This volume highlights the new synthesis of pollination biology and plant mating systems which is rejuvenating the two-hundred-year-old discipline of floral biology. It provides a current examination of the evolution and functional significance of floral traits in animal-pollinated plants, combining ecological and genetic studies with natural history approaches and theoretical modeling. Divided into three sections, the book begins with the first English translation of Christian Konrad. Sprengel's introduction to his classic work and a historical analysis of his observations. The second section addresses current conceptual problems in floral biology, concentrating on floral diversification, floral longevity, pollen dispersal and mating patterns, the ecology of geitonogamous pollination, and flower size dimorphism in plants with unisexual flowers. The final chapters of the book examine model systems and include the evolution of floral morphology and function, deceit pollination, reproductive success and gender variation, stylar polymorphisms, and the evolution of flowers in relation to insect pollinators on islands. With its a detailed treatment of the selective forces shaping floral diversification in animal-pollinated plants, Floral Biology provides ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and botanists with a wealth of current information. Everyone interested in the evolution of flowering plants will benefit from this timely, authoritative resource on the interactions between insects and plants.

Which dinosaur is your favourite?  Children will love spinning the wheel to create their very own dinosaur friends! This chunky board book features a built-in wheel containing different touch-and-feel panels for little hands to explore – perfect for developing hand-eye coordination. With five touch-and-feel options to mix-and-match, this book will give hours of fun to any little one! Coming soon: Don’t Mix Up My Puppy

Which sea creature is your favourite?  Children will love spinning the wheel to create their very own ocean friends! This chunky board book features a built-in wheel containing different touch-and-feel panels for little hands to explore – perfect for developing hand-eye coordination. With five touch-and-feel options to mix-and-match, this book will give hours of fun to any little one! Also available: Don’t Mix Up My Dinosaur, Don't Mix Up My Puppy, Don't Mix Up My Farm

Studies in floral biology are largely concerned with how flowers function to promote pollination and mating. The role of pollination in governing mating patterns in plant populations inextricably links the evolution of pollination and mating systems. Despite the close functional link between pollination and mating, research conducted for most of this century on these two fundamental aspects of plant reproduction has taken quite separate courses. This has resulted in suprisingly little cross-fertilization between the fields of pollination biology on the one hand and plant mating-system studies on the other. The separation of the two areas has largely resulted from the different backgrounds and approaches adopted by workers in these fields. Most pollination studies have been ecological in nature with a strong emphasis on field research and until recently few workers considered how the mechanics of pollen dispersal might influence mating patterns and individual plant fitness. In contrast, work on plant mating patterns has often been conducted in an ecological vacuum largely devoid of information on the environmental and demographic context in which mating occurs. Mating-system research has been dominated by population genetic and theoretical perspectives with surprisingly little consideration given to the proximate ecological factors responsible for causing a particular pattern of mating to occur.

Which farm animal is your favourite?  Children will love spinning the wheel to create their very own farm friends! This chunky board book features a built-in wheel containing different touch-and-feel panels for little hands to explore – perfect for developing hand-eye coordination. With five touch-and-feel options to mix-and-match, this book will give hours of fun to any little one! Also available: Don’t Mix Up My Dinosaur, Don't Mix Up My Puppy, Don't Mix Up My Shark

"Introducing The Enlightenment" is the essential guide to the giants of the Enlightenment - Voltaire, Diderot, Adam Smith, Samuel Johnson, Immanuel Kant, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. The Enlightenment of the 18th century was a crucial time in human history - a vast moral, scientific and political movement, the work of intellectuals across Europe and the New World, who began to free themselves from despotism, bigotry and superstition and tried to change the world. "Introducing The Enlightenment" is a clear and accessible introduction to the leading thinkers of the age, the men and women who believed that rational endeavour could reveal the secrets of the universe.

This book looks at the penguins - an enduringly popular and fascinating group of birds. Penguins are assosciated in the public consciousness with the icecap of the south pole, and we are all familiar with images of male Emperor Penguins clustered together through the long night of the Antartic winter as they incubate the single egg on their feet. However, several species occur in warmer regions further north, in southern Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand and even the Galapagos. All are flightless but are beautifully adapted swimmers and divers, and many are able to travel at high speeds on dry land by means of spectacular leaps and belly-slides. social behaviour. This book looks at all aspects of penguin evolution, biology, ecoloy and sociobiology, as well as conservation issues affecting the group. It is illustrated with line drawings and black and white photographs, and has a full-colour photographic section.

Waddle is a compendium of delightful quotes and gorgeous photographs that captures the quirky, waddling antics of penguins. The quotes range from silly to educational, from well-known minds like Ellen Degeneres, Douglas Adams, Ernest Shackleton, and more. It seems everything has something to say about these upright caricatures of us. Penguins are a lot more than just funny; they're tough. As the world's only '100-degree birds', they breed in environments from -60 DegreesC to +40 DegreesC (-76 DegreesF to 104 DegreesF). They can dive to great depths, exist for long periods in freezing water, and have all the grace and agility of ballet dancers when swimming. But it is the way they carry themselves on land that so endears them to us: they waddle. This compilation is the ultimate gift for anyone who is amused by the quirky, fun and heart-warming antics of penguins. It keeps the focus on fun and can be dipped in and out of at your leisure, or read from cover to cover for added enjoyment. The intention of Waddle is to put a grin on your face and a warm feeling in your heart - all thanks to these delightful creatures that don't just walk, but waddle.