Zoology

"This paperback revision will be especially helpful to specialists working among the forest of ill-defined and undescribed Ichneumonidae (the most speciose insect family). Luhman adopts a particularly modern presentation: a model for future ichneumonid revisions with good discussions of character analysis and phylogeny supporting...

There exists an undeniable chasm between the capacities of humans and those of animals. Our minds have spawned civilizations and technologies that have changed the face of the Earth, whereas even our closest animal relatives sit unobtrusively in their dwindling habitats. Yet despite longstanding...

Despite the widespread belief that natural is better when it comes to sex, pregnancy, and parenting, most of us have no idea what natural really means; the origins of our reproductive lives remain a mystery. Why are a quarter of a billion sperm cells...

In the fall of 2005, a band of researchers cracked the code of the chimpanzee genome and provided a startling new window into the differences between humans and our closest primate cousins. For the past several years, acclaimed Science reporter Jon Cohen has been...

The history of life on Earth is dominated by extinction events so numerous that over 99.9% of the species ever to have existed are gone forever. If animals could talk, we would ask them to recall their own ancestries, in particular the secrets as...

A beautifully illustrated exploration of the science behind the awe-inspiring giants of past and present The colossal plants and animals of our world--dinosaurs, whales, and even trees--are a source of unending fascination, and their sheer scale can be truly impressive. Size is integral to...

Tony Angell, master artist and naturalist, offers an intimate account of owls he has observed, admired, and depicted for decades For a quarter century, Tony Angell and his family shared the remarkable experience of closely observing pairs of western screech owls that occupied a...

Spiders, objects of eternal human fascination, are found in many places: on the ground, in the air, and even under water. Leslie Brunetta and Catherine Craig have teamed up to produce a substantive yet entertaining book for anyone who has ever wondered, as a...

The remarkable story of how mimicry is used by some of the most extraordinary creatures in the world Nature has perfected the art of deception. Thousands of creatures all over the world--including butterflies, moths, fish, birds, insects and snakes--have honed and practiced camouflage over...

Over millions of years, Australia's unique biodiversity has produced a large cabinet of curiosities. Among the weirder members of this group were the Mihirungs, members of the now extinct family Dromornithidae. Made up of several genera of flightless birds--among them one of the very...

Written by three expert birders, this book is both a finding guide and an annotated checklist of the birds found in Indiana. In Part I, The Haunts, the Kellers present 66 of their favorite Hoosier birding spots--parks, reservoirs, and wildlife refuges, as well as...

The title says it all. It's yucky. It's gooey It makes your food chewy Ptooey Ptooey Oh, spit. Ew Nasty Ew Gross But spit is no spitball joke. Drool is cool It's one of the most amazing fluids in your body. In Spit, renowned...

As species extinction, environmental protection, animal rights, and workplace safety issues come to the fore, zoos and aquariums need keepers who have the technical expertise and scientific knowledge to keep animals healthy, educate the public, and create regional, national, and global conservation and management...

Ask anyone who has owned a pet and they'll assure you that, yes, animals have personalities. And science is beginning to agree. Researchers have demonstrated that both domesticated and nondomesticated animals--from invertebrates to monkeys and apes--behave in consistently different ways, meeting the criteria for...

Scores of wild species and ecosystems around the world face a variety of human-caused threats, from habitat destruction and fragmentation to rapid climate change. But there is hope, and it, too, comes in a most human form: zoos and aquariums. Gathering a diverse, multi-institutional...

Dogs and humans have worked side by side for thousands of years, and over the millennia we've come to depend upon our pooches as hunters, protectors, and faithful companions. But when it comes to the extraordinary quality of man's best friend which we rely...

A Year with Nature is an almanac like none you've ever seen: combining science and aesthetics, it is a daily affirmation of the extraordinary richness of biodiversity and our enduring beguilement by its beauty. With a text by herpetologist and natural history writer Marty...

For all the love and attention we give dogs, much of what they do remains mysterious. Just think about different behaviors you see at a dog park: We have a good understanding of what it means when dogs wag their tails--but what about when...

"Extraordinary. . . . Berger is a hero of biology who deserves the highest honors that science can bestow."--Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books On the Tibetan Plateau, there are wild yaks with blood cells thinner than those of horses' by half, enabling...

Using examples from chimpanzees and dolphins to birds and honeybees, Griffin demonstrates how communication among animals can serve as a "window" into what animals think and feel, just as human speech and nonverbal communication tell us most of what we know about the thoughts...