Publisher's Synopsis
This updated edition begins with an overview of vertibrate structure, including its evolution, its theoretical and conceptual underpinnings, significant recent findings and areas open to further research. Its three-part structure - a survey of vertebrates, organ systems, and structural adaptation - provides a comprehensive treatment of this discipline. Coverage includes recent information on the systematics of extinct groups, extended discussions of reproduction and growth, respiratory and circulatory systems of vertebrates, and their skeletal and anatomical characteristics. Other topics include discussion of homology/analogy, parallelism/convergence, cladistics, classification and ancestry, thermoregulation and energy storage.
