Download or read book Morphology and Phylogeny of the Nemertodermatida Platyhelminthes Acoelomorpha written by Kennet Lundin and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes written by D T J Littlewood and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2000-12-07 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The phylum Platyhelminthes is comprised of some 50,000 species of flatworms living in a wide variety of habitats - from the deep sea to the damp soil of tropical forests- where they occupy pivotal roles in many ecosystems. The parasitic forms include tapeworms and flukes, which plague virtually every species of vertebrates and impose major medical, veterinary, and economic burdens. Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes elucidates the role of flatworms in the animal kingdom. It brings together results from an international group of experts, spanning many disciplines, who give evidence for the phylogeny of the flatworms and constituent major taxa. A combined approach, using traditional comparative techniques along with the modern techniques of molecular phylogeny, is utilized to show that the monophyly of the phylum is not fully established, and that the phylum may in fact consist of two groups: the acoels and their direct relatives, which are basal metazoans, and the Rhabditophora, which is a more derived group. The authors review the contributions of neurobiology, morphology, and developmental and molecular biology in light of their contributions to flatworm phylogenetics. This volume provides explicit and fully defined character matrices wherever possible allowing critics, supporters, and future workers to evaluate the state of flatworms systematics and phylogenetics from a single resource. This volume will appeal to all who have an interest in flatworms and recognize the value of phylogenetics as the basis for comparative biology.
Download or read book Perspectives in Animal Phylogeny and Evolution written by Alessandro Minelli and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animal phylogeny is undergoing a major revolution due to the availability of an ever increasing amount of molecular data, the application of novel methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, and advances in palaeontology and molecular developmental biology.This book revises the major events in animal evolution in the light of these recent advances.
Download or read book Structure and Evolution of Invertebrate Nervous Systems written by Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-17 with total page 776 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nervous system is particularly fascinating for many biologists because it controls animal characteristics such as movement, behavior, and coordinated thinking. Invertebrate neurobiology has traditionally been studied in specific model organisms, whilst knowledge of the broad diversity of nervous system architecture and its evolution among metazoan animals has received less attention. This is the first major reference work in the field for 50 years, bringing together many leading evolutionary neurobiologists to review the most recent research on the structure of invertebrate nervous systems and provide a comprehensive and authoritative overview for a new generation of researchers. Presented in full colour throughout, Structure and Evolution of Invertebrate Nervous Systems synthesizes and illustrates the numerous new findings that have been made possible with light and electron microscopy. These include the recent introduction of new molecular and optical techniques such as immunohistochemical staining of neuron-specific antigens and fluorescence in-situ-hybridization, combined with visualization by confocal laser scanning microscopy. New approaches to analysing the structure of the nervous system are also included such as micro-computational tomography, cryo-soft X-ray tomography, and various 3-D visualization techniques. The book follows a systematic and phylogenetic structure, covering a broad range of taxa, interspersed with chapters focusing on selected topics in nervous system functioning which are presented as research highlights and perspectives. This comprehensive reference work will be an essential companion for graduate students and researchers alike in the fields of metazoan neurobiology, morphology, zoology, phylogeny and evolution.
Download or read book The Biology of Ascidians written by H. Sawada and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ascidians are the invertebrate group that gave rise to vertebrates, thus the biology of ascidians provides an essential key to understanding both invertebrates and vertebrates. This book is the first to cover all areas of ascidian biology, including development, evolution, biologically active substances, heavy metal accumulation, asexual reproduction, host-defense mechanisms, allorecognition mechanisms, comparative immunology, neuroscience, taxonomy, ecology, genome science, and food science. The 69 articles that make up the collection were contributed by leading ascidiologists from all over the world who participated in the First International Symposium on the Biology of Ascidians, held in June 2000 in Sapporo, Japan. For scientists and students alike, the book is an invaluable source of information from the latest, most comprehensive studies of ascidian biology.
Download or read book The Origins and Relationships of Lower Invertebrates written by Simon Conway Morris and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1985 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting a broad overview of current trends and recent research, this book discusses such groups as sponges, ctenophores, rotifers, annelids, and pogonophores. The book's assessment of lower invertebrates include investigations of reproduction and larval development relevant to phylogeny, problems of pseudocoelomate evolution, and the fossil record of lower invertebrates.
Download or read book Parasitic Flatworms written by Aaron G. Maule and published by CABI. This book was released on 2006 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parasitic flatworms include Cestodes (tapeworms) and trematodes (flukes, schistosomes, etc) and are the cause of a number of major diseases of medical and veterinary significance. Much recent research has focused on molecular biology and genomics. this book aims to review advances in our understanding of these and related topics such as flatworm biochemistry, immunology and physiology. Where appropriate, comparisons are made between different parasitic flatworms and between parasitic and free-living species. Contributors to the book include leading authorities from Europe, North and South America, and Australia.
Download or read book Molecular Ecology and Evolution Approaches and Applications written by B. Schierwater and published by Birkhäuser. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past 25 years have witnessed a revolution in the way ecologists and evolutionary biologists approach their disciplines. Modern molecular techniques are now reshaping the spectrum of questions that can be addressed while studying the mechanisms and consequences of the ecology and evolution of living organisms. "Molecular Ecology and Evolution: Approaches and Applications" describes, from a molecular perspective, several methodological and technical approaches used in the fields of ecology, evolution, population biology, molecular systematics, conservation genetics, and development. Modern techniques are introduced, and older, more classic ones refined. The advantages, limitations, and potentials of each are discussed in detail, and thereby illustrate the widening range of cross-field research and applications which this modern technology is stimulating. This book will serve as an important textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, and as a key reference work for researchers
Download or read book Biology of Turbellaria and some Related Flatworms written by Lester R.G. Cannon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turbellaria, the mainly free-living flatworms, and some of their parasitic relatives, are among the simplest of the metazoa and, as such, provide ideal models for a wide range of fundamental studies. The 60 contributions to Biology of Turbellaria and some Related Flatworms cover taxonomy and phylogeny, biogeography and genetics, ecology and behaviour, Anatomy and ultrastructure, development and regeneration, genes and sequences, and neurophysiology. Biology of Turbellaria and some Related Flatworms is the most recent compilation in the series published in Hydrobiologia since 1981, covering research on these flatworms assembled by the world's leading authorities on the group. Audience: These papers present the advanced student and serious researcher with up to date information on an important, but often neglected group whose place in the animal kingdom demands greater attention.
Download or read book Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes written by D T J Littlewood and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2014-04-21 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes elucidates the role of the flatworms in the animal kingdom. It brings together results from an international group of experts, spanning many disciplines, who give evidence for the phylogeny of flatworms and constituent major taxa. A combined approach, using traditional comparative techniques along with the modern techniques of molecular phylogeny, is utilized to show that the monophyly of the phylum is not fully established, and that the phylum may in fact consist of two groups: the acoels and their relatives, which are basal metazoans, and the Rhabditophora, which is a more derived group.
Download or read book Meiobenthology written by Olav Giere and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a comprehensive treatise on meiobenthology, the science of small animals which live, often disregarded even by zoologists, in huge numbers in all aquatic sediments. Covering all the scientific literature on the subject, particular emphasis is placed on ecological and systematic aspects. After a survey of the biotope conditions and important methods, the animals are introduced in a systematic account. This is followed by a report on the meiobenthos in relevant biotopes. The book concludes with an analysis of the productive role and the position of meiofauna in the food web and perspectives for future research.
Download or read book Animal Evolution written by NATURAL SCIENCES and MATHEMATICS (500) and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-08-13 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animal life, now and over the past half billion years, is incredibly diverse. Describing and understanding the evolution of this diversity of body plans - from vertebrates such as humans and fish to the numerous invertebrate groups including sponges, insects, molluscs, and the many groups of worms - is a major goal of evolutionary biology. In this book, a group of leading researchers adopt a modern, integrated approach to describe how current molecular genetic techniques and disciplines as diverse as palaeontology, embryology, and genomics have been combined, resulting in a dramatic renaissance in the study of animal evolution. The last decade has seen growing interest in evolutionary biology fuelled by a wealth of data from molecular biology. Modern phylogenies integrating evidence from molecules, embryological data, and morphology of living and fossil taxa provide a wide consensus of the major branching patterns of the tree of life; moreover, the links between phenotype and genotype are increasingly well understood. This has resulted in a reliable tree of relationships that has been widely accepted and has spawned numerous new and exciting questions that require a reassessment of the origins and radiation of animal life. The focus of this volume is at the level of major animal groups, the morphological innovations that define them, and the mechanisms of change to their embryology that have resulted in their evolution. Current research themes and future prospects are highlighted including phylogeny reconstruction, comparative developmental biology, the value of different sources of data and the importance of fossils, homology assessment, character evolution, phylogeny of major groups of animals, and genome evolution. These topics are integrated in the light of a 'new animal phylogeny', to provide fresh insights into the patterns and processes of animal evolution. Animal Evolution provides a timely and comprehensive statement of progress in the field for academic researchers requiring an authoritative, balanced and up-to-date overview of the topic. It is also intended for both upper level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in animal evolution, molecular phylogenetics, evo-devo, comparative genomics and associated disciplines.
Download or read book Minimal Selfhood and the Origins of Consciousness written by Rupert Glasgow and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Minimal Selfhood and the Origins of Consciousness, R.D.V. Glasgow seeks to ground the logical roots of consciousness in what he has previously called the 'minimal self'. The idea is that elementary forms of consciousness are logically dependent not, as is commonly assumed, on ownership of an anatomical brain or nervous system, but on the intrinsic reflexivity that defines minimal selfhood. The aim of the book is to trace the logical pathway by which minimal selfhood gives rise to the possible appearance of consciousness. It is argued that in specific circumstances it thus makes sense to ascribe elementary consciousness to certain predatory single-celled organisms such as amoebae and dinoflagellates as well as to some of the simpler animals. Such an argument involves establishing exactly what those specific circumstances are and determining how elementary consciousness differs in nature and scope from its more complex manifestations.
Download or read book The Invertebrate Tree of Life written by Gonzalo Giribet and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most up-to-date book on invertebrates, providing a new framework for understanding their place in the tree of life In The Invertebrate Tree of Life, Gonzalo Giribet and Gregory Edgecombe, leading authorities on invertebrate biology and paleontology, utilize phylogenetics to trace the evolution of animals from their origins in the Proterozoic to today. Phylogenetic relationships between and within the major animal groups are based on the latest molecular analyses, which are increasingly genomic in scale and draw on the soundest methods of tree reconstruction. Giribet and Edgecombe evaluate the evolution of animal organ systems, exploring how current debates about phylogenetic relationships affect the ways in which aspects of invertebrate nervous systems, reproductive biology, and other key features are inferred to have developed. The authors review the systematics, natural history, anatomy, development, and fossil records of all major animal groups, employing seminal historical works and cutting-edge research in evolutionary developmental biology, genomics, and advanced imaging techniques. Overall, they provide a synthetic treatment of all animal phyla and discuss their relationships via an integrative approach to invertebrate systematics, anatomy, paleontology, and genomics. With numerous detailed illustrations and phylogenetic trees, The Invertebrate Tree of Life is a must-have reference for biologists and anyone interested in invertebrates, and will be an ideal text for courses in invertebrate biology. A must-have and up-to-date book on invertebrate biology Ideal as both a textbook and reference Suitable for courses in invertebrate biology Richly illustrated with black-and-white and color images and abundant tree diagrams Written by authorities on invertebrate evolution and phylogeny Factors in the latest understanding of animal genomics and original fossil material
Download or read book Thorp and Covich s Freshwater Invertebrates written by James H. Thorp and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2014-09-06 with total page 1149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers familiar with the first three editions of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates (edited by J.H. Thorp and A.P. Covich) will welcome the comprehensive revision and expansion of that trusted professional reference manual and educational textbook from a single North American tome into a developing multi-volume series covering inland water invertebrates of the world. The series entitled Thorp and Covich’s Freshwater Invertebrates (edited by J.H. Thorp) begins with the current Volume I: Ecology and General Biology (edited by J.H. Thorp and D.C. Rogers), which is designed as a companion volume for the remaining books in the series. Those following volumes provide taxonomic coverage for specific zoogeographic regions of the world, starting with Keys to Nearctic Fauna (Vol. II) and Keys to Palaearctic Fauna (Vol. III). Volume I maintains the ecological and general biological focus of the previous editions but now expands coverage globally in all chapters, includes more taxonomic groups (e.g., chapters on individual insect orders), and covers additional functional topics such as invasive species, economic impacts, and functional ecology. As in previous editions, the 4th edition of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates is designed for use by professionals in universities, government agencies, and private companies as well as by undergraduate and graduate students. Global coverage of aquatic invertebrate ecology Discussions on invertebrate ecology, phylogeny, and general biology written by international experts for each group Separate chapters on invasive species and economic impacts and uses of invertebrates Eight additional chapters on insect orders and a chapter on freshwater millipedes Four new chapters on collecting and culturing techniques, ecology of invasive species, economic impacts, and ecological function of invertebrates Overall expansion of ecology and general biology and a shift of the even more detailed taxonomic keys to other volumes in the projected 9-volume series Identification keys to lower taxonomic levels
Download or read book Jellyfish Blooms written by Kylie A. Pitt and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jellyfish are one of the most conspicuous animals in our oceans and are renowned for their propensity to form spectacular blooms. The unique features of the biology and ecology of jellyfish that enable them to bloom also make them successful invasive species and, in a few places around the world, jellyfish have become problematic. As man increasingly populates the world’s coastlines, interactions between humans and jellyfish are rising, often to the detriment of coastal-based industries such as tourism, fishing and power generation. However we must not lose sight of the fact that jellyfish have been forming blooms in the oceans for at least 500 million years, and are an essential component of normal, healthy ocean ecosystems. Here many of the world’s leading jellyfish experts explore the science behind jellyfish blooms. We examine the unique features of jellyfish biology and ecology that cause populations to ‘bloom and bust’, and, using case studies, we show why jellyfish are important to coastal and ocean ecosystem function. We outline strategies coastal managers can use to mitigate the effects of blooms on coastal industries thereby enabling humans to coexist with these fascinating creatures. Finally we highlight how jellyfish benefit society; providing us with food and one of the most biomedically-important compounds discovered in the 20th century.
Download or read book Evolution of the First Nervous Systems written by Peter A.V. Anderson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book represents the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop of the same name, held at St. Andrews University, Scotland in July of 1989. It was the first meeting of its kind and was convened as a forum to review and discuss the phylogeny of some of the cell biological functions that underlie nervous system function, such matters as intercellular communication in diverse, lower organisms, and the electrical excitability of protozoans and cnidarians, to mention but two. The rationale behind such work has not necessarily been to understand how the first nervous systems evolved; many of the animals in question provide excellent opportunities for examining general questions that are unapproachable in the more complex nervous systems of higher animals. Nevertheless, a curiosity about nervous system evolution has invariably pervaded much of the work. The return on this effort has been mixed, depending to a large extent on the usefulness of the preparation under examination. For example, work on cnidarians, to many the keystone phylum in nervous system evolution simply because they possess the "first" nervous systems, lagged behind that carried out on protozoans, because the latter are large, single cells and, thus, far more amenable to microelectrode-based recording techniques. Furthermore, protozoans can be cultured easily and are more amenable to genetic and molecular analyses.
