Download or read book Planet of the Bugs written by Scott Richard Shaw and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-09-11 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles the evolution of insects and explains how evolutionary innovations have enabled them to disperse widely, occupy narrow niches, and survive global catastrophes. --Publisher's description.
Download or read book On the Evolution of Arthropods and Tetrapods written by Pietro Omodeo and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Arthropod Brains written by Nicholas James Strausfeld and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-02 with total page 849 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin proposed that an ant’s brain, no larger than a pin’s head, must be sophisticated to accomplish all that it does. Yet today many people still find it surprising that insects and other arthropods show behaviors that are much more complex than innate reflexes. They are products of versatile brains which, in a sense, think. Fascinating in their own right, arthropods provide fundamental insights into how brains process and organize sensory information to produce learning, strategizing, cooperation, and sociality. Nicholas Strausfeld elucidates the evolution of this knowledge, beginning with nineteenth-century debates about how similar arthropod brains were to vertebrate brains. This exchange, he shows, had a profound and far-reaching impact on attitudes toward evolution and animal origins. Many renowned scientists, including Sigmund Freud, cut their professional teeth studying arthropod nervous systems. The greatest neuroanatomist of them all, Santiago Ramón y Cajal—founder of the neuron doctrine—was awed by similarities between insect and mammalian brains. Writing in a style that will appeal to a broad readership, Strausfeld weaves anatomical observations with evidence from molecular biology, neuroethology, cladistics, and the fossil record to explore the neurobiology of the largest phylum on earth—and one that is crucial to the well-being of our planet. Highly informative and richly illustrated, Arthropod Brains offers an original synthesis drawing on many fields, and a comprehensive reference that will serve biologists for years to come.
Download or read book The Origin of Higher Taxa written by T. S. Kemp and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text discusses whether the origin of radically new kinds of organisms - new higher taxa - are the result of normal Darwinian evolution proceeding, or whether unusual genetic processes and/or special environmental circumstances are necessary.
Download or read book Amphibian Evolution written by Rainer R. Schoch and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-03-19 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the first vertebrates to conquer land and their long journey to become fully independent from the water. It traces the origin of tetrapod features and tries to explain how and why they transformed into organs that permit life on land. Although the major frame of the topic lies in the past 370 million years and necessarily deals with many fossils, it is far from restricted to paleontology. The aim is to achieve a comprehensive picture of amphibian evolution. It focuses on major questions in current paleobiology: how diverse were the early tetrapods? In which environments did they live, and how did they come to be preserved? What do we know about the soft body of extinct amphibians, and what does that tell us about the evolution of crucial organs during the transition to land? How did early amphibians develop and grow, and which were the major factors of their evolution? The Topics in Paleobiology Series is published in collaboration with the Palaeontological Association, and is edited by Professor Mike Benton, University of Bristol. Books in the series provide a summary of the current state of knowledge, a trusted route into the primary literature, and will act as pointers for future directions for research. As well as volumes on individual groups, the series will also deal with topics that have a cross-cutting relevance, such as the evolution of significant ecosystems, particular key times and events in the history of life, climate change, and the application of a new techniques such as molecular palaeontology. The books are written by leading international experts and will be pitched at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in both the paleontological and biological sciences.
Download or read book Across the Bridge written by Henry Gee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-07-04 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Addresses an important topic for biologists and zoologists about vertebrates’ place in the ‘grand scheme’ . . . genuinely witty and charming . . . magnificent.” —Neil J. Gostling, University of Southampton Our understanding of vertebrate origins and the backbone of human history evolves with each new fossil find and DNA map. Many species have now had their genomes sequenced, and molecular techniques allow genetic inspection of even non-model organisms. But as longtime Nature editor Henry Gee argues in Across the Bridge, despite these giant strides and our deepening understanding of how vertebrates fit into the tree of life, the morphological chasm between vertebrates and invertebrates remains vast and enigmatic. As Gee shows, even as scientific advances have falsified a variety of theories linking these groups, the extant relatives of vertebrates are too few for effective genetic analysis. Moreover, the more we learn about the species that do remain—from sea-squirts to starfish—the clearer it becomes that they are too far evolved along their own courses to be of much use in reconstructing what the latest invertebrate ancestors of vertebrates looked like. Fossils present yet further problems of interpretation. Tracing both the fast-changing science that has helped illuminate the intricacies of vertebrate evolution as well as the limits of that science, Across the Bridge helps us to see how far the field has come in crossing the invertebrate-to-vertebrate divide—and how far we still have to go. “A beautiful ode to some of the least appreciated animals . . . guides the reader joyfully through deuterostomes—weaving disparate elements of embryology, paleontology, and morphology into an unprecedented and accessible narrative.” —Jakob Vinther, University of Bristol
Download or read book The Evolutionary Biology of Extinct and Extant Organisms written by Subir Ranjan Kundu and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Evolutionary Biology of Extinct and Extant Organisms offers a thorough and detailed narration of the journey of biological evolution and its major transitional links to the biological world, which began with paleontological exploration of extinct organisms and now carries on with reviews of phylogenomic footprint reviews of extant, living fossils. This book moves through the defining evolutionary stepping stones starting with the evolutionary changes in prokaryotic, aquatic organisms over 4 billion years ago to the emergence of the modern human species in Earth's Anthropocene. The book begins with an overview of the processes of evolutionary fitness, the epicenter of the principles of evolutionary biology. Whether through natural or experimental occurrence, evolutionary fitness has been found to be the cardinal instance of evolutionary links in an organism between its ancestral and contemporary states. The book then goes on to detail evolutionary trails and lineages of groups of organisms including mammalians, reptilians, and various fish. The final section of the book provides a look back at the evolutionary journey of "nonliving" or extinct organisms, versus the modern-day transition to "living" or extant organisms. The Evolutionary Biology of Extinct and Extant Organisms is the ideal resource for any researcher or advanced student in evolutionary studies, ranging from evolutionary biology to general life sciences. - Provides an updated compendium of evolution research history - Details the evolution trails of organisms, including mammals, reptiles, arthropods, annelids, mollusks, protozoa, and more - Offers an accessible and easy-to-read presentation of complex, in-depth evolutionary biology facts and theories
Download or read book Treatise on Zoology Anatomy Taxonomy Biology The Myriapoda written by Alessandro Minelli and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-03-21 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Myriapoda” is the first comprehensive monograph ever on all aspects of myriapod biology, including external and internal morphology, physiology, reproduction, development, distribution, ecology, phylogeny and taxonomy. It is thus of major interest for all zoologists and soil biologists.
Download or read book The Tangled Bank written by Carl Zimmer and published by Macmillan Higher Education. This book was released on 2019-01-30 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Used widely in non-majors biology classes, The Tangled Bank is the first textbook about evolution intended for the general reader. Zimmer, an award-winning science writer, takes readers on a fascinating journey into the latest discoveries about evolution. In the Canadian Arctic, paleontologists unearth fossils documenting the move of our ancestors from sea to land. In the outback of Australia, a zoologist tracks some of the world’s deadliest snakes to decipher the 100-million-year evolution of venom molecules. In Africa, geneticists are gathering DNA to probe the origin of our species. In clear, non-technical language, Zimmer explains the central concepts essential for understanding new advances in evolution, including natural selection, genetic drift, and sexual selection. He demonstrates how vital evolution is to all branches of modern biology—from the fight against deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the analysis of the human genome.
Download or read book Consciousness Transitions written by Hans Liljenström and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2011-10-13 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was not long ago when the consciousness was not considered a problem for science. However, this has now changed and the problem of consciousness is considered the greatest challenge to science. In the last decade, a great number of books and articles have been published in the field, but very few have focused on the how consciousness evolves and develops, and what characterizes the transitions between different conscious states, in animals and humans. This book addresses these questions. Renowned researchers from different fields of science (including neurobiology, evolutionary biology, ethology, cognitive science, computational neuroscience and philosophy) contribute with their results and theories in this book, making it a unique collection of the state-of-the-art of this young field of consciousness studies. First book on the topic Focus on different levels of consciousness, including: Evolutionary, developmental, and functional Highly interdisciplinary
Download or read book Understanding Evolution written by Kostas Kampourakis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-03 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together conceptual obstacles and core concepts of evolutionary theory, this book presents evolution as straightforward and intuitive.
Download or read book When Bugs Were Big Plants Were Strange and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth written by and published by National Geographic Society. This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Takes a tour of the Earth three hundred and twenty million years ago, during the Paleozoic Era, and investigates the plants and animals found there.
Download or read book Convergent Evolution written by George R. McGhee and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Convergent evolution occurs on all levels, from tiny organic molecules to entire ecosystems of species.
Download or read book Sensory Evolution on the Threshold written by J. G. M. Thewissen and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008-02-04 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ranging from crocodiles and penguins to seals and whales, this synthesis explores the function and evolution of sensory systems in animals whose ancestors lived on land. It explores the dramatic transformation of smell, taste, sight, hearing, and balance that occurred as lineages of reptiles, birds, and mammals returned to aquatic environments.
Download or read book The Princeton Guide to Evolution written by David A. Baum and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 886 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essential one-volume reference to evolution The Princeton Guide to Evolution is a comprehensive, concise, and authoritative reference to the major subjects and key concepts in evolutionary biology, from genes to mass extinctions. Edited by a distinguished team of evolutionary biologists, with contributions from leading researchers, the guide contains some 100 clear, accurate, and up-to-date articles on the most important topics in seven major areas: phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society. Complete with more than 100 illustrations (including eight pages in color), glossaries of key terms, suggestions for further reading on each topic, and an index, this is an essential volume for undergraduate and graduate students, scientists in related fields, and anyone else with a serious interest in evolution. Explains key topics in some 100 concise and authoritative articles written by a team of leading evolutionary biologists Contains more than 100 illustrations, including eight pages in color Each article includes an outline, glossary, bibliography, and cross-references Covers phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society
Download or read book Chordate Origins and Evolution written by Noriyuki Satoh and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2016-07-14 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chordate Origins and Evolution: The Molecular Evolutionary Road to Vertebrates focuses on echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins, and others), hemichordates (acorn worms, etc.), cephalochordates (lancelets), urochordates or tunicates (ascidians, larvaceans and others), and vertebrates. In general, evolution of these groups is discussed independently, on a larger scale: ambulacrarians (echi+hemi) and chordates (cephlo+uro+vert). Until now, discussion of these topics has been somewhat fragmented, and this work provides a unified presentation of the essential information. In the more than 150 years since Charles Darwin proposed the concept of the origin of species by means of natural selection, which has profoundly affected all fields of biology and medicine, the evolution of animals (metazoans) has been studied, discussed, and debated extensively. Following many decades of classical comparative morphology and embryology, the 1980s marked a turning point in studies of animal evolution, when molecular biological approaches, including molecular phylogeny (MP), molecular evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), and comparative genomics (CG), began to be employed. There are at least five key events in metazoan evolution, which include the origins of 1) diploblastic animals, such as cnidarians; 2) triploblastic animals or bilaterians; 3) protostomes and deuterostomes; 4) chordates, among deuterostomes; and 5) vertebrates, among chordates. The last two have received special attention in relation to evolution of human beings. During the past two decades, great advances have been made in this field, especially in regard to molecular and developmental mechanisms involved in the evolution of chordates. For example, the interpretation of phylogenetic relationships among deuterostomes has drastically changed. In addition, we have now obtained a large quantity of MP, evo-devo, and CG information on the origin and evolution of chordates. - Covers the most significant advances in this field to give readers an understanding of the interesting biological issues involved - Provides a unified presentation of essential information regarding each phylum and an integrative understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in the origin and evolution of chordates - Discusses the evolutionary scenario of chordates based on two major characteristic features of animals—namely modes of feeding (energy sources) and reproduction—as the two main forces driving animal evolution and benefiting dialogue for future studies of animal evolution
Download or read book History of Insects written by A.P. Rasnitsyn and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-05-05 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first single book to cover the whole of the fossil history of insects so comprehensively. The volume embraces subjects from the history of insect palaeontology to the diagnostic features of all insect orders, both extant and extinct.
