Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology

by Feldhamer, George A.; Drickamer, Lee C.; Vessey, Stephen H.; Merritt, Joseph F.; Krajewski, Carey

• ISBN13: 9780801886959
• ISBN10: 0801886953
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-07
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

The Class Mammalia is amazingly diverse, ranging from whales to marsupials to bats to primates. The more than 5,400 species occupy many habitats, with mammals present on all the continents. They are rare only on Antarctica and a few isolated islands. Mammals present a complex set of conservation and management issues. Some species have become more numerous with the rise of human populations, while others have been extirpated or nearly so -- such as the Caribbean monk seal, the thylacine, the Chinese river dolphin, and the Pyrenean ibex. In this new edition of their classic textbook, George A. Feldhamer and his colleagues cover the many aspects of mammalogy. Thoroughly revised and updated, this edition includes treatments of the most recent significant findings in ordinal-level mammalian phylogeny and taxonomy; special topics such as parasites and diseases, conservation, and domesticated mammals; interrelationships between mammalian structure and function; and the latest molecular techniques used to study mammals.

Author Biography

Carey Krajewski is a professor in the Department of Zoology at Southern Illinois University.

Table of Contents

The study of mammals	p. 2
History of mammalogy	p. 8
Methods for studying mammals	p. 22
Evolution and dental characteristics	p. 48
Biogeography	p. 68
Integument, support, and movement	p. 96
Modes of feeding	p. 118
Control systems and biological rhythms	p. 144
Environmental adaptations	p. 156
Reproduction	p. 192
Monotremes and marsupials	p. 218
Afrosoricida, erinaceomorpha, soricomorpha, macroscelidea, scandentia, and dermoptera	p. 242
Chiroptera	p. 256
Primates	p. 280
Xenarthra [cingulata and pilosa], pholidota, and tubulidentata	p. 302
Carnivora	p. 314
Cetacea	p. 330
Rodentia and lagomorpha	p. 348
Proboscidea, hyracoidea, and sirenia	p. 370
Perissodactyla and artiodactyla	p. 384
Communication, aggression, and spatial relations	p. 406
Sexual selection, parental care, and mating systems	p. 420
Social behavior	p. 434
Dispersal, habitat selection, and migration	p. 448
Populations and life history	p. 462
Community ecology	p. 480
Parasites and diseases	p. 500
Domestication and domesticated mammals	p. 516
Conservation	p. 528
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