Search results for ""Author Theodore W. Pietsch""
Johns Hopkins University Press Trees of Life:
For the past 450 years, tree-like branching diagrams have been created to show the complex and surprising interrelationships of organisms, both living and fossil, from viruses and bacteria to birds and mammals. This stunning book celebrates the manifest beauty, intrinsic interest, and human ingenuity of these exquisite trees of life. Theodore W. Pietsch has chosen 230 trees of life - from among thousands of possible contenders - dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. His arrangement gives readers a visual sense of the historical development of these diagrams and shows how, in Darwin's words, "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Pietsch's brief, accessible prose accompanies the diverse trees to fully reveal the engrossing history of human theories of evolution. Over the centuries, trees of life appeared in a wide variety of forms; some were revered as iconic while others incited intense controversy. The earliest examples were meant to portray the imagined temporal order in which God created life on Earth. More recent scientific trees represent hypothetical histories of life. Never before has the full spectrum of trees of life been brought together in a single volume. Pietsch has spent decades collecting and researching the origin and meaning of these evolutionary trees and presents a visually breathtaking and intellectually brilliant history of the form.
£38.76
Johns Hopkins University Press Frogfishes: Biodiversity, Zoogeography, and Behavioral Ecology
The authoritative expert's guide to fascinating frogfishes and their unusual lives.Winner of the PROSE Award for Best Single Volume Reference in Science by the Association of American PublishersUnique among the world's fishes, frogfishes display a bizarre combination of attributes and behaviors that make them a subject of fervent study. Through cunning and trickery, they turn would-be predators into prey; they "walk" across the ocean floor and jet-propel through open water; some lay their eggs in a floating mucoid mass, while others employ complex patterns of parental care; and they are certainly among the most colorful of nature's productions. In Frogfishes, two of the world's leading anglerfish experts, Theodore W. Pietsch and Rachel J. Arnold, bring together an enormous amount of information about these incredible creatures. The only detailed exploration of frogfishes in print, the book touches on everything from their morphology and biomechanics to their diets and habitats. Enhanced with more than 500 spectacular color images, the book also includes• a thorough look at about 5,000 preserved specimens;• an annotated synonymy for all extant taxa, as well as keys and tables to facilitate identification;• insights into frogfish feeding, locomotion, mimicry, and reproductive behavior;• descriptions of recent scientific advances, including the discovery of new species, shifts in geographic distribution, and emerging DNA sequencing techniques; and • tips for frogfish-seeking divers and aquarists that emphasize conservation.Unmasking the mysteries of frogfish evolution and phylogenetic relationships through close examination of their fossil record, morphology, and molecular reconstruction, Frogfishes demonstrates the surprising diversity and beauty of this remarkable assemblage of marine shorefishes.
£94.95
