Reproductive fitness

Fülszöveg

Reproductive fitness
Contents
1 Reproductive strategies R. M. May and D. I. Rubenstein
2 Species differences in reproductive mechanisms R. V. Short
3 Genetics and reproduction R. B. Land
4 The environment and reproduction B. K. Follett
5 Reproductive behaviour E. B. Keverne
6 Immunological factors in reproductive fitness N. J. Alexander and D. J. Anderson
7 Reproductive senescence C. E. Adams
In this, our second edition of Reproduction in mammals, we are responding to numerous requests for a more up-to-date and rather more detailed treatment of the subject. The first edition was accorded an excellent reception, but the Books 1 to 5 were written twelve years ago and inevitably there have been advances on many fronts since then. As before, the manner of presentation is intended to make the subject matter interesting to read and readily comprehensible to undergraduates in the biological sciences, and yet with sufficient depth to provide a valued source of information to... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Reproductive fitness
Contents
1 Reproductive strategies R. M. May and D. I. Rubenstein
2 Species differences in reproductive mechanisms R. V. Short
3 Genetics and reproduction R. B. Land
4 The environment and reproduction B. K. Follett
5 Reproductive behaviour E. B. Keverne
6 Immunological factors in reproductive fitness N. J. Alexander and D. J. Anderson
7 Reproductive senescence C. E. Adams
In this, our second edition of Reproduction in mammals, we are responding to numerous requests for a more up-to-date and rather more detailed treatment of the subject. The first edition was accorded an excellent reception, but the Books 1 to 5 were written twelve years ago and inevitably there have been advances on many fronts since then. As before, the manner of presentation is intended to make the subject matter interesting to read and readily comprehensible to undergraduates in the biological sciences, and yet with sufficient depth to provide a valued source of information to graduates engaged in both teaching and research. Our authors have been selected from among the best known in their respective fields.
Book 4 pays particular attention to genetic, environmental, behavioural and immunological mechanisms that can contribute to an animal's overall reproductive fitness, through which natural selection must ultimately operate. Mammals have developed a spectacular array of reproductive adaptations in order to meet the demands of a wide variety of different environmental settings, from ocean depths to arid deserts and snow-capped mountain peaks. The reproductive system has had to obey certain design constraints imposed by the animal's body size: small species with short lifespans can reproduce extremely rapidly, whereas the long-lived large animals must reproduce slowly. This fact has had profound repercussions on the development of the entire reproductive system, and is reflected also in the phenomenon of reproductive ageing. Vissza