Download or read book Biomechanical and Ecological Contexts of Gliding in Mammals written by Gregory Thomas Byrnes and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Convergent Evolution written by Vincent L. Bels and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-03-01 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents a series of case studies, at different levels of inclusivity, of how organisms exhibit functional convergence as a key evolutionary mechanism resulting in responses to similar environmental constraints in mechanically similar ways. The contributors to this volume have selected and documented cases of convergent evolution of form and function that are perceived to be driven by environmental abiotic and/or biotic challenges that fall within their areas of expertise. Collectively these chapters explore this phenomenon across a broad phylogenetic spectrum. The sequence of chapters follows the organizational principle of increasing phylogenetic inclusivity, rather than the clustering of chapters by perceived similarity of the phenotypic features or biomechanical challenges being considered. This is done to maintain focus on the evolutionary phenomenon that is the primary subject matter of the book, thereby providing a basis for discussion among the readership about what is necessary and sufficient to justify the recognition of functional convergence. All chapters stress the need for integrative approaches for the elucidation of both pattern and process as they relate to convergence at various taxonomic levels.
Download or read book Biomechanics in Animal Behaviour written by R.W. Blake and published by Garland Science. This book was released on 2021-05-30 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biomechanics in Animal Behaviour offers a unique approach by integrating fully the fields of animal behaviour and biomechanics. It demonstrates how an understanding of biomechanical issues is an important part of evaluating and predicting animal behaviour. The book examines how behaviour is determined and/or constrained by biomechanical variables such as hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, kinematics, and the mechanical properties of biomaterials.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Ecology and Environmental Management written by and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-07-15 with total page 832 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Ecology and Environmental Managementaddresses the core definitions and issues in pure and appliedecology. It is neither a short entry dictionary nor a long entryencyclopedia, but lies somewhere in between. The mixture of shortentry definitions and long entry essays gives a comprehensive andup-to-date alphabetical guide to over 3000 topics, and allows anysubject to be accessed to varying levels of detail; while thelonger entries provide general reviews of subjects, the shortdefinitions provide specific details on more specialised areas. Animportant feature of the Encyclopedia which sets it apart fromother similar works is the comprehensive cross-referencing. The most comprehensive and up-to-date reference work in pureand applied ecology. Definitions cover the entire spectrum of pure and appliedecological research. Distinguished editorial board: Dr Peter Moore, Professor JohnGrace, Professor Bryan Shorrocks, Professor Steven Stearns,Professor Don Falk. International team of distinguished authors - over 200contributors from 20 countries. 3000 headwords defined. Over 250 long entries review major topics. Heavily illustrated, with a section of colour plates. Complete one volume guide to pure and applied ecology. Presents cutting edge definitions in emerging fields as well asgrounding in well-established areas of ecology.
Download or read book Principles of Animal Locomotion written by R. McNeill Alexander and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2006-03-19 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can geckoes walk on the ceiling and basilisk lizards run over water? What are the aerodynamic effects that enable small insects to fly? What are the relative merits of squids' jet-propelled swimming and fishes' tail-powered swimming? Why do horses change gait as they increase speed? What determines our own vertical leap? Recent technical advances have greatly increased researchers' ability to answer these questions with certainty and in detail. This text provides an up-to-date overview of how animals run, walk, jump, crawl, swim, soar, hover, and fly. Excluding only the tiny creatures that use cilia, it covers all animals that power their movements with muscle--from roundworms to whales, clams to elephants, and gnats to albatrosses. The introduction sets out the general rules governing all modes of animal locomotion and considers the performance criteria--such as speed, endurance, and economy--that have shaped their selection. It introduces energetics and optimality as basic principles. The text then tackles each of the major modes by which animals move on land, in water, and through air. It explains the mechanisms involved and the physical and biological forces shaping those mechanisms, paying particular attention to energy costs. Focusing on general principles but extensively discussing a wide variety of individual cases, this is a superb synthesis of current knowledge about animal locomotion. It will be enormously useful to advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and a range of professional biologists, physicists, and engineers.
Download or read book Nature s Flyers written by David E. Alexander and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2004-11-17 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Nature's Flyers' is a detailed account of the current scientific understanding of the primary aspects of flight in nature. The author explains the physical basis of flight, drawing upon bats, birds, insects, pterosaurs and even winged seeds.
Download or read book The Vertebrate Integument Volume 2 written by Theagarten Lingham-Soliar and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-02-18 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emphasis in this volume is on the structure and functional design of the integument. The book starts with a brief introduction to some basic principles of physics (mechanics) including Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. These principles are subsequently used to interpret the problems animals encounter in motion. It is in only the last 40 or so years that we have begun to understand how important a role the integument plays in the locomotion of many marine vertebrates. This involves the crossed-fiber architecture, which was first discovered in a classic study on nemertean worms. As a design principle we see that the crossed-fiber architecture is ubiquitous in nature. Research on some of the most dynamic marine vertebrates of the oceans – tuna, dolphins and sharks, and the extinct Jurassic ichthyosaurs – shows precisely how the crossed-fiber architecture contributes to high-speed swimming and (in lamnid sharks) may even aid in energy conservation. However, this design principle is not restricted to animals in the marine biota but is also found as far afield as the dinosaurs and, most recently, has been revealed as a major part of the microstructure of the most complex derivative of the integument, the feather. We see that a variety of phylogenetically diverse vertebrates take to the air by using skin flaps to glide from tree to tree or to the ground, and present detailed descriptions of innovations developed in pursuit of improved gliding capabilities in both extinct and modern day gliders. But the vertebrate integument had even greater things in store, namely true or flapping flight. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to use the integument as a membrane in true flapping flight and these interesting extinct animals are discussed on the basis of past and cutting-edge research , most intriguingly with respect to the structure of the flight membrane. Bats, the only mammals that fly, also employ integumental flight membranes. Classic research on bat flight is reviewed and supplemented with the latest research, which shows the complexities of the wing beat cycle to be significantly different from that of birds, as revealed by particle image velocimetry. The book’s largest chapter is devoted to birds, given that they make up nearly half of the over 22,000 species of tetrapods. The flight apparatus of birds is unique in nature and is described in great detail, with innovative research highlighting the complexity of the flight structures, bird flight patterns, and behavior in a variety of species. This is complimented by new research on the brains of birds, which shows that they are more complex than previously thought. The feather made bird flight possible, and was itself made possible by β-keratin, contributing to what may be a unique biomechanical microstructure in nature, a topic discussed in some depth. A highly polarized subject concerns the origin of birds and of the feather. Alleged fossilized protofeathers (primal simple feathers) are considered on the basis of histological and taphonomic investigative studies in Chapter 6. Finally, in Chapter 7 we discuss the controversies associated with this field of research. Professor Theagarten Lingham-Soliar works at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth and is an Honorary Professor of Life Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Download or read book Biology of Gliding Mammals written by Ross L. Goldingay and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ecology and Behaviour of Free Ranging Animals Studied by Advanced Data Logging and Tracking Techniques written by Thomas Wassmer and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Fish Locomotion written by Paolo Domenici and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fish accomplish most of their basic behaviors by swimming. Swimming is fundamental in a vast majority of fish species for avoiding predation, feeding, finding food, mating, migrating and finding optimal physical environments. Fish exhibit a wide variety of swimming patterns and behaviors. This treatise looks at fish swimming from the behavioral and
Download or read book Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 924 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Marine Mammals written by Randall W. Davis and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-11-14 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive book provides new insights into the morphological, metabolic, thermoregulatory, locomotory, diving, sensory, feeding, and sleep adaptations of Cetacea (whales and dolphins), Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions and walrus), Sirenia (manatees and dugongs) and sea otters for an aquatic life. Each chapter reviews the discoveries from previous studies and integrates recent research using new techniques and technology. Readers will gain an understanding of the remarkable adaptations that enable marine mammals to spend all or most of their lives at sea, often while hunting prey at depth.
Download or read book Artificial Animals for Computer Animation written by Xiaoyuan Tu and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1999-12-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is based on the author's phD thesis, which won the 1996 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award. The author proposes and develops an artificial life paradigm for computer graphics animation by systematically constructing artificial animals controlled by self-animating autonomous agents. The animation agents emulate the realistic appearance, movement, and behavior of individual animals, as well as the patterns of social behavior evident in groups of animals. The paradigm is based on a computational model capturing the essential characteristics common to all biological creatures: biomechanics, locomotion, perception, and behavior. The approach is validated through the implementation of a virtual marine world inhabited by a variety of lifelike artificial fish, where each fish is a functional autonomous agent.
Download or read book Escaping From Predators written by William E. Cooper, Jr and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-28 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a predator attacks, prey are faced with a series of 'if', 'when' and 'how' escape decisions – these critical questions are the foci of this book. Cooper and Blumstein bring together a balance of theory and empirical research to summarise over fifty years of scattered research and benchmark current thinking in the rapidly expanding literature on the behavioural ecology of escaping. The book consolidates current and new behaviour models with taxonomically divided empirical chapters that demonstrate the application of escape theory to different groups. The chapters integrate behaviour with physiology, genetics and evolution to lead the reader through the complex decisions faced by prey during a predator attack, examining how these decisions interact with life history and individual variation. The chapter on best practice field methodology and the ideas for future research presented throughout, ensure this volume is practical as well as informative.
Download or read book Living machines written by Tony J. Prescott and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-13 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary research in science and engineering is seeking to harness the versatility and sustainability of living organisms. By exploiting natural principles, researchers hope to create new kinds of technology that are self-repairing, adaptable, and robust, and to invent a new class of machines that are perceptive, social, emotional, perhaps even conscious. This is the realm of the 'living machine'. Living machines can be divided into two types: biomimetic systems, that harness the principles discovered in nature and embody them in new artifacts, and biohybrid systems in which biological entities are coupled with synthetic ones. Living Machines: A handbook of research in biomimetic and biohybrid systems surveys this flourishing area of research, capturing the current state of play and pointing to the opportunities ahead. Promising areas in biomimetics include self-organization, biologically inspired active materials, self-assembly and self-repair, learning, memory, control architectures and self-regulation, locomotion in air, on land or in water, perception, cognition, control, and communication. Drawing on these advances the potential of biomimetics is revealed in devices that can harvest energy, grow or reproduce, and in animal-like robots that range from synthetic slime molds, to artificial fish, to humanoids. Biohybrid systems is a relatively new field, with exciting and largely unknown potential, but one that is likely to shape the future of humanity. This book surveys progress towards new kinds of biohybrid such as robots that merge electronic neurons with biological tissue, micro-scale machines made from living cells, prosthetic limbs with a sense of touch, and brain-machine interfaces that allow robotic devices to be controlled by human thought. The handbook concludes by exploring some of the impacts that living machine technologies could have on both society and the individual, exploring questions about how we will see and understand ourselves in a world in which the line between the natural and the artificial is increasingly blurred. With contributions from leading researchers from science, engineering, and the humanities, this handbook will be of broad interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Researchers in the areas of computational modeling and engineering, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, artificial life, biorobotics, neurorobotics, and human-machine interfaces will find Living Machines an invaluable resource.
Download or read book Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles written by Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2012-04-10 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richly illustrated and presented in clear, concise language, Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles is an essential resource for those seeking advanced knowledge of muscle biomechanics. Written by leading experts Vladimir Zatsiorsky and Boris Prilutsky, the text is one of the few to look at muscle biomechanics in its entirety—from muscle fibers to muscle coordination—making it a unique contribution to the field. Using a blend of experimental evidence and mechanical models, Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles provides an explanation of whole muscle biomechanics at work in the body in motion. The book first addresses the mechanical behavior of single muscles—from the sarcomere level up to the entire muscle. The architecture of human muscle, the mechanical properties of tendons and passive muscles, the biomechanics of active muscles, and the force transmission and shock absorption aspects of muscle are explored in detail. Next, the various issues of muscle functioning during human motion are addressed. The transformation from muscle force to joint movements, two-joint muscle function, eccentric muscle action, and muscle coordination are analyzed. This advanced text assumes some knowledge of algebra and calculus; however, the emphasis is on understanding physical concepts. Higher-level computational descriptions are placed in special sections in the later chapters of the book, allowing those with a strong mathematical background to explore this material in more detail. Readers who choose to skip over these sections will find that the book still provides a strong conceptual understanding of advanced topics. Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles also contains numerous special features that facilitate readers’ comprehension of the topics presented. More than 300 illustrations and accompanying explanations provide an extensive visual representation of muscle biomechanics. Refresher sidebars offer brief reminders of mathematical and biomechanical concepts, and From the Literature sidebars present practical examples that illustrate the concepts under discussion. Chapter summaries and review questions provide an opportunity for reflection and self-testing, and reference lists at the end of each chapter provide a starting point for further study. Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles offers a thorough explanation of whole muscle biomechanics, bridging the gap between foundational biomechanics texts and scientific literature. With the information found in this text, readers can prepare themselves to better understand the latest in cutting-edge research. Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles is the third volume in the Biomechanics of Human Motion series. Advanced readers in human movement science gain a comprehensive understanding of the biomechanics of human motion as presented by one of the world’s foremost researchers on the subject, Dr. Vladimir Zatsiorsky. The series begins with Kinematics of Human Motion, which details human body positioning and movement in three dimensions; continues with Kinetics of Human Motion, which examines the forces that create body motion and their effects; and concludes with Biomechanics of Skeletal Muscles, which explains the action of the biological motors that exert force and produce mechanical work during human movement.
Download or read book Biomechanics in Ergonomics written by Shrawan Kumar and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2007-12-07 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Safety or comfort? Can you truly have one without the other? Is it feasible to have both? Although by no means the only factor, a deep understanding of biomechanics plays a leading role in the design of work and workplaces that are both pain and injury free. Standing firmly on the foundation built by the previous edition, the second edition of Biom
