Overview
In our own juvenile stage, many of us received our wide-eyed introduction to the wonders of nature by watching the metamorphosis of swimming tadpoles into leaping frogs and toads. The recent declines in amphibian populations worldwide and the suitability of amphibians for use in answering research questions in disciplines as diverse as molecular systematics, animal behaviour and evolutionary biology have focused enormous attention on tadpoles. In this reference, experts on tadpole biology relate what is known about tadpoles and what one might learn from them in the future. The book provides summaries of tadpole morphology, development, behaviour, ecology and environmental physiology; explores the evolutionary consequences of the tadpole stage; synthesizes available information on their biodiversity; and presents a standardized terminology and a literature review of tadpole biology.
Full Product Details
Author: Roy McDiarmid ,
Ronald Altig
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Edition: 2nd ed.
Dimensions:
Width: 22.00cm
, Height: 3.30cm
, Length: 28.50cm
Weight: 1.590kg
ISBN: 9780226557625
ISBN 10: 0226557626
Pages: 456
Publication Date: 01 November 1999
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability: Out of stock
Reviews
"""Here, at last, is a specialist publication, written by a team of fourteen international experts, that both provides a review of basic information, and indicates directions requiring further attention. The book radiates the humor and easy-going nature of the editors, while remaining an accurate scientific publication. It is divided into twelve chapters, a useful glossary, 69 pages of literature cited, and indices of authors, subjects, and taxonomy. Each chapter is complete and could serve as a core text in a course on amphibian larvae, and will no doubt become required reading for these and related vertebrate biology courses.""-- ""Herpetological Review"" ""The book comprises twelve chapters by forteen authors, plus a glossary, an extensive bibliography (70 pages!), and three indices (author, subject, and taxonomic). Contents are organized topically: an introductory chapter by the editors is followed by one or more treatments of ""standard"" topics (morphology, neurobiology, physiology, behavior, and ecology), plus two chapters that address the origin, evolution, and maintenance of the anuran larva (and of the complex life history in general) as well as its loss through direct development and related reproductive modes. The final chapter, also by the editors, provides a detailed compendium of tadpole diversity (mostly anatomical, but also ecological) at the levels of families and genera. Several chapters provide valuable and significant contributions, either by compiling and summarizing existing information from very diverse literature (both classical and recent), or by offering novel syntheses and highlighting important problems deserving of further study.""-- ""Evolution & Development"" ""Tadpoles is a great compilation of what we have learned about anuran larvae in the twentieth century.""-- ""Copeia"" ""I have nothing but praise for Tadpoles. . . . The accounts are engaging and the presentation is effective. Whether the book is read in an orderly manner or dipped into at random (I confess to a fair bit of the latter), there is much to discover between its covers.""-- ""Canadian Field-Naturalist"""
Author Information
Roy W. McDiarmid is a research zoologist and curator of amphibians and reptiles for the U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, at the National Museum of Natural History. Ronald Altig is a professor of biological science at Mississippi State University. Roy W. McDiarmid is a research zoologist and curator of amphibians and reptiles for the U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, at the National Museum of Natural History. Ronald Altig is a professor of biological science at Mississippi State University.
