1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910163250703321

Autore

Yogananda Paramahansa

Titolo

Autobiography of a yogi / / Paramahansa Yogananda

Pubbl/distr/stampa

[New York, New York] : , : Sheba Blake Publishing, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

1-312-87134-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1404 p.)

Disciplina

294.5092

Soggetti

Yogis - India

Yogis

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Sommario/riassunto

Will update



2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910298307403321

Autore

Lingham-Soliar Theagarten

Titolo

The Vertebrate IntegumentVolume 1 : Origin and Evolution / / by Theagarten Lingham-Soliar

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berlin, Heidelberg : , : Springer Berlin Heidelberg : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2014

ISBN

3-642-53748-0

Edizione

[1st ed. 2014.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (276 p.)

Disciplina

560

570

571.3/16

573.516

Soggetti

Vertebrates

Evolution (Biology)

Paleontology

Evolutionary Biology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- The First Vertebrates, Jawless Fishes, the Agnathans -- The Earliest Jawed Vertebrates, the Gnathostomes -- Evolution of Modern Fishes: Critical Biological Innovations -- Tetrapods and the Invasion of Land -- Crucial Vertebrate Innovations -- The Dinosaur Integument -- Mammal-like Reptiles -- Reptiles Return to the Sea.

Sommario/riassunto

The vertebrate integument arose about 450 million years ago as an ‘armour’ of dermal bony plates in small, jawless fish-like creatures, informally known as the ostracoderms. This book reviews the major changes that have occurred in the vertebrate integument from its beginnings to the present day. Critical questions concerning the origin, structure and functional biology of the bony integument are discussed and intrinsically linked to major steps in vertebrate evolution and phylogeny—the origin of jaws and the origin of teeth. The discussions include the origins of mineralization of major vertebrate skeletal components such as the dermatocranium, branchial arches and vertebral column. The advances that led to the origin of modern fishes



and their phylogenetic development are reviewed and include the evolution of fins and replacement of the bony plates with several types of dermal scales. The evolution of reptiles saw a major transformation of the integument, with the epidermis becoming the protective outermost layer, from which the scales arose, while the dermis lay below it.  The biological significance of the newly-evolved β-keratin in reptilian scales, among the toughest natural materials known, is discussed in the context of its major contribution to the great success of reptiles and to the evolution of feathers and avian flight. The dermis in many vertebrates is strengthened by layers of oppositely oriented cross-fibres, now firmly entrenched as a design principle of biomechanics. Throughout the book conventional ideas are discussed and a number of new hypotheses are presented in light of the latest developments. The long evolutionary history of vertebrates indicates that the significance of the Darwinian concept of “survival of the fittest” may be overstated, including in our own mammalian origins, and that chance often plays a major role in evolutionary patterns. Extensive illustrations are included to support the verbal descriptions. Professor Theagarten Lingham-Soliar is in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.