Product Description
For courses in Vertebrate Zoology, Vertebrate Biology Function, and Paleontology 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. The Eighth Edition features dozens of new figures and photos, updated information from molecular data and evolutionary development, and expanded discussions on global climate change, extinction, and conservation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Text book
This is the second time I have purchased a textbook for my son who is at university.Even with the shipping costs, the text is generally quite a bit cheaper than what he would pay at the university.
It came promptly and was new, so in excellent shape.
He still has 2 years of study left before he gets his degree, so we will be using Amazon to look for any other texts books he may need.
We have reccomended Amazon to all his friends.
Thank you,
F. McQuiggin
Winnipeg, Canada

M. Karrr. Please take a moment TO THINK!
M. Karr. Sigh..... Are you so dense that you would damage the efforts of gifted academics such as Ms. Janis because you have an issue with the publisher? I mean, do you think that Ms. Janis is actively consulted in their ostensibly heinous marketing maneuvers? Have you ever considered that a good book might be owned by a greedy publisher?

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!
Unless this book is specifically required by a class in which you're currently enrolled, you should NOT buy this book!I bought this book, but when I went to their website to download the web content, Pearson told me that ONLY qualified employed instructors were allowed to not only look at the content, but download it as well.This INCLUDES ALL OF THE COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE BOOK.They published the book in two-colour ink, black and blue, to save on costs by providing the colour images from their website.You will not be given access to these colour images by the publishers!!!In my opinion, this publisher is just ripping off people's money, and giving them a misrepresented product which is inferior in quality.If you have a choice of which vertebrate zoology text to buy, DO NOT BUY ONE FROM PEARSON PUBLISHING!!!They're still giving me the runaround just to even LOOK at the pictures from this textbook which I already purchased($>100!!!).I may end up returning it if no resolution is reached!!!

Enthusiastically recommended as a college-level text.
Vertebrate Life would serve as an excellent upper-level college textbook to anyone interested in becoming informed about vertebrates.Professionally, I am a physicist, who after visiting the American Museum ofNatural History's Hall of Vertebrates, wanted to learn more about thesubject.Even after reading Vertebrate Life, I don't think that I couldpoint out the squamate bone on a fossilized skull.On the other hand, with733 pages, it is unfair to critize this book about a lack of coverage!Theauthors provide several pages of excellent references at the end of eachchapter.So, if I really wanted to be able to identify a squamate bone,I'm sure that I could have found out from one of references. However, Iwas troubled by a number of typos, some of the them serious.Figure 15-3appears to have the second half of the figure repeated as the first half. It would have been nice to see missing illustrations.Figure 3-6bidentifies the Otic capsule as "Optic capsule" at one point. This confused me for a while. Even with all this, I was fascinated by whatI read, and read the entire book, cover to cover, all 733 pages worth. Forthe serious student of our natural world, I would recommend spending fullprice for this book, and plan on spending more than a few hours with it. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a major new textbook that is intended to lead students away from purely descriptive zoology courses into an experimental approach that emphasizes asking and answering questions about nature. The book gives a panoramic view of vertebrate life, classification, ecology and behaviour. Section I of the book describes the major groups of vertebrates and their origins. The second section covers classification and its methodology. Section III describes the ecology of vertebrates from two standpoints: how individuals cope with environmental extremes, and principles of population and community ecology as illustrated by experiments carried out in the field. Section IV describes the geographic distribution of vertebrates. The fifth section discusses migration. Vertebrate behaviour is the subject of the final section and covers observations and the theories and experiments they have inspired. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the only books to discuss all vertebrates, the fourth edition of Vertebrate Endocrinology has been completely reorganized and updated to explore the intricate mechanisms that control human physiology and behavior as well as that of other vertebrate animals. Perfect for students in endocrinology, zoology, biology and physiology, it allows readers to gain both an understanding of the intricate relationships among all of the body systems and their regulation by hormones and other bioregulators, but also a sense of their development through evolutionary time as well as the roles of hormones at different stages of an animal's life cycle.

Chapters have been reorganized to more closely follow traditional classroom presentation and extensive suggested readings are included at the end of each chapter allowing the reader to obtain further information as well as connect concepts to the literature on which the book is based. For the first time, this edition features four-color illustrations as well as an ancillary web site with additional materials for instructors.

* Provides a complete overview of the endocrine system of vertebrates by first emphasizing the mammalian system as the basis of most terminology and understanding of endocrine mechanisms and then applies that to non-mammals
* Introduces the reader to suitable concepts and explanation of jargon so that the reader will be able to delve directly into the primary literature on any endocrine-related topic with a background that will aid in their interpretation of new information
* Revised and updated chapter on The Molecular Bases for Chemical Regulation that now includes more evolutionary data
* Includes information on endocrine disrupting chemicals and their implications on the health of wildlife and humans
* Companion website includes additional teaching materials such as power point slides of all illustrations in the book ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Well written, factual, maybe too indepth
I have Dr. Norris for my endocrinology class. The text book goes further in depth than his lectures which can be a pro and a con. The text is very small and sometimes confusing, but when you work though it provides the reader with a strong backbone knowledge of endocrinology. Some figures are a bit too confusing. More simplistic pictures and color figures would greatly improve the book.

good book
extremely comprehensive as far as comparative endocrinology is concerned and does a very good job on mammalian endocrinology. ... Read more

Product Description
Comprehensive overview of the comparative neuroanatomy of vertebrates. Includes line drawings and halftone illustrations. Extensively referenced. 9 contributors, 1 U.S. DNLM: Central Nervous System--anatomy & histology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The only serious text on vertebrate nervous system
This is an outstanding attempt to summarize the evolution of the vertebrate nervous system. There is no serious competition for this 3 volume series. The illustrations are superb and the text is very well referenced. It is expensive, but it is a classic. ... Read more

Product Description
Functional approach to morphology--treatment is unique as to organization, thoroughness, and extent of biomechanical analysis.
* Profusely illustrated with high quality original artwork.
* Comment boxes evaluate points of controversy and note inadequately understood phenomena. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A great text in need of an update
My perspective is based on teaching a 100 student comparative anatomy course at the sophomore/junior level.This text is unique among comparative anatomy texts in its organization and approach.There are three sections to the text: 3 chapters on the SURVEY OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS, the bulk of the text on THE PHYLOGENY AND ONTOGENY OF STRUCTURE, and a third portion, STRUCTURAL ADAPTATION.The material in this third section is usually dispersed throughout the presentation of body systems in other texts.Separation of the "structural adaptation" into a completely different section allows the instructor better flexibility in presentation, and it make the reading of the body systems more readable.

The bulk of the text on the evolution and development of organ systems is of the most concise of any text.This is particularity appropriate for a sophomore level course.Addition of the topics of a biomechanical nature in the latter part of the text enriches the students understanding, providing a more advanced perspective.

Two major drawbacks exist.First and foremost from a didactic point of view is the black and white illustration of the text.While the figures and illustrations ARE quite good, their lack of color makes this text less than attractive to students.While as one already educated in the topic of the text I find the illustrations useful, from the standpoint of a student these figures are forgettable and bland.Compare to any introductory biology or human anatomy & physiology text where the market for texts is strong, and this text looks to be 50 years old.The second downside to the text is its use of Linean nomenclature.Other texts in the market have gone to a cladistic approach and some (kardong) acknowledge linean nomenclature where appropriate but use predominantly cladistic nomenclature.While anyone can see the utility in using Linean nomenclature for the purposes of teaching undergraduate-level students, this system is not used in the modern literature and is flawed in its approach that ignores groupings based on common decent.Liem et al, for example, goes in an entirely different direction, using a strictly cladistic terminology and offers too much detail from my perspective.There must be some middle ground that allows one to incorporate modern terminology and phylogeny while still being accessible to the student.

All-in-all, a great text with a few kinks.Overall, I'd recommend this text to any student of comparative anatomy and their instructors.For those wanting a resource/reference for phylogenetic or ontological aspects of vertebrate evolution and structure there are better texts available.

Good Charts
The charts make referencing timelines of evolution simple.The novice student can assimilate the evolution and development of vertebrates easily with this handy manual.

Great Text
This text is easy to understand and goes well with Campbell's notes at UT Arlington's biology website.Campbell's password is snakes to get access to his notes. ... Read more

Product Description
An account of the different morphologies of vertebrate respiratory organs and structures. It explains the essence of different functional designs and strategies that have adaptively developed for the acquisition of molecular oxygen and elimination of carbon dioxide. The origins of the various respiratory systems are presented and debated from evolutionary, phylogenetic, behavioural and ecological perspectives. The book carefully outlines the interactions between the environment (the physical realm) and evolution and adaptation (the biological domain) that have set the composition and patterning of extant animal life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

evo-devo plus
a rare and beautifully presented account of the different types of respiratory systems in life forms that shows the plausibility of Darwin's Origin. ... Read more

Product Description
Deemed a classic for its reading level and high-quality illustrations, this respected text is ideal for your one-semester Comparative Anatomy course. For the ninth edition, George Kent is joined by new co-author Bob Carr. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Above Average
This text was not the best, but it was helpful. It is geared of course towards a higher level of comprehension. I hope everyone finds this text as helpful as I have

Are we talking about anatomy?!I wonder...
Being a young professor teaching comparative anatomy using Dr. Kent's textbook, I can't stop wondering what was the goal that Dr. Kent had in mind when he wrote this textbook.Judging the content by the viewpoint of a classically trained anatomist, Dr. Kent's anatomic prospect over his subjects is far worse than inadequate.He put up with anatomic pictures of disproportionally emphasized part (e.g., the pelvis of a turtle), and displayed it in a skewed view that, to the best ot if, will only confuse the students/readers.In addition, Dr. Kent had a tendency to write examples that are exception to the general scheme, and made it read like a general case.This will definitely confuse, and mislead the readers/students.

Further, the content need to be updated.For example, we all know that oxytocin can loose pubis symphysis during laboring.However, in the textbook Dr. Kent still described this hormone as "relaxin".This is pretty strong proof that the content is very outdated.There are plenty of typo, and in one instance, one portion of a big three-part figure was missing.The editorial office apparently did an excellent job in omitting such an obvious "detail".Excellency to the highest!

By comparison, I think Dr. Kardong's textbook did a much better job.(I have both copies)

Detailed to say the least
I have to say this text is very interesting but not clear at all times.It's got loads of information jammed into a book that's rather thin for a college text but it's very informative.My only problem?It's so detailed that you can barely make out what any of it means.Also, the glossary is not as complete as it should be, but it does give plenty of latin prefixes and suffixes to help aid in the translation of scientific jargon.If they had put in about five or so more chapters (or at least that amount in pages) they could have explained confusing concepts more and avoid just jamming as many neurocranial bones as they can figure out in one paragraph.

Update of an inadequate text
I have not read this edition of Dr. Kent's book, but as a former student of Dr. Kent's, I was forced to buy his text when I took his comparative anatomy course.At the time, I found it a difficult read of marginalusefulness.When he left Louisiana State, a different, far better text wasintroduced.If this is merely an update of that volume, I echo others whorecommend other sources.

Interesting, but a disappointing lack of detail.
Though this book is a decent introductory guide to comparative vertebrate anatomy, there is a significant lack of detail in certain sections.The text is very condensed, and difficult to read at certain parts.I recommend using a similar book by Walker. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is suitable for ages 6 to 10 years. Animals with backbones are called vertebrates. This amazing book allows students to peek inside an animal and understand its body structure from the inside out. Detailed illustrations of each animal's skeleton help show how different kinds of vertebrates move. ... Read more

Product Description
This book introduces students to the groups of vertebrates and explores the anatomical evolution of vertebrates within the context of the functional interrelationships of organs and the changing environments to which vertebrates have adapted. The text contains all of the material taught in classic comparative anatomy courses, but integrates this material with current research in functional anatomy. This integration adds a new dimension to our understanding of structure and helps students understand the evolution of vertebrates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Intensive Information
Very well written book that helps take the reader through the evolutionary history of vertebrates. Figures are no longer completely up to date with the latest research, but still a quality reference book. Be ready to be bogged down with details.

Comprehensive and clear
This book is well-organized and clearly written, and includes some truly fascinating revelations about the vertebrates, especially relating to biomechanics.It is, however, really too encyclopedic for undergraduates to read cover to cover.As a supplement to a lecture course, I find it excellent; if the lecturer expects students to learn most of the material from the text alone, they are in for a difficult time.The main difficulty is that the most important material is not necessarily emphasized in the text, so that the instructor using this text must be clear about what main points students need.As a reference for further study after class, and to look up things not understood the first time, this book is great.As a primary teaching tool with no outline or emphasis to guide study, there is simply far too much information for a one-semester undergraduate course.

Anatomy of a textbook
Students already familiar with vertebrate anatomy will probably find this a useful reference, however students who are learning about vertebrate anatomy for the first time will likely be a bit frustrated with the book. Often, long wordy paragraphs describe structures rather than having an emphasis on diagrams. Material and terminology is frequently introduced without stating function or relevance until later on. Diagrams are only in a few different colors and usually lack spatial depth, which I personally found difficult for understanding the 3 dimensional layout of many oddly shaped structures. There are no photographs making identification of real life structures a bit of a challenge. There is also the occasional mislabeled diagram, but those are likely being remedied in the next edition.

I'm a bit disappointed at the organization of this book and it's emphasis on descriptions via text, however it is useful once you gain a good understanding of the material. The text goes into a nice amount of detail and covers a lot of material. However, if I had a choice of textbooks to use form my anatomy course, I would likely look at something else. ... Read more

Product Description
Designed for students of vertebrate zoology this lab textprovides an evolutionary approach to the study of zoology.Introducesmethods of phylogenetic systematics and taxonomy. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Cambridge, The University PressPublication date: 1875Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
New discoveries of ancient vertebrates, filling in gaps in the fossil record, are quickly eroding the traditionally recognized differences between the principal groups of vertebrates--for example, between dinosaurs and birds--and radically changing our understanding of the evolutionary history of the major group of animals to which our species belongs. This book describes this changing scientific landscape and contributes to the revolution in our knowledge of the developmental mechanisms that underlie evolutionary transformation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Vertebrate evolution revisited
"Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution" is a collection of excellent, state-of-the-art reviews of aspects of some of the principal transitions in the evolutionary history of vertebrates. In recent years, traditional research on the fossil record of many groups of vertebrates has been augmented by studies in the emerging discipline of 'evo-devo,' which utilizes sophisticated tools to explore the underlying controls of and pathways for the ontogenetic development of anatomical features. This combination of approaches has led to a veritable renaissance in the study of vertebrate evolution. The contributions in the present volume require solid grounding in the comparative anatomy and paleontology of vertebrates, and thus the book is definitely aimed at the advanced student and specialist. I particularly enjoyed the chapters by Hall and Witten on skeletal tissues, Janvier's magisterial review of the origin and early evolutionary history of vertebrates, and Caldwell's synopsis of thinking about the origin and evolution of snakes. The volume is beautifully produced and includes a section with superb color photographs. I definitely recommend it to any serious student of vertebrate biology and evolution.

More like a few important transitions
This book contains excellent, college-level material.It is well-written, current, and thorough.However, I was disappointed by the misleading term 'major.'To me, this category includes the transition to warm-blood, emergence upon land, adoption of ruminant lifestyle with symbiotic bacteria, bipedalism, live-birth, and flight.The book is focused on anatomy (bone, cartilage, teeth), and of these topics only discusses flight (evolution of birds).Apparently physiology and ecology are not relevant. ... Read more

Product Description
Offers an approach to the study of functional anatomy
... Read more

Product Description
The first complete review of this hot topic.

Edited by the world's foremost authorities on the subject, with essays by leading scholars in the field, this work shows how the sex of reptiles and many fish is determined not by the chromosomes they inherit but by the temperature at which incubation takes place. 57 b/w illustrations. ... Read more