Organismic Animal Biology: An Evolutionary Approach

Neither cellular/molecular nor ecosystem processes can be fully understood without a detailed understanding of the biology of the whole organism. This textbook provides a general conceptual framework for understanding the organismic level. It provides a broad overview of the diversity of animal life while concentrating on general organizational principles with a few, carefully chosen examples rather than providing exhaustive specific details. The book adopts two parallel tracks, with most chapters focusing on one or the other. The first follows the general principles of organismic biology and animal organization, starting with basic terminology and definitions in evolutionary biology before introducing the evolutionary framework of comparative biology. It then describes organizational principles and specific organ systems in a sequence of increasing complexity. The second track follows a phylogenetic journey, introducing the different animal phyla. Large phyla are given their own chapter with an overview of their common features and diversity.