Pinnipeds are marine mammals that include eared seals, true seals, and walruses. This book presents detailed reviews on the ecology and conservation of 10 pinniped species along the coasts and islands in Latin America, from Mexico to Chile and Argentina. Topics covered include their population dynamics, trophic ecology, reproduction, and behavior. In addition, the book addresses major conservation issues regarding climate change, interaction with fisheries, ecotourism, and other human activities.

This book brings together in a review manner a comprehensive summary of high-quality research contributions from the different research teams and their collaborators, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health (CIISA). The topics span from animal behaviour and welfare over biotechnology to clinical veterinary medicine. Thus, the book is of interest for researchers and students working in the diverse fields of veterinary medicine and science. The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health (CIISA), the Research Centre of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon, commemorated its 25th-year jubilee in 2018. Throughout its history, CIISA has been consolidating as the top-ranking Portuguese Animal and Veterinary Sciences research unit. More recently, CIISA has taken a leading role in the coordination of national and international research networks and consortiums. This conveyed a highly interdisciplinary nature to CIISA's research, encompassing animal, veterinary and biomedical sciences. This multi- and interdisciplinary nature is reflected on the broad scientific background of the team.

This book aims to be a comprehensive review of the literature on the conservation genetics of the New World crocodilians, from the biological and demographical aspects of the living species to the application of molecular techniques for conservation purposes. It covers the current status of the molecular genetics applied to phylogenetics, phylogeography, diversity, kinship and mating system, and hybridization, as well its implications for decision making with regards to the conservation of these species at academic and governmental levels. This book can be used as a guide for graduate and undergraduate students to understand how conservation genetics techniques are carried out and how they can help preserve not only crocodilians but also other living species.

Behavioral and Neural Genetics of Zebrafish assembles the state-of-the-art methodologies and current concepts pertinent to their neurobehavioral genetics. Discussing their natural behavior, motor function, learning and memory, this book focuses on the fry and adult zebrafish, featuring a comprehensive account of modern genetic and neural methods adapted to, or specifically developed for, Danio rerio. Numerous examples of how these behavioral methods may be utilized for disease models using the zebrafish are presented, as is a section on bioinformatics and "big-data" related questions.

Originally published in 1977, the objective of this book was to examine the mechanisms by which the multiple factors or determinants - homeostatic deficits, hormonal influences, circadian rhythms, experiential and cognitive factors - become translated by the central nervous system into thermoregulatory, feeding, sexual, aggressive, and other behaviours. A conceptual framework has been used that reflects relevant contributions from biology, regulatory physiology, physiological psychology, and other neuroscience disciplines. The final chapter deals with difficulties in brain-behaviour research in relation to experimental strategies and with crucial problems for future investigation.

This book presents the facet theoretical framework as a tool for facilitating the conception of complex animal behaviour research and the design of research procedures through employing mapping sentences. Using the facet theoretical framework, this book takes a holistic view of bird behaviour. Components of bird behavior are identified and then reassembled to facilitate an understanding of the behaviour in the context of its natural occurrence. This provides new insight on both the parts of the behaviour and how these interact as a whole. The multi-faceted approach to designing, evaluating and understanding bird behavior presented offers a template that is adaptable for investigating a wide variety of avian species and different forms of behaviour. Behavioural biologists, animal and comparative psychologists, other natural and behavioural scientists, as well as students of these disciplines will find this book to be an interesting and enlightening read.

This volume is a self-contained companion piece to Studying Vibrational Communication, published in 2014 within the same series. The field has expanded considerably since then, and has even acquired a name of its own: biotremology. In this context, the book reports on new concepts in this fascinating discipline, and features chapters on state-of-the art methods for studying behavior tied to substrate-borne vibrations, as well as an entire section on applied biotremology. Also included are a historical contribution by pioneers in the field and several chapters reviewing the advances that have been made regarding specific animal taxa. Other new topics covered are vibrational communication in vertebrates, multimodal communication, and biotremology in the classroom, as well as in art and music. Given its scope, the book will appeal to all those interested in communication and vibrational behavior, but also to those seeking to learn about an ancient mode of communication.