can provide adequate models for many complex physiological and disease processes of humans. The baboon is a relative newcomer to the repertoire of nonhuman primates used in biomedical research. However, in less than 50 years since its ?rst use in the U. S. , it has become one of the most popular laboratory primate species. It is larger than the other widely used monkey species, making it advantageous for many types of experiments and technological developments. It is extraordinarily hardy and highly fecund in captivity. It closely resembles humans in a variety of physiological and disease processes, such as cholesterol metabolism, early stages of atherosclerosis, and alcoholic liver disease. Its chromosomes closely resemble those of humans, and many genes of the two species lie in the same chromosomal order. Among all primates, baboons are the most widely used models for the genetics of susceptibility to complex diseases and they are the ?rst nonhuman primate for which a framework genetic linkage map was established. In addition, the baboon genome is currently being sequenced, and as a result the utility of this species for biomedical research will be dramatically increased.

Sasol Eerste Veldgids tot Algemene Voels van Suider-Afrika bied ’n fassinerende blik op die voellewe van die streek. Met behulp van volkleurfoto's en verspreidingskaarte, asook maklik leesbare teks, sal die jong volwassene en ontluikende natuurliefhebber die meer algemene voelspesies in Suider-Afrika kan identifi seer, kan vasstel waar hulle leef, en meer te wete kom oor hul unieke vreet- en broeigewoontes.

The basic goal of the volume is to compile the most up to date research on the effect of ecotourism on Indonesia's primates. The tremendous diversity of primates in Indonesia, in conjunction with the conservation issues facing the primates of this region, have created a crisis whereby many of Indonesia's primates are threatened with extinction. Conservationists have developed the concept of "sustainable ecotourism" to fund conservation activities. National parks agencies worldwide receive as much as 84% of their funding from ecotourism. While ecotourism funds the majority of conservation activities, there have been very few studies that explore the effects of ecotourism on the habitat and species that they are designed to protect. It is the burgeoning use of "ecotourism" throughout Indonesia that has created a need for this volume where the successes and pitfalls at various sites can be identified and compared.

This is the first single volume guide ever devoted to the eastern Asian avifauna. The eastern Asian region, centering especially on the major islands off the continental coast (including Japan and Taiwan) and the immediately adjacent areas of the Asian continent from Kamchatka in the north and including the Korean Peninsula are an important centre of endemism. Birds endemic to this region include representatives of many of the major families, from the world's largest eagle - Steller's Sea Eagle - to the tiny Taiwan Firecrest. The east Asian continental coast and the offshore islands also form one of the world's major international bird migration routes, especially for waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors, while the east Asian continental mainland itself is home to a wide range of species little known to western ornithologists such as Scaly-sided Merganser, Oriental Stork and Mugimaki Flycatcher. The guide features the most up-to-date text available, which, in conjunction with extensive colour plates throughout, facilitates the field identification of all of the species known from the region. Colour distribution maps enhance the text by providing a visual analysis of the summer, winter and migratory ranges of all species.

Denis Noble Nearly a decade after completion of the first draft of the entire Human Genome sequence we are in a better position to assess the nature and the consequences of that heroic achievement, which can be seen as the culmination of the molecular biological revolution of the second half of the twentieth century. The achievement itself was celebrated at the highest levels (President and Prime Minister) on both sides of the Atlantic, and rightly so. DNA sequencing has become sufficiently c- mon now, even to the extent of being used in law courts, that it is easy to forget how technically difficult it was and how cleverly the sequencing teams solved those problems in the exciting race to finish by the turn of the century [1, 2]. The fanfares were misplaced, however, in an important respect. The metaphors used to describe the project and its biological significance gave the impression to the public at large, and to many scientists themselves, that this sequence would reveal the secrets of life. DNA had already been likened to a computer program [3]. The "genetic program" for life was therefore to be found in those sequences: A kind of map that had simply to be unfolded during development. The even more colo- ful "book of life" metaphor gave the promise that reading that book would lead to a veritable outpouring of new cures for diseases, hundreds of new drug targets, and a brave new world of medicine.

This book summarizes the key adaptations enabling extremophile fishes to survive under harsh environmental conditions. It reviews the most recent research on acidic, Antarctic, cave, desert, hypersaline, hypoxic, temporary, and fast-flowing habitats, as well as naturally and anthropogenically toxic waters, while pointing out generalities that are evident across different study systems. Knowledge of the different adaptations that allow fish to cope with stressful environmental conditions furthers our understanding of basic physiological, ecological, and evolutionary principles. In several cases, evidence is provided for how the adaptation to extreme environments promotes the emergence of new species. Furthermore, a link is made to conservation biology, and how human activities have exacerbated existing extreme environments and created new ones. The book concludes with a discussion of major open questions in our understanding of the ecology and evolution of life in extreme environments.

The biological importance of the auditory system of vertebrates lies in its ability to provide animals with information about where sounds arise and what they mean. The auditory system can alert animals to the presence of danger or prey and, in many animals, serves as a basis for communication. This volume summarizes how the electrical signals used to represent sounds are encoded and interpreted through the integrated roles of various nuclei. It builds on the information about the anatomy and physiology of the auditory pathway found in volumes 1 and 2 of the Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. While the first two volumes describe the structure and function of auditory pathways, this volume will explain how these pathways lead to an animal's ability to localize and interpret sounds. The authors discuss how a variety of species recognize the location of sources and complex features of sound, thus contributing to the ongoing research toward an understanding of the general functional strategies of mammalian auditory systems.

These volumes have, for over 30 years, been the most readily available source listing the scattered articles, theses, bulletins, and research on freshwater fish in the United States and Canada.

"The Handbook of Freshwater Fishery Biology" summarizes the available data on age, growth, length weight, fecundity, reproductive behavior feeding habits, and necessary environment for each freshwater species. The comparison of species is presented in a manner easily used by fishery mangers and biologists.

A ground-breaking look at gender and sex from the world's leading primatologist and New York Times bestselling author of Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are?

How different are the sexes? Is gender uniquely human? Where does gender identity originate?

Drawing on decades of observing our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal explores what we know of biological sex differences and of the role of culture and socialization.

From maternal and paternal behaviour to sexual orientation, gender identity, and the limitations of the gender binary, de Waal analyses our shared evolutionary history with the apes, considering what is similar and what sets us apart. Male and female networking groups, sexual signals, the existence of gender non-conforming individuals, and maternal bonds are observed in primate societies, but humans stand apart in the development of nuclear families, the prevalence of sexual violence, and joint parental care.

With expert insight and engaging storytelling, de Waal not only sets right gendered biases in the scientific community, but delivers a fresh and thought-provoking understanding of the behavioural norms and the many remarkable potentials of the human species.

Although the behaviour and ecology of primates have been more thoroughly studied than that of any other group of mammals, there have been very few attempts to compare the communities of living primates found in different parts of the world. In Primate Communities, an international group of experts compares the composition, behaviour and ecology of primate communities in Africa, Asia, Madagascar and South America. They examine the factors underlying the similarities and differences between these communities, including their phylogenetic history, climate, rainfall, soil type, forest composition, competition with other vertebrates and human activities. As it brings together information about primate communities from around the world for the very first time, it will quickly become an important source book for researchers in anthropology, ecology and conservation, and a readable and informative text for undergraduate and graduate students studying primate ecology, primate conservation or primate behaviour.

This book focuses on the use of molecular tools to study small populations of rare and endangered mammals, and presents case studies that apply an evolutionary framework to address innovative questions in the emerging field of mammalian conservation genomics using a highly diverse set of novel molecular tools. Novel and more precise molecular technologies now allow experts in the field of mammology to interpret data in a more contextual and empirical fashion and to better describe the evolutionary and ecological processes that are responsible for the patterns they observe. The book also demonstrates how recent advances in genetic/genomic technologies have been applied to assess the impact of environmental/anthropogenic changes on the health of small populations of mammals. It examines a range of issues in the field of mammalian conservation genomics, such as the role that the genetic diversity of the immune system plays in disease protection and local adaptation; the use of noninvasive techniques and genomic banks as a resource for monitoring and restoring populations; the structuring of population by physical barriers; and genetic diversity. Further, by integrating research from a variety of areas - including population genetics, molecular ecology, systematics, and evolutionary and conservation biology - it enables readers to gain a deeper understanding of the conservation biology of mammals that are at increasing risk of extinction at local, regional and global scales. As such, it offers a unique resource for a broad readership interested in the conservation biology of mammals and conservation management strategies to better preserve biodiversity.

Equitation Science together with classical riding is today probably the most humane, effective, and practical way of training and enjoying the horse, competitive or not. To avoid getting involved is to accede to the status quo. Our horses deserve better.~Sharon E. Cregier, Ph.D., FIASH (Hon., Edin.), founding member of Equine Behaviour Forum In precise, practical language, Fine Riding describes how to blend the principles of classical riding with the modern findings of Equitation Science, demonstrating how to put the principles into practice when training and riding horses. The book encompasses the author's lifelong background in authentic classical riding and a 17-year study and practice of Equitation Science. It presents the best of the old with the best of the new, resulting in a unique and rational blend of principles, clearly explained, that enables and encourages readers to train, ride and care for their horses truly effectively and humanely. Applicable to riding of all schools of thought, from hacking to racing, including jumping, McBane's method is more than simply another 'system' of riding. It applies the results of rigorous scientific studies to the historical, classical training and riding of horses in an ethical, humane and effective way, explaining the principles in such a way that readers will feel able to put it into effect themselves. This book will encourage horse owners to serve their horses with renewed understanding and commitment.

Equitation Science together with classical riding is today probably the most humane, effective, and practical way of training and enjoying the horse, competitive or not. To avoid getting involved is to accede to the status quo. Our horses deserve better.~Sharon E. Cregier, Ph.D., FIASH (Hon., Edin.), founding member of Equine Behaviour Forum In precise, practical language, Fine Riding describes how to blend the principles of classical riding with the modern findings of Equitation Science, demonstrating how to put the principles into practice when training and riding horses. The book encompasses the author's lifelong background in authentic classical riding and a 17-year study and practice of Equitation Science. It presents the best of the old with the best of the new, resulting in a unique and rational blend of principles, clearly explained, that enables and encourages readers to train, ride and care for their horses truly effectively and humanely. Applicable to riding of all schools of thought, from hacking to racing, including jumping, McBane's method is more than simply another 'system' of riding. It applies the results of rigorous scientific studies to the historical, classical training and riding of horses in an ethical, humane and effective way, explaining the principles in such a way that readers will feel able to put it into effect themselves. This book will encourage horse owners to serve their horses with renewed understanding and commitment.

Ten years in the making, The Kentucky Breeding Bird Atlas presents the results of a seven-year survey of all birds that nest in the Bluegrass State, providing photographs of each species. This work summarizes the distribution and abundance of these bird species, and describes such recent phenomena as the invasions of the Blue Grosbeak and House Finch and the notable decline of other familiar species. Introductory material outlines the methodology used to complete the survey and summarizes its results. Of particular interest, this work helps to document the effect human alteration of the landscape has had on our bird populations. Some of the most common and widespread species in Kentucky today, for example, may have been among the most rare only two hundred years ago. Information for each species includes its current and historical status in the state, habitat preferences, specific details of the construction and placement of nests, and other pertinent aspects of nesting biology. Results of the survey are organized by physiographic region and degree of forestation. For rare or locally distributed species, more specific details concerning individual breeding records are given. Accompanying maps plot each species' distribution and abundance within the state. An additional section briefly summarizes the former status of twelve extinct or extirpated species. The Kentucky Breeding Bird Atlas is sponsored by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission and the Nongame Wildlife Program of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources in cooperation with the Kentucky Ornithological Society.

Techniques and theory for processing otoliths from tropical marine fish have developed only recently due to an historic misconception that these organisms could not be aged. Otoliths are the most commonly used structures from which daily, seasonal or annual records of a fish's environmental history are inferred, and are also used as indicators of migration patterns, home range, spatial distribution, stock structure and life history events. A large proportion of projects undertaken on tropical marine organisms involve removal and processing of calcified structures such as otoliths, statoliths or vertebrae to retrieve biological, biochemical or genetic information. Current techniques and principles have evolved rapidly and are under constant modification and these differ among laboratories, and more particularly among species and within life history stages.

Tropical fish otoliths: Information for assessment, management and ecology is a comprehensive description of the current status of knowledge about otoliths in the tropics. This book has contributions from leading experts in the field, encompassing a tropical perspective on daily and annual ageing in fish and invertebrates, microchemistry, interpreting otolith microstructure and using it to back-calculate life history events, and includes a treatise on the significance of validating periodicity in otoliths.

This completely revamped second edition of Avian Medicine and Surgery includes over 260 all-new colour illustrated cases, with questions and answers fully exploring a breadth of diseases and disorders. Avian patients are a routine part of the veterinary case load and are being seen by many clinicians across the world. This book provides a unique quick reference for clinicians and a useful self-test for students by offering comprehensive, clinically-oriented information that can be quickly accessed, easily understood and applied. With contributions from leading international authorities with diverse fields of expertise, the book covers a wide range of disciplines, organ systems and species. The cases are presented in a random order, just as they would appear in daily practice, challenging the reader to address real clinical situation and offering, where possible, a comprehensive solution.

Whale sharks are the largest of all fishes, fascinating for comparative studies of all manner of biological fields, including functional anatomy, growth, metabolism, movement ecology, behavior and physiology. These gentle ocean giants have captured the interest of scientists and the imagination of the public, yet their future is uncertain. The conservation status of whale sharks was upgraded to Endangered on the IUCN Red List and the species faces a range of intense threats from human activities. Can these iconic living animals, who have survived for millions of years, survive us? Written by the world's leading experts in whale shark biology, ecology, and conservation, Whale Sharks: Biology, Ecology and Conservation is the first definitive volume about the world's biggest fish. Chapters include discussions of satellite-linked tags, used to track whale shark movements; genetic sequencing, to examine evolutionary adaptations; even the use of underwater ultrasound units to investigate the species' reproduction. The editors hope that by collating what is known, they can make it easier for future researchers, conservationists, and resource managers to fill some of the remaining knowledge gaps, and provide the information they need to join the team. As you work your way through this book, we hope that you will develop a sense of awe and marvel at all of our good fortune to share the ocean, and the planet, with this utterly extraordinary species.

Whale sharks are the largest of all fishes, fascinating for comparative studies of all manner of biological fields, including functional anatomy, growth, metabolism, movement ecology, behavior and physiology. These gentle ocean giants have captured the interest of scientists and the imagination of the public, yet their future is uncertain. The conservation status of whale sharks was upgraded to Endangered on the IUCN Red List and the species faces a range of intense threats from human activities. Can these iconic living animals, who have survived for millions of years, survive us? Written by the world's leading experts in whale shark biology, ecology, and conservation, Whale Sharks: Biology, Ecology and Conservation is the first definitive volume about the world's biggest fish. Chapters include discussions of satellite-linked tags, used to track whale shark movements; genetic sequencing, to examine evolutionary adaptations; even the use of underwater ultrasound units to investigate the species' reproduction. The editors hope that by collating what is known, they can make it easier for future researchers, conservationists, and resource managers to fill some of the remaining knowledge gaps, and provide the information they need to join the team. As you work your way through this book, we hope that you will develop a sense of awe and marvel at all of our good fortune to share the ocean, and the planet, with this utterly extraordinary species.