Download or read book Animal Contests written by Ian C. W. Hardy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-30 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contests are an important aspect of the lives of diverse animals, from sea anemones competing for space on a rocky shore to fallow deer stags contending for access to females. Why do animals fight? What determines when fights stop and which contestant wins? Addressing fundamental questions on contest behaviour, this volume presents theoretical and empirical perspectives across a range of species. The historical development of contest research, the evolutionary theory of both dyadic and multiparty contests, and approaches to experimental design and data analysis are discussed in the first chapters. This is followed by reviews of research in key animal taxa, from the use of aerial displays and assessment rules in butterflies and the developmental biology of weapons in beetles, through to interstate warfare in humans. The final chapter considers future directions and applications of contest research, making this a comprehensive resource for both graduate students and researchers in the field.

Download or read book How Animals See the World written by Olga F. Lazareva and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-19 with total page 559 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The visual world of animals is highly diverse and often very different from that of humans. This book provides an extensive review of the latest behavioral and neurobiological research on animal vision, detailing fascinating species similarities and differences in visual processing.

Download or read book A Spider s World written by Friedrich G. Barth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiders are wonderful creatures. Their varied and complex range of behavior and highly developed sensory systems are excellently adapted to the environmental conditions - as is proven by their evolutionary success. Over 400 million years, spiders have developed their sensory organs to a fascinating technical perfection and complexity. In his intriguing book, Professor Friedrich G. Barth puts this technical perfection into the context of "biology", in which the interaction between environment and sensory organs and the selectivity of the senses as a link between environment and behavior play a major role.

Download or read book Animal Weapons written by Douglas J. Emlen and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-11-11 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emlen takes us outside the lab and deep into the forests and jungles where he's been studying animal weapons in nature for years, to explain the processes behind the most intriguing and curious examples of extreme animal weapons. As singular and strange as some of the weapons we encounter on these pages are, we learn that similar factors set their evolution in motion. Emlen uses these patterns to draw parallels to the way we humans develop and employ our own weapons, and have since battle began.

Download or read book Common Spiders of North America written by Richard A. Bradley and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiders are among the most diverse groups of terrestrial invertebrates, yet they are among the least studied and understood. This first comprehensive guide to all 68 spider families in North America beautifully illustrates 469 of the most commonly encountered species. Group keys enable identification by web type and other observable details, and species descriptions include identification tips, typical habitat, geographic distribution, and behavioral notes. A concise illustrated introduction to spider biology and anatomy explains spider relationships. This book is a critical resource for curious naturalists who want to understand this ubiquitous and ecologically critical component of our biosphere.

Download or read book Animal Behaviour Evolution and Mechanisms written by Nils Anthes and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-04-03 with total page 712 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This up-to-date review examines key areas of animal behaviour, including communication, cognition, conflict, cooperation, sexual selection and behavioural variation. Various tests are covered, including recent empirical examples.

Download or read book Autonomic Neuromuscular Transmission written by M. R. Bennett and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1972-12-14 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Spiders of New Zealand written by Raymond R. Forster and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Extremophile Fishes written by Rüdiger Riesch and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-01-24 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Kestrel written by David Costantini and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-27 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Widespread across open lands and cities of Europe, Africa, and Asia, the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is one of the most abundant and studied birds of prey. This book brings together and synthesises the results of research on kestrels for professional ornithologists and scientists that seek to consolidate a vast body of literature. It is also a reference for those readers who may not have the depth of scientific knowledge to navigate new fields of scientific enquiry. It examines many aspects of the species' biology, from the reproductive strategies to the behavioural and demographic adaptations to changes of environmental conditions. It also discusses the roles of physiology and immunology in mediating the adaptability of kestrels to the ongoing environmental changes with a particular focus on contaminants. This volume presents new and exciting avenues of research on the ecology and behaviour of the common kestrel.

Download or read book Mites written by David Evans Walter and published by University of New South Wales Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive natural history of mites - a standard reference that covers not only housemites but all others too, illustrated with scanning electron microscope images.

Download or read book Current Perspectives on Sexual Selection written by Thierry Hoquet and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-01-28 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This root-and-branch re-evaluation of Darwin’s concept of sexual selection tackles the subject from historical, epistemological and theoretical perspectives. Contributions from a wealth of disciplines have been marshaled for this volume, with key figures in behavioural ecology, philosophy, and the history of science adding to its wide-ranging relevance. Updating the reader on the debate currently live in behavioural ecology itself on the centrality of sexual selection, and with coverage of developments in the field of animal aesthetics, the book details the current state of play, while other chapters trace the history of sexual selection from Darwin to today and inquire into the neurobiological bases for partner choices and the comparisons between the hedonic brain in human and non-human animals. Welcome space is given to the social aspects of sexual selection, particularly where Darwin drew distinctions between eager males and coy females and rationalized this as evolutionary strategy. Also explored are the current definition of sexual selection (as opposed to natural selection) and its importance in today’s biological research, and the impending critique of the theory from the nascent field of animal aesthetics. As a comprehensive assessment of the current health, or otherwise, of Darwin’s theory, 140 years after the publication of his Descent of Man, the book offers a uniquely rounded view that asks whether ‘sexual selection’ is in itself a progressive or reactionary notion, even as it explores its theoretical relevance in the technical biological study of the twenty-first century.

Download or read book Savanna Monkeys written by Trudy R. Turner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-21 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living across Africa and the Caribbean, this widely dispersed primate population must adapt to different environmental challenges. How do members of the genus Chlorocebus live in desert-like conditions and in areas with freezing temperatures and snow in winter? This book examines the ways these primates adapt genetically, hormonally, physically and behaviourally to their changing landscapes. It features summary chapters for major topics such as behavioural ecology, life history, taxonomy, genetics and ethnoprimatology. Shorter essays supplement the work, with experts detailing their particular research on these primates. The combination of scholarship provides both a comprehensive view of this adaptable genus while enabling the reader to gain depth in specific topics. Developed from a symposium, this book combines decades of experience working with savanna monkeys into a tangible resource, for students and researchers in primatology as well as evolutionary and behavioural studies.

Download or read book Next Generation Systematics written by Peter D. Olson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cheap and plentiful genome sequence data is transforming biology, and will surely transform systematics. This volume explores how.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior written by Jennifer Vonk and published by Springer. This book was released on 2022-04-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This encyclopedia, representing one of the most multi-disciplinary areas of research, is a comprehensive examination of the key areas in animal cognition and behavior. It will serve as a complementary resource to the handbooks and journals that have emerged in the last decade on this topic, and will be a useful resource for student and researcher alike. With comprehensive coverage of this field, key concepts will be explored. These include social cognition, prey and predator detection, habitat selection, mating and parenting, development, genetics, physiology, memory, learning and perception. Attention is also given to animal-human co-evolution and interaction, and animal welfare. All entries are under the purview of acknowledged experts in the field.

Download or read book Insect Behavior written by Alex Córdoba-Aguilar and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insects display a staggering diversity of behaviors. Studying these systems provides insights into a wide range of ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral questions including the genetics of behavior, phenotypic plasticity, chemical communication, and the evolution of life-history traits. This accessible text offers a new approach that provides the reader with the necessary theoretical and conceptual foundations, at different hierarchical levels, to understand insect behavior. The book is divided into three main sections: mechanisms, ecological and evolutionary consequences, and applied issues. The final section places the preceding chapters within a framework of current threats to human survival - climate change, disease, and food security - before providing suggestions and insights as to how we can utilize an understanding of insect behavior to control and/or ameliorate them. Each chapter provides a concise, authoritative review of the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological foundations of each topic.