This book discusses the diversity of mechanisms by which prey avoid attack by predators and questions how such defensive mechanisms have evolved through natural selection. It considers how potential prey avoid detection, how they make themselves unprofitable to attack, how they signal their unprofitability, and how other species have exploited these signals. Using carefully selected examples drawn from a wide range of species and ecosystems, the authors present a critical analysis of the most important published works in the field. Illustrative examples of camouflage, mimicry and warning signals regularly appear in undergraduate ecology textbooks, but these subjects are rarely considered in depth. This book summarizes some of the latest research into these fascinating adaptations, developing mathematical models where appropriate and making recommendations for the most urgently needed outstanding areas of enquiry.

Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry

Science & Math

Ruxton, Graeme D.

Sherratt, Thomas N.

Speed, Michael P.

Biological Sciences

Oxford University Press

This book discusses the diversity of mechanisms by which prey avoid attack by predators and questions how such defensive mechanisms have evolved through natural selection. It considers how potential prey avoid detection, how they make themselves unprofitable to attack, how they signal their unprofitability, and how other species have exploited these signals. Using carefully selected examples drawn from a wide range of species and ecosystems, the authors present a critical analysis of the most important published works in the field.  Illustrative examples of camouflage, mimicry and warning signals regularly appear in undergraduate ecology textbooks, but these subjects are rarely considered in depth. This book summarizes some of the latest research into these fascinating adaptations, developing mathematical models where appropriate and making recommendations for the most urgently needed outstanding areas of enquiry.

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution (Oxford Biology)

Why do we age? Why cooperate? Why do so many species engage in sex? Why do the tropics have so many species? When did humans start to affect world climate? This book provides an introduction to a range of fundamental questions that have taxed evolutionary biologists and ecologists for decades. Some of the phenomena discussed are, on first reflection, simply puzzling to understand from an evolutionary perspective, whilst others have direct implications for the future of the planet. All of the questions posed have at least a partial solution, all have seen exciting breakthroughs in recent years, yet many of the explanations continue to be hotly debated. Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution is a curiosity-driven book, written in an accessible way so as to appeal to a broad audience. It is very deliberately not a formal text book, but something designed to transmit the excitement and breadth of the field by discussing a number of major questions in ecology and evolution and how they have been answered. This is a book aimed at informing and inspiring anybody with an interest in ecology and evolution. It reveals to the reader the immense scope of the field, its fundamental importance, and the exciting breakthroughs that have been made in recent years.

Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution

Wilkinson, David M.

Why do we age? Why cooperate? Why do so many species engage in sex? Why do the tropics have so many species? When did humans start to affect world climate? This book provides an introduction to a range of fundamental questions that have taxed evolutionary biologists and ecologists for decades. Some of the phenomena discussed are, on first reflection, simply puzzling to understand from an evolutionary perspective, whilst others have direct implications for the future of the planet. All of the questions posed have at least a partial solution, all have seen exciting breakthroughs in recent years, yet many of the explanations continue to be hotly debated. Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution is a curiosity-driven book, written in an accessible way so as to appeal to a broad audience. It is very deliberately not a formal text book, but something designed to transmit the excitement and breadth of the field by discussing a number of major questions in ecology and evolution and how they have been answered. This is a book aimed at informing and inspiring anybody with an interest in ecology and evolution. It reveals to the reader the immense scope of the field, its fundamental importance, and the exciting breakthroughs that have been made in recent years.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Oxford University Press, USA

Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Aposematism, and Mimicry

Avoiding Attack discusses the diversity of mechanisms by which prey avoid predator attacks and explores how such defensive mechanisms have evolved through natural selection. It considers how potential prey avoid detection, how they make themselves unprofitable to attack, how they communicate this status, and how other species have exploited these signals. Using carefully selected examples of camouflage, mimicry, and warning signals drawn from a wide range of species and ecosystems, the authors summarise the latest research into these fascinating adaptations, developing mathematical models where appropriate and making recommendations for future study. This second edition has been extensively rewritten, particularly in the application of modern genetic research techniques which have transformed our recent understanding of adaptations in evolutionary genomics and phylogenetics. The book also employs a more integrated and systematic approach, ensuring that each chapter has a broader focus on the evolutionary and ecological consequences of anti-predator adaptation. The field has grown and developed considerably over the last decade with an explosion of new research literature, making this new edition timely.

Allen, William L.

Evolution

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Books by Sherratt, Thomas N.