Reproductive Physiology of Vertebrates Book

This book is a completely revised and updated second edition of a highly praised volume that was first published in 1968. Taking into account recent conceptual and technical advances, the new edition examines and compares the reproductive mechanisms of different classes of vertebrates, from cyclostomes to humans, in a thorough and analytic manner.

Ari van Tienhoven is a uniquely qualified scientist with many years of research and teaching experience. His fourteen chaptesr cover sex determination, sexual development, intersexes, puberty, anatomy of the reproductive system, the testes, the ovary, reproductive cycles, insemination and fertilization, care of the embryo and fetus, expulsion of the oocyte, embryo, or fetus, reproduction and immunology, reproductive behavior, and environment and reproduction.

The author emphasizes the role of the H-Y antigen in determining the sex of animals and gives particular attention to the evolutionary aspects of intersexes in fish. He discusses the endocrinology of reproduction, and he also deals with the role of light in controlling the timing of reproductive activity. Many illustrations, tables, and references are included.

An important contribution to the fields of comparative endocrinology and reproduction, this book will be a valuable text for advanced undergraduate and gradate students and an irreplaceable reference for zoologists in general and for specialists in reproductive physiology.