Main description:

Reproduction is a fundamental feature of life, it is the way life persists across the ages. This book offers new, wider vistas on this fundamental biological phenomenon, exploring how it works through the whole tree of life. It explores facets such as asexual reproduction, parthenogenesis, sex determination and reproductive investment, with a taxonomic coverage extended over all the main groups - animals, plants including 'algae', fungi, protists and bacteria. It collates into one volume perspectives from varied disciplines - including zoology, botany, microbiology, genetics, cell biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, animal and plant physiology, and ethology - integrating information into a common language. Crucially, the book aims to identify the commonalties among reproductive phenomena, while demonstrating the diversity even amongst closely related taxa. Its integrated approach makes this a valuable reference book for students and researchers, as well as an effective entry point for deeper study on specific topics.

Contents:

Preface; Figure credits; Introduction; 1. Introductory concepts; 2. Reproduction and life cycle; 3. The natural history of reproduction; 4. Parental investment; 5. Genetics and cytogenetics of reproduction; 6. Determination of sex and mating type; 7. Reproduction - a taxonomic survey; Coda; Appendix - a classification of living organisms; References; Index to taxa; Subject index.