A Handbook to Australian Seashells will help you to identify most of the shells you find, no matter where you are on the Australian coast.It includes over 375 species of the most common seashells found along our seashores. Each one is illustrated with a beautiful colour photograph showing its colours, patterns, shape and sculpture.

The clearest and sharpest recognition guide to over 500 species of seashell from around the world Authoritative text, crystal-clear photography, and a systematic approach make this the most comprehensive and concise e-guide to seashells of the world. Includes more than 600 full-colour photographs of over 500 species of seashells, this handy reference ebook is designed to cut through the complex process of identification and make it accessible to the average reader. Expertly written and thoroughly vetted, each species entry combines a precise description with annotated photographs to highlight each shell's characteristics and distinguishing features. The entry always includes a distribution map, showing the geographical range of the species, as well as at-a-glance key facts. Includes detailed information on the shape of each genus, differences between the major classes, and more, this is the clearest identification e-guide to seashells for beginners and established enthusiasts alike.

A comprehensive description of the food resources, digestive systems and metabolisms of marsupials, first published in 1999.

How our collective intelligence has helped us to evolve and prosper Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.

Mollusks have been important to humans since our earliest days. Initially, when humans were primarily interested in what they could eat or use, mollusks were important as food, ornaments, and materials for tools. Over the centuries, as human knowledge branched out and individuals started to study the world around them, mollusks were important subjects for learning how things worked. In this volume, the editors and contributors have brought together a broad range of topics within the field of malacology. It is our expectation that these topics will be of interest and use to amateur and professional malacologists.

Seastars are some of the most beautiful and intriguing animals living in our oceans. Their shapes, diversity of colours, sizes and surface patterns are unique and amazing. Found from the deep sea to the shallow waters of intertidal areas, these 'stars of the sea' are often encountered by swimmers, snorkellers and divers, or even washed up on shore after storms and wild seas. This comprehensive guide covers over 200 species of shallow water seastars found in Australia, how to identify them, where they live, what they eat, when and how they reproduce, and many other fascinating aspects of their biology.

Reef Fishes is full of the most beautiful fish on the Great Barrier Reef. It reveals, with illustrated photographs and information, these breathtaking creatures, which not only bring movement and beauty to the reef, but are protectors and housekeepers of this amazing world.This book highlights the roles the fish play in the ecosystem. In the tropical coral reefs the coral cays, around the islands, in the mangroves, the sea grass beds and the estuaries the fish are helping Also included are other reef life such as turtles, sharks and stingrays.

Many people recognise the beauty and diversity of plant and animal communities in Australia's tropical seas, particularly those along the Great Barrier Reef. By contrast, relatively few know about the immense variety along the southern half of the continent. Now in soft cover, this book describes 1,450 of the most commonly seen plants and animals of the region and includes notes on their habitat and distribution; 1,500 full colour photographs and a wealth of information for academic biologists, divers, beachcombers

This title in New Holland s award-winning Green Guides series investigates the ever-popular subject of Australia s trees and shrubs, celebrating the beauty, great diversity and unique evolution of the country s forests.The structure of this book is similar to that of other titles in the series.Fact panels cover interesting aspects of the subject.Questions answered include:what is the difference between a tree and a shrub? what age can Australian trees reach?how tall do trees grow in Australia?and how many species of trees and shrubs exist in Australia? to name just a few.Other sections look at how trees reproduce and how they evolved.Identification spreads cover all the key species and families which occur across Australia, including many species of conifers, eucalypts and wattles/acacias.There are sections on how to identify bottlebrushes, banksias, casuarinas, grevilleas, figs, laurels and many others, including many of the trees and shrubs found in Australia s species-rich rainforests.The many beautiful images are taken from the author s own collection which has been built up over many decades.