Metazoa

Metazoa
Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages : 352
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780374720186
ISBN-13 : 0374720185
Rating : 4/5 (86 Downloads)

Synopsis Metazoa by : Peter Godfrey-Smith

"Enthralling . . . breathtaking . . . Metazoa brings an extraordinary and astute look at our own mind’s essential link to the animal world." —The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "A great book . . . [Godfrey-Smith is] brilliant at describing just what he sees, the patterns of behaviour of the animals he observes." —Nigel Warburton, Five Books The scuba-diving philosopher who wrote Other Minds explores the origins of animal consciousness Dip below the ocean’s surface and you are soon confronted by forms of life that could not seem more foreign to our own: sea sponges, soft corals, and serpulid worms, whose rooted bodies, intricate geometry, and flower-like appendages are more reminiscent of plant life or even architecture than anything recognizably animal. Yet these creatures are our cousins. As fellow members of the animal kingdom—the Metazoa—they can teach us much about the evolutionary origins of not only our bodies, but also our minds. In his acclaimed 2016 book, Other Minds, the philosopher and scuba diver Peter Godfrey-Smith explored the mind of the octopus—the closest thing to an intelligent alien on Earth. In Metazoa, Godfrey-Smith expands his inquiry to animals at large, investigating the evolution of subjective experience with the assistance of far-flung species. As he delves into what it feels like to perceive and interact with the world as other life-forms do, Godfrey-Smith shows that the appearance of the animal body well over half a billion years ago was a profound innovation that set life upon a new path. In accessible, riveting prose, he charts the ways that subsequent evolutionary developments—eyes that track, for example, and bodies that move through and manipulate the environment—shaped the subjective lives of animals. Following the evolutionary paths of a glass sponge, soft coral, banded shrimp, octopus, and fish, then moving onto land and the world of insects, birds, and primates like ourselves, Metazoa gathers their stories together in a way that bridges the gap between mind and matter, addressing one of the most vexing philosophical problems: that of consciousness. Combining vivid animal encounters with philosophical reflections and the latest news from biology, Metazoa reveals that even in our high-tech, AI-driven times, there is no understanding our minds without understanding nerves, muscles, and active bodies. The story that results is as rich and vibrant as life itself.

The Early Evolution of Metazoa and the Significance of Problematic Taxa

The Early Evolution of Metazoa and the Significance of Problematic Taxa
Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780521402422
ISBN-13 : 0521402425
Rating : 4/5 (22 Downloads)

Synopsis The Early Evolution of Metazoa and the Significance of Problematic Taxa by : Alberto M. Simonetta

This book embraces general problems of animal classification of animals and new information on their molecular sequences.

Origin and Evolution of Metazoan Cell Types

Origin and Evolution of Metazoan Cell Types
Author :
Publisher : CRC Press
Total Pages : 136
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781315388205
ISBN-13 : 1315388200
Rating : 4/5 (05 Downloads)

Synopsis Origin and Evolution of Metazoan Cell Types by : Sally Leys

The evolution of animal diversity is strongly affected by the origin of novel cell and tissue types and their interactions with each other. Understanding the evolution of cell types will shed light on the evolution of novel structures, and in turn highlight how animals diversified. Several cell types may also have been lost as animals simplified – for example did sponges have nerves and lose them? This book reveals the interplay between gains and losses and provides readers with a better grasp of the evolutionary history of cell types. In addition, the book illustrates how new cell types allow a better understanding permitting the discrimination between convergence and homology.

The Evolution of the Metazoa

The Evolution of the Metazoa
Author :
Publisher : Legare Street Press
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1019252111
ISBN-13 : 9781019252116
Rating : 4/5 (11 Downloads)

Synopsis The Evolution of the Metazoa by : J. Hadzi

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Key Transitions in Animal Evolution

Key Transitions in Animal Evolution
Author :
Publisher : CRC Press
Total Pages : 439
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781439854020
ISBN-13 : 1439854025
Rating : 4/5 (20 Downloads)

Synopsis Key Transitions in Animal Evolution by : Rob Desalle

Tackling one of the most difficult and delicate of the evolutionary questions, this challenging book summarizes the more recent results in phylogenetics and developmental biology that address the evolution of key innovations in metazoans. Divided into three sections, the first considers the phylogenetic issues involving this area of the tree of lif

The Choanoflagellates

The Choanoflagellates
Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Total Pages : 331
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780521884440
ISBN-13 : 0521884446
Rating : 4/5 (40 Downloads)

Synopsis The Choanoflagellates by : Barry S. C. Leadbeater

A unique account of the biology, ecology and evolution of choanoflagellates - the closest, known, living, unicellular relatives of animals.

Deep Metazoan Phylogeny: The Backbone of the Tree of Life

Deep Metazoan Phylogeny: The Backbone of the Tree of Life
Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages : 764
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783110277524
ISBN-13 : 3110277522
Rating : 4/5 (24 Downloads)

Synopsis Deep Metazoan Phylogeny: The Backbone of the Tree of Life by : J. Wolfgang Wägele

The growing success of molecular methods has challenged traditional views of animal evolution and a large number of alternative hypotheses are hotly debated today. For the deep metazoan phylogeny project, data sets of hitherto unmatched quality and quantity were compiled and analysed with innovative bioinformatics tools. The book begins at the base of the tree of life to discuss the origin of animals and early branches of the phylogenetic tree. The following section presents special data sets gained from mitochondrial genomes and from morphology, with a focus on nervous systems. The final section is dedicated to theoretical aspects of data analysis and new bioinformatics tools. The book closes with a unique general discussion of all hypotheses contained in previous chapters. This work provides the most comprehensive overview available of the state of the art in this exciting field of evolutionary research.

The Crucible of Creation

The Crucible of Creation
Author :
Publisher : Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 286
Release :
ISBN-10 : UCSD:31822023066681
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (81 Downloads)

Synopsis The Crucible of Creation by : Simon Conway Morris

Paleontologist Simon Conway Morris provides a guided tour of the world's richest treasure trove of fossils--a fantastically rich deposit of bizarre and bewildering Cambrain fossils, located in Western Canada. 4 plates. 90 linecuts.

Sponges (Porifera)

Sponges (Porifera)
Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages : 273
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783642555190
ISBN-13 : 3642555195
Rating : 4/5 (90 Downloads)

Synopsis Sponges (Porifera) by : Werner E. G. Müller

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are known to be very rich sources for bioactive compounds, mainly secondary metabolites. Main efforts are devoted to cell- and mariculture of sponges to assure a sustainable exploitation of bioactive compounds from biological starting material. These activities are flanked by improved technologies to cultivate bacteria and fungi which are associated with the sponges. It is the hope that by elucidating the strategies of interaction between microorganisms and their host (sponge), by modern cell and molecular biological methods, a more comprehensive cultivation of the symbiotic organisms will be possible. The next step in the transfer of knowledge to biotechnological applications is the isolation, characterization and structural determination of the bioactive compounds by sophisticated chemical approaches.

Molecular Evolution: Towards the Origin of Metazoa

Molecular Evolution: Towards the Origin of Metazoa
Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages : 191
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783642722363
ISBN-13 : 3642722369
Rating : 4/5 (63 Downloads)

Synopsis Molecular Evolution: Towards the Origin of Metazoa by : Werner E.G. Müller

Recently, new genes and their proteins that revealed striking new insights into the early evolution of multicellular animals have been identified and characterized from members of the lowest metazoan phylum, the porifera (sponges). The unexpected result was that the sequences obtained from sponge displayed high similarity to those found in higher metazoa; in consequence, it was concluded that during the transition from protozoa to metazoa the major structural and regulatory proteins evolved only once. The data gathered are now powerful arguments to establish monophyly of metazoa; in addition, new insights on the evolutionary diversification of metazoa were obtained.