Widely praised for its comprehensive coverage and exceptionally clear writing style, this best-selling text explores how the anatomy, physiology, ecology, and behavior of animals interact to produce organisms that function effectively in their environments and how lineages of organisms change through evolutionary time.
Vertebrate Life distils the necessary information from vertebrate anatomy, physiology, ecology, and behavioral studies and then helps students see important connections across levels of biological scale. As a result, students come to understand how organisms function effectively in their environments and how lineages of organisms change through evolutionary time. Processing complex detailed information about expansive phylogenies and diverse anatomies can be difficult for even the most motivated students, and Vertebrate Life addresses this challenge by combining appropriately detailed, clearly written text with outstanding phylogenies and figures, making it a thorough and engaging reference for students and instructors alike. The text's impressive illustration program helps students visualize complex concepts, allowing them to parse difficult anatomical information. The eleventh edition features an upgraded illustration program with several new and revised figures, including layered figures presented in the new enhanced e-Book. The eBook offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features and links that offer extra learning support: Find the eBook on VitalSource. Features incorporation of the dagger symbol (†) to indicate extinct taxa, a helpful convention in a field that requires constant comparisons between extinct and extant taxa. Includes more than 2,000 photographs and illustrations, of which about 800 are new consistent phylogenetic approach. New to this Edition: Learning Objectives presented at the start of each section within a chapter to highlight key takeaway concepts for the section. Forty-five new interactive figures in the Enhanced e-Book. Redevelopment of background materials for the study of vertebrate evolution: Exemplified by Figure 1.2 and the many new time trees and cladograms. Many updated examples throughout the book use key fossils vertebrates to explore new phylogenetic interpretations and explain how particular anatomical features, such as the mammalian middle ear, evolved (see Figure 22.11). Reorganization of key topics to improve continuity and connections among chapters along with extensive new cross-referencing to link topics between chapters. Enhanced coverage and reorganization of chapters on sharks (Chapter 6), ray-finned fishes (Chapter 7), sarcopterygians (Chapter 8), early tetrapods, lissamphibians, and amniotes (Chapter 9), dinosaurs (Chapter 18 and 19), synapsids (Chapter 22), therians (Chapter 23), and primates (Chapter 24)Consolidation and reorganization of chapters to better highlight the role of thermoregulation and comparative physiology in vertebrate evolution (Chapter 14)Incorporation of new behavioral and ecological information throughout the book to highlight the lives of vertebrates. Updated Discussion Questions at the end of each chapter. A selection of new and relevant references for each chapter to help users connect with the constant stream of new and exciting information on vertebrate biology. Development of new and informative labels that appear directly on the figures, providing "instant captions" to orient students and serve instructors who depend on illustrations for teaching "Balloons" call attention to key points in many figures.
