This new volume of Current Topics in Developmental Biology covers recent progresses in our understanding of animal metamorphosis. Over a dozen of leading experts reviews studies ranging from morphological, molecular to genetic analyses of metamorphosis in a broad spectrum of animals, including insects, fish. Topics include molecular evolution in metamorphosis, the synthesis and function of hormones in regulating metamorphic timing and rate, regulation and function of nuclear hormone receptors, neuroendocrine control of metamorphosis, tissue specific metamorphic events such as autophagy and stem cell development, and applications of genome-wide analysis technologies for studying metamorphosis. - First comprehensive review of the metamorphosis in diverse animal species by leading experts in the field - Covers a broad range of subjects: from morphological changes, molecular and genetic studies, to cutting-edge technologies for metamorphic studies; from systematic changes to tissue specific events, such as autophagy and stem cell development, which are areas of enormous interest in contemporary biomedical research - Serves as a reference book for undergraduate and graduate students in fields across biology and biomedicine

Insect Metamorphosis: From Natural History to Regulation of Development and Evolution explores the origin of metamorphosis, how it evolved, and how it is it regulated. The book discusses insect metamorphosis as a key innovation in insect evolution. With most of the present biodiversity on Earth composed of metamorphosing insects—approximately 1 million species currently described, with another 10-30 million still waiting to be discovered, the book delves into misconceptions and past treatments. In addition, the topic of integrating insect metamorphosis into the theory of evolution by natural selection as noted by Darwin in his On the Origin of Species is also discussed. Users will find this to be a comprehensive and updated review on insect metamorphosis, covering biological, physiological and molecular facets, with an emphasis on evolutionary aspects. - Features updated knowledge from the past decade on the mechanisms of action of juvenile hormone, the main doorkeeper of insect metamorphosis - Aids researchers in entomology or developmental biology dealing with specialized aspects of metamorphosis - Provides applied entomologists with recently updated data, especially on regulation, to better face the problems of pest control and management - Gives general evolutionary biologists context on the process of metamorphosis in its larger scope

We are all fascinated by the mystery of metamorphosis – of the caterpillar that transforms itself into a butterfly. Their bodies have almost nothing in common. They don’t share the same world: one crawls on the ground and the other flutters its wings in the air. And yet they are one and the same life. Emanuele Coccia argues that metamorphosis – the phenomenon that allows the same life to subsist in disparate bodies – is the relationship that binds all species together and unites the living with the non-living. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, plants, animals: they are all one and the same life. Each species, including the human species, is the metamorphosis of all those that preceded it – the same life, cobbling together a new body and a new form in order to exist differently. And there is no opposition between the living and the non-living: life is always the reincarnation of the non-living, a carnival of the telluric substance of a planet – the Earth – that continually draws new faces and new ways of being out of even the smallest particle of its disparate body. By highlighting what joins humans together with other forms of life, Coccia’s brilliant reflection on metamorphosis encourages us to abandon our view of the human species as static and independent and to recognize instead that we are part of a much larger and interconnected form of life.

This book gathers current data on the two types of fish metamorphoses and their endocrine controls. It will be of interest for fish biologists as well as comparative physiologists and endocrinologists. Metamorphosis is a major developmental phase characterized by morphological and physiological changes. It prepares organisms for a drastic shift in habitat and behavior. Among vertebrates, besides the well-known larval metamorphosis in amphibians, two types of metamorphosis are also described in the life cycle of some fish species. Larval metamorphosis, also called first metamorphosis or true metamorphosis, is encountered in lampreys, representative species of basal vertebrates as well as in some teleost groups, elopomorphs and pleuronectiforms, and possibly also in some other teleost species. Secondary metamorphosis occurs in juveniles of some diadromic migratory teleosts, such as salmons and eels, and compared to larval metamorphosis, involves less drastic morphological changes.

The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life is the first comprehensive guide to animals in the ancient world, encompassing all aspects of the topic by featuring authoritative chapters on 33 topics by leading scholars in their fields. As well as an introduction to, and a survey of, each topic, it provides guidance on further reading for those who wish to study a particular area in greater depth. Both the realities and the more theoretical aspects of the treatment of animals in ancient times are covered in chapters which explore the domestication of animals, animal husbandry, animals as pets, Aesop's Fables, and animals in classical art and comedy, all of which closely examine the nature of human-animal interaction. More abstract and philosophical topics are also addressed, including animal communication, early ideas on the origin of species, and philosophical vegetarianism and the notion of animal rights.

How does a caterpillar transform into a butterfly, or plankton-feeding larvae grow into gorgeous sea stars? Metamorphosis has captivated our imagination for thousands of years. Yet it remains, largely, a mystery. Award-winning author Frank Ryan delves into that mystery with the keen eye of a scientist, the skill of an expert storyteller, and the tenacity of a detective tracking down one of science's least-understood phenomena.

Nonhuman figures are ubiquitous in the work of Franz Kafka, from his early stories down to his very last one. Despite their prominence throughout his oeuvre, Kafka’s animal representations have been considered first and foremost as mere allegories of intrahuman matters. In recent years, the allegorization of Kafka’s animals has been poetically dismissed by Kafka’s commentators and politically rejected by posthumanist scholars. Such critique, however, has yet to inspire either an overarching or an interdiscursive account. This book aims to fill this lacuna. Positing animal stories as a distinct and significant corpus within Kafka’s entire poetics, and closely examining them in dialogue with both literary and posthumanist analysis, Kafka’s Zoopoetics critically revisits animality, interspecies relations, and the very human-animal contradistinction in the writings of Franz Kafka. Kafka’s animals typically stand at the threshold between humanity and animality, fusing together human and nonhuman features. Among his liminal creatures we find a human transformed into vermin (in “The Metamorphosis”), an ape turned into a human being (in “A Report to an Academy”), talking jackals (in “Jackals and Arabs”), a philosophical dog (in “Researches of a Dog”), a contemplative mole-like creature (in “The Burrow”), and indiscernible beings (in “Josefine, the Singer or the Mouse People”). Depicting species boundaries as mutable and obscure, Kafka creates a fluid human-animal space, which can be described as “humanimal.” The constitution of a humanimal space radically undermines the stark barrier between human and other animals, dictated by the anthropocentric paradigm. Through denying animalistic elements in humans, and disavowing the agency of nonhuman animals, excluding them from social life, and neutralizing compassion for them, this barrier has been designed to regularize both humanity and animality. The contextualization of Kafka's animals within posthumanist theory engenders a post-anthropocentric arena, which is simultaneously both imagined and very real.

Innovative advice for leading with grit and humanity This inspirational guide by Robin R. Ganzert, PhD, president and CEO of one of the most renowned charities in America, will equip you with the leadership tools you need to increase your business revenue and efficiency dramatically, all while effecting positive change in the world. When Dr. Ganzert took over the struggling animal safety and welfare non-profit American Humane, she performed a fiscal and brand rescue, and the organization was reborn. In Mission Metamorphosis, Dr. Ganzert presents the inventive techniques she employed to revamp American Humane, turning it into a top-rated charity and honoring its historic legacy. She also offers concrete information for creating your own success story, including how to: • Be a moral and ethical leader • Achieve programmatic success • Keep a brand fresh and relevant • Promote constructive change in the community • Tackle new problems with new solutions • Bring in revenue every single day By mixing engaging stories of animal rescue with prescriptive methods for growing and maintaining your business, Dr. Ganzert provides the motivation and tools required for you and your organization to survive and thrive.

Franz Kafka, the author has very nicely narrated the story of Gregou Samsa who wakes up one day to discover that he has metamorphosed into a bug. The book concerns itself with the themes of alienation and existentialism. The author has written many important stories, including ‘The Judgement’, and much of his novels ‘Amerika’, ‘The Castle’, ‘The Hunger Artist’. Many of his stories were published during his lifetime but many were not. Over the course of the 1920s and 30s Kafka’s works were published and translated instantly becoming landmarks of twentieth-century literature. Ironically, the story ends on an optimistic note, as the family puts itself back together. The style of the book epitomizes Kafka’s writing. Kafka very interestingly, used to present an impossible situation, such as a man’s transformation into an insect, and develop the story from there with perfect realism and intense attention to detail. The Metamorphosis is an autobiographical piece of writing, and we find that parts of the story reflect Kafka’s own life.