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  • Animal Architecture

    Animal Architecture by Hansell, Mike;

    Series: Oxford Animal Biology Series;

      • GET 10% OFF

      • The discount is only available for 'Alert of Favourite Topics' newsletter recipients.
      • Publisher's listprice GBP 72.00
      • The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.

        34 398 Ft (32 760 Ft + 5% VAT)
      • Discount 10% (cc. 3 440 Ft off)
      • Discounted price 30 958 Ft (29 484 Ft + 5% VAT)

    34 398 Ft

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    Availability

    printed on demand

    Why don't you give exact delivery time?

    Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.

    Product details:

    • Publisher OUP Oxford
    • Date of Publication 27 January 2005

    • ISBN 9780198507529
    • Binding Paperback
    • No. of pages336 pages
    • Size 234x156x20 mm
    • Weight 607 g
    • Language English
    • Illustrations numerous halftones and line drawings
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    Categories

    Short description:

    A monograph on the biology of animal building, embracing all animal groups from simple invertebrates to primate toolmakers. It looks at the behavioural and anatomical equipment animals have in order to build, and the nature of the materials available to them. It examines how animal architects are able, singly or collectively, to produce complex structures often much larger than themselves. It also looks at the costs of building, the properties of completed structures, the ecological impact of them, and their effects on the evolution of animal builders.

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    Long description:

    Construction behaviour occurs across the entire spectrum of the animal kingdom and affects the survival of both builders and other organisms associated with them. Animal Architecture provides a comprehensive overview of the biology of animal building. The book recognizes three broad categories of built structure: homes, traps, and courtship displays. Even though some of these structures are complex and very large, the behaviour required to build them is generally simple and the anatomy for building unspecialized. Standardization of building materials helps to keep building repertoires simple, while self-organizing effects help create complexity. In a case-study approach to function, insects demonstrate how homes can remain operational while they grow, spiderwebs illustrate mechanical design, and the displays of bowerbirds raise the possibility of persuasion through design rather than just decoration. Studies of the costs to builders provide evidence of optimal designs and of trade-offs with other life history traits. As ecosystem engineers, the influence of builders is extensive and their effect is generally to enhance biodiversity through niche construction. Animal builders can therefore represent model species for the study of the emerging subject of environmental inheritance. Building, and in particular building with silk, has been demonstrated to have important evolutionary consequences.
    This book is intended for students and researchers in comparative animal biology, but will also be of relevance and use to the increasing numbers of architects and civil engineers interested in developing ideas from the animal kingdom.

    Hansells long-held enthusiasm for the subject comes across in an easily read scholarly style. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, December 2005.

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    Table of Contents:

    Functions
    Building materials: nature, origins, and processing
    Behaviour and anatomy
    Work organization and building complexity
    Mechanics, growth, and design
    Building costs, optimal solutions, and trade-offs
    Animal architects as ecosystem engineers
    Evolution

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