Scorpion

Scorpion
Author: Louise M. Pryke
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2016-06-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1780236255

No creature has quite the sting in our mythology and folklore as the scorpion. From the dawn of human civilization they have been a dangerous figure in our imaginations—poisonous, precise, and deadly quiet—but as Louise M. Pryke shows in this book, their bad reputation has overshadowed many exceptional qualities. Scurrying across hundreds of millions of years and across every continent except Antarctica, this book gives the scorpion its due as one of nature’s longest lasting survivors. Indeed scorpions are older than dinosaurs. An ancient arthropod, their form—notable for its pair of pincers and an elegant tail that holds a menacing stinger high in the air in a permanent striking position—hasn’t changed since prehistoric times, though today there are some 1700 different species. Throughout our existence scorpions have served as a powerful cultural and religious symbol—sometimes dangerous, sometimes protecting—from the Egyptian goddess Serket to Zodiac astrology to folk medicine. A fascinating tour that takes us from the art of North Africa to the American Civil War to the markets of Beijing, Scorpion is an homage to one of earth’s oldest residents.

Scorpion Biology and Research

Scorpion Biology and Research
Author: Philip Brownell
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2001
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780195084344

This comprehensive survey demonstrates the value of scorpions as model systems for investigating a wide range of biological questions, from neurobiology to evolutionary ecology.

The Evolution of Primary Sexual Characters in Animals

The Evolution of Primary Sexual Characters in Animals
Author: Janet Leonard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 550
Release: 2010-07-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0199717036

Primary sexual traits, those structures and processes directly involved in reproduction, are some of the most diverse, specialized, and bizarre in the animal kingdom. Moreover, reproductive traits are often species-specific, suggesting that they evolved very rapidly. This diversity, long the province of taxonomists, has recently attracted broader interest from evolutionary biologists, especially those interested in sexual selection and the evolution of reproductive strategies. Primary sexual characters were long assumed to be the product of natural selection, exclusively. A recent alternative suggests that sexual selection explains much of the diversity of "primary" sexual characters. A third approach to the evolution of reproductive interactions after copulation or insemination has been to consider the process one of sexual conflict. That is, the reproductive processes of a species may reflect, as does the mating system, evolution acting on males and on females, but in different directions. In this volume, authors explore a wide variety of primary sexual characters and selective pressures that have shaped them, from natural selection for offspring survival to species-isolating mechanisms, sperm competition, cryptic female choice and sexual arms races. Exploring diverse reproductive adaptations from a theoretical and practical perspective, The Evolution of Primary Sexual Characters will provide an unparalleled overview of sexual diversity in many taxa and an introduction to the issues in sexual selection that are changing our view of sexual processes.

Medical and Veterinary Entomology

Medical and Veterinary Entomology
Author: Gary R. Mullen
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 794
Release: 2018-10-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128140445

The first and second editions of Medical and Veterinary Entomology, edited by Gary R. Mullen and Lance A. Durden, published in 2002 and 2009, respectively, have been highly praised and become widely used as a textbook for classroom instruction. This fully revised third edition continues the focus on the diversity of arthropods affecting human and animal health, with separate chapters devoted to each of the taxonomic groups of insects and arachnids of medical or veterinary concern, including spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. Each chapter includes sections on taxonomy, morphology, life history, and behavior and ecology, with separate sections on those species of public-health and veterinary importance. Each concludes with approaches to management of pest species and prevention of arthropod-borne diseases. The third edition provides a comprehensive source for teaching medical and/or veterinary entomology at the college and university level, targeted particularly at upper-level undergraduate and graduate/postgraduate programs. In addition to its value as a student textbook, the volume has appeal to a much broader audience, specialists and non-specialists alike. It provides a key reference for biologists in general, entomologists, zoologists, parasitologists, physicians, public-health personnel, veterinarians, wildlife biologists, vector biologists, military entomologists, the general public and others seeking a readable, authoritative account on this important topic. Completely revised and updated edition Includes a distinguished group of 40 nationally and internationally recognized contributors Sixteen new authors, in addition to 25 continuing contributors from the first and second editions A new chapter on Arthropod Toxins and Venoms Illustrated with 560, mostly color, figures and updated maps depicting the distribution of important arthropod taxa and arthropod-borne diseases A significantly expanded and well-illustrated chapter on Molecular Tools Used in Medical and Veterinary Entomology Coverage of emerging and newly recognized arthropod concerns, including mosquito-borne Zika and Chikungunya viruses; tick-borne Bourbon and Heartland viruses; tick-borne rickettsioses and anaplasmosis; and red meat allergy associated with tick bites A 1700-word Glossary An Appendix of Arthropod-Related Viruses of Medical and Veterinary Importance

Invertebrate Vision

Invertebrate Vision
Author: Eric Warrant
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 527
Release: 2006-10-05
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0521830885

Publisher description

Fossil Arachnids

Fossil Arachnids
Author: Jason A. Dunlop
Publisher: Siri Scientific Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2012
Genre: Arachnida, Fossil
ISBN: 0956779549

Fossil arachnids date back more than 400 million years to the Silurian period, making them one of the first animal groups to appear in terrestrial ecosystems. This book provides information on what the arachnids are and their relationships to one another.

Biogeography and Ecology of Bulgaria

Biogeography and Ecology of Bulgaria
Author: Victor Fet
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 698
Release: 2007-06-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1402044178

From single-celled organisms in Black Sea sand to endemic cave crustaceans, from mountain glacial relict insects to the most diverse bird fauna in Europe, the fauna of Bulgaria has been a subject of study for more than a century. This is the first English language survey of all vertebrate and many key invertebrate groups of Bulgaria, their faunistics, origin, geographical and ecological distribution, and conservation issues.

Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms

Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms
Author: Daniel I. Hembree
Publisher: Springer Science & Business
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2014-04-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9401787212

Paleontologists and geologists struggle with research questions often complicated by the loss or even absence of key paleobiological and paleoenvironmental information. Insight into this missing data can be gained through direct exploration of analogous living organisms and modern environments. Creative, experimental and interdisciplinary treatments of such ancient-Earth analogs form the basis of Lessons from the Living. This volume unites a diverse range of expert paleontologists, neontologists and geologists presenting case studies that cover a spectrum of topics, including functional morphology, taphonomy, environments and organism-substrate interactions.

African Biodiversity

African Biodiversity
Author: Bernhard A. Huber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2007-04-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0387243208

In May 2004, the Alexander Koenig Zoological Research Museum hosted the Fifth International Symposium on Tropical Biology. This series was established at the ZFMK in the early 1980s, and has variably focused on systematics and ecology of tropical organisms, with an emphasis on Africa. Previous volumes are those edited by Schuchmann (1985), Peters and Hutterer (1990), Ulrich (1997), and Rheinwald (2000). The symposium in 2004 was organized by the Entomology Department under the direction of Michael Schmitt. The intention was to focus on Africa rather than on a particular taxon, and to highlight biodiversity at all levels ranging from molecules to ecosystems. This focus was timely partly because of the currently running BIOTA Africa programmes (BIOdiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa). BIOTA is an interdisciplinary research project focusing on sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Africa (http://www.biote-africa.de). Session titles were Biogeography and Speciation Processes, Phylogenetic Patterns and Systematics, Diversity Declines and Conservation, and Applied Biodiversity Informatics. Each session was opened by an invited speaker, and all together 77 lectures and 59 posters were presented. There were over 200 participants and it was gratifying to us to meet colleagues from 26 nations, including Russia, Ukraine, Japan, USA, and ten African countries. We thank all participants for their valuable contributions.