Download or read book The Nine Banded Armadillo written by W. J. Loughry and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2024-02-19 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The word armadillo is Spanish for “little armored one.” This midsize mammal that looks like a walking tank is a source of fascination for many people but a mystery to almost all. Dating back at least eleven million years, the nocturnal, burrowing insectivore was for centuries mistaken for a cross between a hedgehog and a turtle, but it actually belongs to the mammalian superorder Xenarthra that includes sloths and anteaters. Biologists W. J. Loughry and Colleen M. McDonough have studied the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) for more than twenty years. Their richly illustrated book offers the first comprehensive review of everything scientists know about this unique animal. Engaging both scientists and a broader public, Loughry and McDonough describe the armadillo’s anatomy and physiology and all aspects of its ecology, behavior, and evolution. They also compare the nine-banded armadillo with twenty or so other, related species. The authors pay special attention to three key features of armadillo biology—reproduction, disease, and habitat expansion—and why they matter. Armadillos reproduce in a unique and puzzling manner: females always give birth to litters of genetically identical quadruplets, a strategy not found in any other vertebrates. Nine-banded armadillos are also the only vertebrates except for humans known to contract leprosy naturally. And what about habitat expansion? The authors suggest that the armadillo’s remarkable spread across the southeastern United States may be the consequence of its most notable feature: a tough, protective carapace. Biologists, evolutionists, students, and all those interested in this curious creature will find The Nine-Banded Armadillo rich in information and insight. This comprehensive analysis will stand as the definitive scientific reference for years to come and a source of pleasure for the general public.
Download or read book Armadillos written by P.K. Lynch and published by Legend Press Ltd. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Texas teenager finds a world beyond her abusive family: “Lynch can tell a story deep as a wound… Read this one.”—Jeanette Winterson, New York Times-bestselling author of Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Aggie is fifteen-year-old girl, a “sub” from a “sub” family, one of Texas’s downtrodden. Her father and brother remind her of that status, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world. And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas’s barren landscape, she is a survivor... In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as she is. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she’s been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realizes there are some problems you can’t run away from. “A truly stunning debut.”—The Scottish Sun Shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Star Award Longlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize 2016
Download or read book Tetrapod Zoology written by Darren Naish and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: B logging has revolutionised the way we communicate our interests and spread news. This book is a compilation of various articles from the blog, Tetrapod Zoology(currently hosted at www.scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology). As of early 2010, Tet Zoo - as it's affectionately known - is in its fifth year. It's become reasonably popular (it has a daily readership of several thousand) and is now well known internationally. Or, it is, at least, among people interested in zoology and in scientific blogging. Welcome to the world of Tet Zoo: mphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals(the tetrapods), living and fossil. Their evolution, ecology, behaviour and biology. Think killer eagles, dinosaurs, giant caimans, mystery cats and lake monsters
Download or read book The Amazing Armadillo written by Larry L. Smith and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2012-12-04 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Chatty, humorous, and sometimes almost hysterically funny . . . Everything, perhaps even more, that you might have wanted to know about armadillos.” —The Quarterly Review of Biology Perhaps no creature has so fired the imagination of a populace as the armadillo, that most ungainly, awkward, and timid little animal. What is it that sets this quizzical little creature apart from the rest of the animal kingdom? Larry L. Smith and Robin W. Doughty ably answer this question in The Amazing Armadillo: Geography of a Folk Critter. This informative book traces the spread of the nine-banded armadillo from its first notice in South Texas late in the 1840s to its current range east to Florida and north to Missouri. The authors look at the armadillo’s natural history and habitat as well as the role of humans in promoting its spread, projecting that the animal is increasing in both range and number, continuing its ecological success in areas where habitat and climate are favorable. The book also contributes to a long-standing research theme in geography: the relationship between humans and wildlife. It explores the armadillo’s value to the medical community in current research in Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) as well as commercial uses, and abuses, of the armadillo in recent times. Of particular note is the author’s engaging look at the armadillo as a symbol of popular culture, the efforts now underway to make it a “totem animal” symbolizing the easy-going lifestyles of some Sunbelt cities, and the spread of the craze for armadilliana to other urban centers.
Download or read book About the Dead written by Travis Mossotti and published by . This book was released on 2011-07-15 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Travis Mossotti writes with humor, gravity, and humility about subjects grounded in a world of grit, where the quiet mortality of working folk is weighed. To Mossotti, the love of a bricklayer for his wife is as complex and simple as life itself: “ask him to put into words what that sinking is, / that shudder in his chest, as he notices / the wrinkles gathering at the corners of her mouth.” But not a whiff of sentiment enters these poems, for Mossotti has little patience for ideas of the noble or for sympathetic portraits of hard-used saints. His vision is clear, as clear as the memory of how scarecrows in the rearview, “each of them, stuffed / into a body they didn’t choose, resembled / your own plight.” His poetry embraces unsanctimonious life with all its wonder, its levity, and clumsiness. About the Dead is an accomplished collection by a writer in control of a wide range of experience, and it speaks to the heart of any reader willing to catch his “drift, and ride it like the billowed / end of some cockamamie parachute all the way / back to the soft, dysfunctional, waiting earth.”
Download or read book The Genetic Book of the Dead written by Richard Dawkins and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2024-09-17 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a renowned biologist and best-selling author, a whole new way of looking at living organisms: reading them as documents describing ancient worlds An exquisitely camouflaged lizard has a desiccated landscape of sand and stones "painted" on its back. Its skin can be read as a description of an ancient desert, a world in which its ancestors survived. Such descriptions are more than skin deep, however. They penetrate the very warp and woof of the entire animal. In this groundbreaking exploration of the power of Darwinian evolution and what it can reveal about the past, Richard Dawkins shows how the body, behavior, and genes of every living creature can be read as a book--an archive of the worlds of its ancestors. In the future, a zoologist presented with a hitherto unknown animal will be able to decode its ancestral history, to read its unique "book of the dead." Such readings are already uncovering the remarkable ways animals overcome obstacles, adapt to their environments, and, again and again, develop remarkably similar ways of solving life's problems. From the author of The Selfish Gene comes a revolutionary, richly illustrated book that unlocks the door to a past more vivid, nuanced, and fascinating than anything we have seen.
Download or read book Dead Center written by Georgia Jones Sorenson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1999-11-26 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy....To renew America, we must be bold...must revitalize our democracy....Together with our friends and allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us." With those inaugural words, William Jefferson Clinton began his first term as President of the United States. Now, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and a former White House aide provide the first penetrating, thoughtful evaluation of President Clinton's leadership. Before he was voted into office, Bill Clinton told the authors in an interview that he wanted to be a transforming leader, a president who would fashion real and lasting change in peoples' lives, in the tradition of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But how has this president, who has sought to lead from the center with his vice president, Al Gore, and the First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, measured up against his own stated goals and the aspirations and performances of other presidents since World War II? From the health care debacle and the 1994 midterm elections that swept the Republicans to a majority in both houses of Congress to the effect of scandal and impeachment on his ability to govern, Dead Center examines the leadership style of Bill Clinton and offers a forceful challenge to the strategy of centrism. There is no more respected presidential historian than James MacGregor Burns, author of several acclaimed books on leadership and the Pulitzer Prize-winning study of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Georgia J. Sorenson adds her own insights as a political scientist and presidential scholar. Their combined efforts have resulted in an incisive, informative, authoritative work and an absorbing read.
Download or read book Backyard Bigfoot written by Lisa A. Shiel and published by Jacobsville Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bigfoot ... fact or fiction? Read this book before you decide! Provides startling evidence that the hairy creatures who lurk in our world's backcountry are more than figments of our collective imagination.
Download or read book Conquering an Enemy Called Average written by John Mason and published by Insight International, Inc.. This book was released on 1996-11 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written to teach people to take the lid off of average lifestyles and live lives of excellence.
Download or read book You Must Be This Tall to Ride written by B.J. Hollars and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-04-29 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compelling stories have the power to generate infinite wonder: It's nearly impossible to imagine how the author began, and yet we sense there's much more beyond the final word. It's this mystery–a combination of inspiration and craft, smoke and mirrors–that makes writing feel momentous. But it can also feel overwhelming, causing us to become small, scared, not quite ready for the "big" rides, such as finishing that story, that novel, and finding the courage to share it with the world. In You Must Be This Tall to Ride, you'll find 20 works of fiction and nonfiction by acclaimed contemporary authors, each offering fresh perspective on ''coming of age'' (a story to which we can all relate), as well as exclusive personal essays and practical exercises.In their own words, these writers grant you a guided tour of craft with unparalleled access to the process behind their creation, including how to: • grow a story from the seed of an image or sentence • allow experiments with language to lead you to plot • turn even the most unlikely characters into heroes • transform raw anecdotes from your own life into compelling fiction and essay Join 20 writers as we grow up and down, taking a rollercoaster ride in stories. You'll not only begin to understand what makes the wheels of a story turn, you'll also gain the tools and strategies to transform lost characters and runaway plots into the greatest show on earth. So go ahead, step right up. Listen for the calliope music, and take your place in line. Your ride has just begun.CONTRIBUTORS: • Steve Almond • Aimee Bender • Kate Bernheimer • Ryan Boudinot • Judy Budnitz • Dan Chaon • Brock Clarke • Michael Czyzniejewski • Stuart Dybek • Michael Martone • Antonya Nelson • Peter Orner • Jack Pendarvis • Benjamin Percy • Andrew Porter • Chad Simpson • George Singleton • Brady Udall • Laura van den Berg • Ryan Van Meter
Download or read book The Astonishing Armadillo written by Dee Stuart and published by Lerner Publications. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the physical characteristics, habitat, and life cycle of the armadillo.
Download or read book A Memoir of Love and Madness written by Rahla Xenopoulos and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2011-03-28 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1992, Rahla Xenopoulos was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Despite the devastating diagnosis, she sought education on her affliction. Although she found an abundance of literature on various mental illnesses, none of it seemed applicable to her. This situation inspired her to write a book chronicling her ongoing efforts to come to terms with a disease that is, in effect, a life sentence. The book recounts her upbringing in an eccentric, loving Jewish family, her struggle with bulimia, anorexia and self-mutilation, her attempts at suicide, finding true love and, finally, the ‘crazy, utterly unpredictable experience of giving birth to triplets’. This is neither a self-help book nor a medical guide. Reading this book will not cure anyone; bipolar disorder is a chronic illness. But it did help Rahla - as it will countless others - ‘to understand the rhythm in the cacophony of this condition’.
Download or read book Defense of Logical Form written by Jamie Rucker and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Trailer Trashed written by and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Naturalist s Notebook written by Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and published by Storey Publishing. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Become a more attentive observer and deepen your appreciation for the natural world. The unique five-year calendar format of The Naturalist’s Notebook helps you create a long-term record and point of comparison for memorable events, such as the first songbird you hear in spring, your first monarch butterfly sighting of summer, or the appearance of the northern lights. Biologist Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and best-selling author Bernd Heinrich teach nature lovers of all ages what to look for outdoors no matter where you live, using Heinrich’s classic illustrations as inspiration. As you jot down one observation a day, year after year, your collected field notes will serve as a valuable record of your piece of the planet. This deluxe book, with a three-piece case, gilt edges, a burgundy ribbon bookmark, and a belly band with gold foil stamping, is a perfect gift for all nature lovers.
Download or read book Dead Lines written by George Hesselberg and published by Wisconsin Historical Society. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a lively collection of feature obituaries and related news stories, longtime newspaper reporter George Hesselberg celebrates life, sharing the most fascinating stories that came from decades of covering the obit and public safety beats. In more than forty years at the Wisconsin State Journal, Hesselberg frequently found himself writing about fatal accidents, crime investigations, and the deaths of the wealthy, famous, or notorious. But he was most drawn to the curious, the unknown, and the unsung—the deaths that normally wouldn’t make much of a splash, if any mention at all, in the news columns of a daily paper. Digging deeper, he uncovered the extraordinary among the ordinary, memorializing the lives of a sword designer, a radio villain, a pioneering female detective, a homeless woman who spoke fluent French, a beloved classroom tarantula, and many more. Their stories are alternately amusing, sad, surprising, and profound. Together they speak to a shared human experience and inspire us to see the people around us with new eyes, valuing the lives while they are still being lived.
Download or read book Word Meaning and Syntax written by Stephen Wechsler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the nature of the interface between word meaning and syntax, one of the most controversial and elusive issues in contemporary linguistics. It approaches the interface from both sides of the relation, and surveys a range of views on the mapping between them, with an emphasis on lexical approaches to argument structure. Stephen Wechsler begins by analysing the fundamental problem of word meaning, with discussions of vagueness and polysemy, complemented with a look at the roles of world knowledge and normative aspects of word meaning. He then surveys the argument-taking properties of verbs and other predicators, and presents key theories of lexical semantic structure. Later chapters provide a description of formal theories and frameworks for capturing the mapping from word meaning to syntactic structure, as well as arguments in favour of a lexicalist approach to argument structure. The book will interest scholars of theoretical linguistics, particularly in the fields of syntax and lexical semantics, as well as those interested in psycholinguistics and philosophy of language.
