Overview

Vertebrate Life distills 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.FeaturesIncorporation of the dagger symbol (†) to indicate extinct taxa, a helpful convention in a field that requires constant comparisons between extinct and extant taxaIncludes more than 2,000 photographs and illustrations, of which about 800 are newConsistent phylogenetic approachNew to this EditionLearning Objectives presented at the start of each section within a chapter to highlight key takeaway concepts for the sectionForty-five new interactive figures in the Enhanced e-BookRedevelopment of background materials for the study of vertebrate evolution: Exemplified by Figure 1.2 and the many new time trees and cladogramsMany 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 chaptersEnhanced 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 vertebratesUpdated Discussion Questions at the end of each chapterA selection of new and relevant references for each chapter to help users connect with the constant stream of new and exciting information on vertebrate biologyDevelopment 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

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9780197558621

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Reviews

“I really like the summary component of Pough et al. This will be extremely helpful for students to focus on the big picture points moving forward.” -Carly Anne York, Lenoir-Rhyne University “I think Vertebrate Life has over many iterations of deeply scholarly editions has achieved an excellent treatment of the comparative evolution of adaptive form and function across the tree of vertebrate life. It excels at placing the comparative morphology and physiology of major vertebrate lineages into a clear phylogenetic context with outstanding integration of both extinct and extant forms through the history of space and time on Earth since the early Paleozoic. [In the upcoming edition,] I like the continued expansion to more mixed media illustrations. The increased use of multiple colors in displays and use of more photographs to complement drawn scientific illustrations continues to move in a productive direction for this chapter, and this new edition in general.” -Andrew M. Shedlock, University of Charleston “Vertebrate Life really has been the top undergraduate textbook for a survey course on the evolution and form and function of vertebrate animals, for the better part of two decades. The new edition [has] upped the ante a bit in terms of clarity and coverage.” -Jonathan Weinbaum, Southern Connecticut State University “[The new edition of Vertebrate Life] updates a previous edition of an excellent text with better organization and new information. [It has a] balance between presenting interesting information without overloading detail.” -Udo Savalli, Arizona State University “Pough et al. has a wonderful variety of species that the students will find compelling. It is written in a very accessible writing style, [with a variety of] engaging species examples. The figures will greatly enhance student understanding with well-chosen and interesting examples.” -Claire Kendal-Wright, Chaminade University Vertebrate life is almost as diverse as it is ubiquitous across most habitats around the globe, from small to large animals living in water or on the land. This is the story, history and key features of that life, in the form of a well-established textbook, now in its 11th edition. * Dr Amanda Hardy, The Biologist *

I really like the summary component of Pough et al. This will be extremely helpful for students to focus on the big picture points moving forward. -Carly Anne York, Lenoir-Rhyne University I think Vertebrate Life has over many iterations of deeply scholarly editions has achieved an excellent treatment of the comparative evolution of adaptive form and function across the tree of vertebrate life. It excels at placing the comparative morphology and physiology of major vertebrate lineages into a clear phylogenetic context with outstanding integration of both extinct and extant forms through the history of space and time on Earth since the early Paleozoic. [In the upcoming edition,] I like the continued expansion to more mixed media illustrations. The increased use of multiple colors in displays and use of more photographs to complement drawn scientific illustrations continues to move in a productive direction for this chapter, and this new edition in general. -Andrew M. Shedlock, University of Charleston Vertebrate Life really has been the top undergraduate textbook for a survey course on the evolution and form and function of vertebrate animals, for the better part of two decades. The new edition [has] upped the ante a bit in terms of clarity and coverage. -Jonathan Weinbaum, Southern Connecticut State University [The new edition of Vertebrate Life] updates a previous edition of an excellent text with better organization and new information. [It has a] balance between presenting interesting information without overloading detail. -Udo Savalli, Arizona State University Pough et al. has a wonderful variety of species that the students will find compelling. It is written in a very accessible writing style, [with a variety of] engaging species examples. The figures will greatly enhance student understanding with well-chosen and interesting examples. -Claire Kendal-Wright, Chaminade University

Author Information

Harvey Pough, Professor Emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, is a herpetologist, specializing in environmental and evolutionary physiology; a past president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; and the senior author of textbooks on Herpetology and Vertebrate Zoology. He has taught courses in Animal Behavior, Ecology, Herpetology, Human Biology, Introductory Biology, Physiological Ecology, and Vertebrate Zoology.William E. Bemis is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University and Faculty Curator of Ichthyology at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. He has studied the anatomy, systematics, and evolution of extant and fossil vertebrates for fifty years with a focus on fishes. He currently teaches Vertebrate Biology, Ichthyology, and Herpetology.Betty McGuire is a retired Senior Lecturer from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. She has studied social behavior, reproduction, and ecology of small mammals and currently studies behavior of domestic dogs. She coauthored textbooks on Animal Behavior and Human Biology, and taught courses in Vertebrate Biology, Mammalogy, Human Biology, Animal Behavior, Evolution, and Introductory Biology.Christine M. Janis is Professor Emerita at Brown University, USA, and currently an Honorary Professor at the University of Bristol, UK. She is a mammalian paleobiologist who has studied the feeding and locomotion of Cenozoic mammals, especially ungulates (hoofed mammals) and kangaroos, and their paleobiology in the context of climatic and environmental change. She has taught courses in Comparative Anatomy and Vertebrate Paleontology.Contributors:Sergi Lâopez-Torres is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. He is a mammalian paleontologist who studies the early stages of primate evolution and the functional morphology and paleoecology in fossil Euarchontoglires. He currently teaches Human Origins, Primate Evolution, Zoology, and Paleobiology.Emanuel Tschopp is a Humboldt Fellow at University of Hamburg, Germany, and Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. He studies osteological variability in extant and extinct animals, and how it can be used to infer systematics and evolution of dinosaurs and lizards.Art Development by William E. Bemis.

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