Back in the Jurassic, dinosaurs may have dominated terrestrial ecosystems, but they were not alone. Scurrying around their feet and clinging to the trees above them were the fuzzy ancestors of their successors. When most of the dinosaurs perished, the surviving mammals diversified into the dinosaurs' niches, where they remain today. Last month, scientists reported on the discovery of a fossil mammal from China that would have lived alongside the dinosaurs and that, at 160 million years old, represents one of the earliest mammals known.

Scientists discover new species all the time, but usually these new species are microbes, plants, insects, and other forms of non-vertebrate life. Few vertebrate species have thus far evaded the curious gaze of biologists intent on understanding the diversity of life on Earth - that is, unless the vertebrate in question happens to be very, very tiny. Last month, scientists announced the discovery of not one, but four miniscule lizard species. The smallest of these new chameleons, which live in the far north of the African island of Madagascar and inhabit leaf litter, reaches an adult body size of just two centimeters.

The evolutionary tree presented focuses on relationships among the ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). You can click on the colored logos to read about evolutionary innovations and see lists of characteristics that evolved in different lineages. Note that this tree has been pruned to focus on certain groups of interest.

This month, biologists reported that a bacterial infection has run rampant in populations of a major crop pest in the Southwest. The bacterium (called Rickettsia) is a close relative of the species that causes typhus in humans. Its host is the sweet potato whitefly, a tiny bug that can occur in large enough numbers to form visible clouds. Whiteflies suck the sap from plants and spread crop diseases, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in a single season. In just a few years, the percentage of southwestern whiteflies infected with Rickettsia has skyrocketed from 1% to more than 90%. Unfortunately, this is not the boon for local farmers that it might seem.

On the 28th of April 2012 the contents of the English as well as German Wikibooks and Wikipedia
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Contributors on page 169. The licenses GPL, LGPL and GFDL are included in chapter Licenses on
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The word biology means, "the science of life", from the Greek bios, life, and logos, word or knowledge. Therefore, Biology is the science of Living Things. That is why Biology is sometimes known as Life Science.

Wikibooks is a collaborative book authoring website, where users from all over the world work together to write textbooks and other types of instructional books on many topics. It is a Wikimedia project, operated by the same group of people who run Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation. You can edit this page, and almost all pages like it, at any time. That is the basic principle of Wikibooks: anyone can edit it.

Currently, many academic institutions are using one or more variations of online modalities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and science educators face a unique challenge with distance-learning laboratories. Many resources to engage students in virtual, interactive laboratory activities exist, but we found that high costs and/or overlooked content left gaps for several topics typically taught in a general, introductory biology course for undergraduate biology majors (e.g., organismal biology). Additionally, resources for an online lab must be identified and curated from multiple sources, requiring intense demands on the instructors’ time. To meet this need and to overcome the financial burden of high-cost lab manuals or software, we developed, piloted, and revised a series of online general biology lab exercises. We have published these exercises as an Open Educational Resource (OER) digital laboratory manual under the Creative Commons License Agreement, and they are accessible online via Manifold, Creative Commons, and the CUNY Academic Works portal.

Short Description:
Welcome to the wonderful world of microbiology! Yay! So. What is microbiology? If we break the word down it translates to “the study of small life,” where the small life refers to microorganisms or microbes. But who are the microbes? And how small are they? Data dashboard

Word Count: 39859

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

This lab manual for General Zoology was created under a Round Twelve ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. The manual contains six individual labs to be completed within a laboratory, along with a collection project to be completed outdoors with an instructor.

Topics include:

Classification and Evolution
The Planaria Project
Introduction to Invertebrates
Introduction to Chordates
Vertebrates Continued

Whizzing down the interstate, the sounds that concern most of us include the radio's tuning, conversation with our fellow passengers, and, of course, the ominous howl of a siren approaching from behind. But just outside the car door, the soundscape is quite different. On busy thoroughfares, traffic noise approximates a non-stop, low-pitched roar that necessitates shouting to communicate if one is unlucky enough to need to change a tire at the side of the road. Now, new research shows that it is not just humans who strain to be heard over the din of a highway ...

Short Description:
Based on over 20 years of teaching experience in animal nutrition, this study guide will enhance learning basic food animal nutritional principles. In this introductory text, six fundamental nutrients, their structure, digestion, and metabolism are covered. A brief introduction to bioenergetics, feed additives, nutrient analysis, digestive organs and processes in monogastric and ruminant animals, and methods for assessing nutrient utilization are also included. Each chapter is illustrated with a new terms box, key points, and review questions. This study guide is an essential learning tool for undergraduate students majoring in animal sciences, veterinary medicine, or other related disciplines. Data dashboard

Word Count: 48878

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

An introduction to concepts of program planning for health education in the community. Program development, implementation, and evaluation of currently functioning community health education programs.

Short Description:
History and Science of Cultivated Plants narrates how humans transitioned from foragers to farmers and have arrived at present-day industrial agriculture-based civilization. It entails myths, historical accounts, and scientific concepts to describe how human efforts have shaped and produced easier to grow, larger, tastier, and more nutritious fruits, vegetables, and grains from wild plants. Using examples of various economically and socially important crops central to human civilization, the book describes the origin of crop plants, the evolution of agricultural practices, fundamental concepts of natural selection vs. domestication, experimental and methodical plant breeding, and plant biotechnology. Data dashboard

Word Count: 48729

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Revised Edition

Short Description:
'How To Do Science' has been written for students of the life sciences who are actively engaged in the scientific process. This guide introduces you to what it means to be a scientist. You will learn about the scientific method and how to carry out many tasks of a scientist, including: designing experiments, visualising data, accessing scientific literature, communicating science, and writing literature reviews.

Long Description:
How To Do Science has been written for students of the life sciences who are actively engaged in the scientific process. This guide introduces you to what it means to be a scientist. You will learn about the scientific method and how to carry out many tasks of a scientist, including: • designing experiments to test a hypothesis • performing simple statistics • visualising data by creating graphs and tables • accessing scientific literature, and using referencing software • communicating findings from original investigations through research papers, posters and oral presentations • writing literature reviews and summaries • communicating science to the non-expert audience

Word Count: 34892

ISBN: 978-0-6453261-3-0

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

How to do science: a guide to researching human physiology has been written for students of the life sciences who are actively engaged in the scientific process. A lot of support is available for students learning scientific facts, but we found that it was harder to find resources to support students to become scientists.

This ebook introduces you to what it means to be a scientist. You will learn about the scientific method and how to do many tasks of a scientist, your roles and responsibilities as a scientist as well as possible career paths, and how to use your skills as a science graduate to get a leg up in the job market.

This text is published by the La Trobe eBureau.

The purpose of this textbook is to serve as a resource for students who are taking a first semester human anatomy course. All efforts were made to ensure the material covered in this resource is consistent, accurate, and accessible. This material was also designed to be equitable, diverse, and inclusive.