Contents: VERTEBRATE DIVERSITY, FUNCTION, AND EVOLUTION. The Diversity, Evolution, and Classification of Vertebrates. The Origin of Vertebrates. Vertebrate Organ Systems and Their Evolution. Homeostasis and Energetics: Water Balance, Temperature Regulation, and Energy Use. Geography and Ecology from the Cambrian to the Mid-Devonian. AQUATIC VERTEBRATES: CARTILAGINOUS AND BONY FISHES. Earliest Vertebrates. The Rise of Jawed Vertebrates and the Radiation of the Chondrichthyes. Dominating Life in Water: Teleostomes and the Major Radiation of Fishes. Geography and Ecology from the Mid-Devonian to Late Permian. TERRESTRIAL ECTOTHERMS: AMPHIBIANS, TURTLES, CROCODILIANS, AND SQUAMATES. Origin and Radiation of Tetrapods in the Late Paleozoic. Salamanders, Anurans, and Caecilians. Turtles. Mesozoic Diapsids: Nounavian Dinosaurs, Birds, Crocodilians, and Others. Geography and Ecology of the Mesozoic. The Lepidosaurs: Tuatara, Lizards, Amphisbaenians, and Snakes. Ectothermy: A Low-Cost Approach to Life. TERRESTRIAL ENDOTHERMS: BIRDS AND MAMMALS. Characteristics of Birds: Specializations for Flight. The Ecology and Behaviour of Birds. The Synapsida and the Evolution of Mammals. Geography and Ecology of the Cenozoic. Characteristics of Mammals. Endothermy: A High-Energy Approach to Life. Body Size, Ecology and Sociality of Mammals. Humans as Vertebrates.
