The invertebrates: a new synthesis. 2nd edition

This textbook integrates the systematic and functional approaches in studying the range, diversity and ways of working of invertebrates. Throughout, form and function are viewed from an evolutionary perspective. The book is divided into two main sections, on the invertebrate phyla and on invertebrate functional biology. In the first, parallel approaches to animal multicellularity are compared, before describing the known phyla and their living representatives. The essential characteristics of each group, lists of comparative diagnostic features and line drawings of the different forms are presented. A new section on animal-like protists is included. In the second half the unifying features of invertebrate functional anatomy, physiology and behaviour are considered as a basis for explaining how organisms have arrived at a range of solutions to different aspects of survival and reproduction. (The chapter on control systems is contributed by D.W.Golding). -J.W.Cooper