Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Life Sciences - Zoology - Invertebrates

Many biological facts are irreconcilable with the assumption that larvae and adults evolved from the same genetic stock. The author of this book draws attention to these, and presents his alternative hypothesis that larvae have been transferred from one taxon to another.
In his previous book (Larvae and Evolution, 1992), the author used larval transfer to explain developmental anomalies in eight animal phyla. In the present book, he claims that the basic forms of all larvae and all embryos have been transferred from foreign taxa. This leads to a new, comprehensive theory on the origin...

Although the ancestral home of chelicerates was the sea, the vast majority of modern species live on land. Most students of spiders and mites also restrict themselves to terrestrial habitats. However, a surprising number of mites (Arachnida: Acari) have returned to a watery existence. Approximately 7000 species from the Mesostigmata, Astigmata, Oribatida, and especially the Prostigmata, now live in marine and freshwater habitats. In Aquatic Mites, a dozen chapters explore the distribution, ecology, behavior, genetics, and evolution of the most diverse of these astonishing arachnids. The...

Hemiptera - Heteroptera encompasses the three well-defined suborders of the true bugs which are adapted to an aquatic or littoral habitat. The book begins with a section on the biology these insects and provides illustrations of the basic features of their morphology and outlines the larval development. Brief outlines of the ecological and zoogeographical peculiarities of the three aquatic suborders are presented individually, and various methods for observing, collecting, preserving, rearing, and examining specimens are discussed.

Most of the book is devoted to keys for the...

Soil microorganisms play a major role in the degradation and recycling of organic material. Microbes are involved in the food web and strongly contribute to soil fertility. In the past, attention was mainly directed towards free-living or particle-bound microorganisms, while the role of intestinal microbes of soil animals has been neglected.

For the first time, "Intestinal Microorganisms of Termites and Other Invertebrates" focuses on the microbes in gut systems of soil animals. It starts with a profound overview of the biology of soil invertebrates. A major part deals with the gut...

This is the first book on molluscs as sources for pharmaceutical drugs. Marine molluscs are very promising candidates for a wide range of biotechnological applications. For example, they possess analgesic drugs more potent than morphine and very effective anticancer agents. International experts provide coverage of the most stimulating topics related to molluscs. This knowledge of their history and current studies opens the door to the future.

As a result of the European Commission s concern for the status of continental waters, and as a clear reflection of the notion of water as heritage to be conserved, in the year 2000 the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/CE) was enacted, its goal being to establish a framework to protect water and the different aquatic ecosystems by requiring the Member States to achieve a good ecological status in all their waters by 2015.
Like all ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems undergo physical, chemical and energy-related changes, both of natural and anthropogenic origin. These disturbances...