Ecology and Natural History of Desert Lizards

Ecology and Natural History of Desert Lizards PDF

Author: Eric R. Pianka

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-03-14

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1400886147

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Eric Pianka offers a synthesis of his life's work on the comparative ecology of lizard assemblages in the Great Basin. Mojave and Sonoran deserts of western North America, the Kalahari semi-desert of southern Africa, and the Great Victoria desert of Western Australia. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Lizards

Lizards PDF

Author: Eric R. Pianka

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2003-09-24

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9780520234017

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This book provides an overview of the diversity of lizards and their major adaptive features. The authors discuss the latest research findings and provide new hypotheses about lizard diversity.

Lizards

Lizards PDF

Author: Eric P. Pianka

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2003-09-24

Total Pages: 698

ISBN-13: 0520939913

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From tiny to gigantic, from drab to remarkably beautiful, from harmless to venomous, lizards are spectacular products of natural selection. This book, lavishly illustrated with color photographs, is the first comprehensive reference on lizards around the world. Accessible, scientifically up-to-date, and written with contagious enthusiasm for the subject, Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity covers species evolution, diversity, ecology, and biology. Eric R. Pianka and Laurie J. Vitt have studied and photographed members of almost all lizard families worldwide, and they bring to the book a deep knowledge based on extensive firsthand experience with the animals in their natural habitats. Part One explores lizard lifestyles, answering such questions as why lizards are active when they are, why they behave as they do, how they avoid predators, why they eat what they eat, and how they reproduce and socialize. In Part Two the authors take us on a fascinating tour of the world's manifold lizard species, beginning with iguanians, an evolutionary group that includes some of the most bizarre lizards, the true chameleons of Africa and Madagascar. We also meet the glass lizard, able to break its tail into many highly motile pieces to distract a predator from its body; lizards that can run across water; and limbless lizards, such as snakes. Part Three gives an unprecedented global view of evolutionary trends that have shaped present-day lizard communities and considers the impact of humans on their future. A definitive resource containing many entertaining anecdotes, this magnificent book opens a new window to the natural world and the evolution of life on earth.

Reptiles in Research

Reptiles in Research PDF

Author: Claudia Altavilla

Publisher: Nova Science Publishers

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781628085990

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Reptiles demonstrate remarkable diversity across the landscape. From inland habitats of deserts and grasslands to coastal plains and oceans, the unique adaptations and life histories of reptiles have been shaped by a suite of abiotic and biotic factors. It is the interface between the organism and its environment that present biologists with the opportunity to explore how reptiles behaviourally and physiologically respond to their environments and to determine what factors govern their ecology. This book captures the interests of all readers with a text that is foundational for the novice herpetologist, while informative for beginning students and seasoned research scientists. This book offers its readers a glimpse into the passions of scientists who find reptiles fascinating creatures of study. You will see how reptiles serve as organismal models that continue to advance our knowledge and understanding of complex biological processes and systems. Dr William I Lutterschmidt (Professor of Physiological Ecology) has invited top researchers from around the world to share their personal research interests and illustrate how environment influences the ecology, physiology, and behaviour of reptiles. This book will introduce a diversity of research fields and reptilian species, from how web-footed geckos move in desert sands to how sea snakes cope physiologically with high salinity. Topics include invasive species, urban ecology, mathematical simulation, sexual selection, hybridisation and gene flow, chemical ecology, neurobiology, spatial ecology, conservation biology, biodiversity, immunology, and molecular biology.

Lizard Ecology

Lizard Ecology PDF

Author: Stephen M. Reilly

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-07-12

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 9780521833585

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Originally published in 2006, this book was the first critical review of the effects of lizard foraging modes in 30 years.

Lizard Ecology

Lizard Ecology PDF

Author: Laurie J. Vitt

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1400863945

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In a collection rich in implications for all fields of ecology, leading lizard ecologists demonstrate the utility of the phylogenetic approach in understanding the evolution of morphology, physiology, behavior, and life histories. Lizards, which are valued for their amenability to field experiments, have been the subject of reciprocal transplant experiments and of manipulations of resource availability, habitat structure, population density, and entire sections of food webs. Such experiments are rapidly rebuilding ecological theories as they apply to all organisms. As a demonstration of state-of-the-art historical and experimental research and as a call for philosophical engagement, this volume will join its predecessors--Lizard Ecology: A Symposium (Missouri, 1967) and Lizard Ecology: Studies of a Model Organism (Harvard, 1983)--in directing ecological research for years to come. Lizard Ecology contains essays on reproductive ecology (Arthur E. Dunham, Lin Schwarzkopf, Peter H. Niewiarowski, Karen Overall, and Barry Sinervo), behavioral ecology (A. Stanley Rand, William E. Cooper, Jr., Emülia P. Martins, Craig Guyer, and C. Michael Bull), evolutionary ecology (Raymond B. Huey, Jean Clobert et al., Donald B. Miles, and Theodore Garland, Jr.), and population and community ecology (Ted Case, Robin M. Andrews and S. Joseph Wright, Craig D. James, and Jonathan B. Losos). Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Australian Deserts

Australian Deserts PDF

Author: Steve Morton

Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING

Published: 2022-02

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1486306004

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Australian Deserts: Ecology and Landscapes is about the vast sweep of the Outback, a land of expanses making up three-quarters of the continent – the heart of Australia. Steve Morton brings his extensive first-hand knowledge and experience of arid Australia to this book, explaining how Australian deserts work ecologically. This book outlines why unpredictable rainfall and paucity of soil nutrients underpin the nature of desert ecosystems, while also describing how plants and animals came to be desert dwellers through evolutionary time. It shows how plants use uncertain rainfall to provide for persistence of their populations, alongside outlines of the dominant animals of the deserts and explanations of the features that help them succeed in the face of aridity and uncertainty. Richly illustrated with the photographs of Mike Gillam, this fascinating and accessible book will enhance your understanding of the nature of arid Australia.

Lizard Ecology

Lizard Ecology PDF

Author: Laurie J. Vitt

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 403

ISBN-13: 9780691036496

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In a collection rich in implications for all fields of ecology, leading lizard ecologists demonstrate the utility of the phylogenetic approach in understanding the evolution of morphology, physiology, behavior, and life histories. Lizards, which are valued for their amenability to field experiments, have been the subject of reciprocal transplant experiments and of manipulations of resource availability, habitat structure, population density, and entire sections of food webs. Such experiments are rapidly rebuilding ecological theories as they apply to all organisms. As a demonstration of state-of-the-art historical and experimental research and as a call for philosophical engagement, this volume will join its predecessors--Lizard Ecology: A Symposium (Missouri, 1967) and Lizard Ecology: Studies of a Model Organism (Harvard, 1983)--in directing ecological research for years to come. Lizard Ecology contains essays on reproductive ecology (Arthur E. Dunham, Lin Schwarzkopf, Peter H. Niewiarowski, Karen Overall, and Barry Sinervo), behavioral ecology (A. Stanley Rand, William E. Cooper, Jr., Emülia P. Martins, Craig Guyer, and C. Michael Bull), evolutionary ecology (Raymond B. Huey, Jean Clobert et al., Donald B. Miles, and Theodore Garland, Jr.), and population and community ecology (Ted Case, Robin M. Andrews and S. Joseph Wright, Craig D. James, and Jonathan B. Losos). Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A Natural History of California

A Natural History of California PDF

Author: Allan A. Schoenherr

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2017-07-03

Total Pages: 632

ISBN-13: 0520290372

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In this comprehensive and abundantly illustrated book, Allan A. Schoenherr describes the natural history of California—a state with a greater range of landforms, a greater variety of habitats, and more kinds of plants and animals than any area of equivalent size in all of North America. A Natural History of California focuses on each distinctive region, addressing its climate, rocks, soil, plants, and animals. The second edition of this classic work features updated species names and taxa, new details about parks reclassified by federal and state agencies, new stories about modern human and animal interaction, and a new epilogue on the impacts of climate change.

The Ecology of Desert Communities

The Ecology of Desert Communities PDF

Author: Gary A. Polis

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2016-10-18

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 0816535396

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"Provides interesting and thought-provoking reading and is highly recommended to anyone interested in desert ecosystems or community ecology. The book . . . should serve as an inspiration to many for future research."—Journal of Biogeography "This book is not just about deserts; it is an update of the contributions that research in desert systems is making to community ecology. . . This book will provide a useful reference for desert ecologists, as well as indicate critical directions where progress needs to be made."—Ecology "This important book fills a significant gap in previous syntheses by presenting a detailed series of reviews of current understanding of community patterns and structure in desert environments. . . . Each chapter is thorough and well written and . . . closes with a discussion of suggested future research. . . . [T]hese ideas will do much to focus interest on the importance of desert systems in understanding community. Thus, this book has interest well beyond desert ecologists alone."—BioScience "Valuable reading and reference for ecology students, teachers and researchers."—Quarterly Review of Biology