In addition to exploring the organismal, cellular and molecular aspects of animal development, the 6th edition of "Developmental Biology" expands its coverage of both the environmental regulation of developmental and evolutionary biology. New features include full-colour illustrations, references, indexes (subject, author and website) and chapter summaries. An associated website [http://zygote.swarthmore.edu/index.html] is cross-referenced throughout the text, providing more information for advanced students, historical, philosophical and ethical perspectives on issues in developmental biology, movies, interviews, web links and updates. There is an accompanying CD-ROM which takes the student through the developmental cycles of a number of the model organisms used in developmental biology and illustrates techniques used in studying these organisms. Features include over 130 interative videos and 300 labelled photographs, study questions, web links and numerous "how to" sections giving instructions on experimental techniques.

Table of Contents

Part I Principles of developmental biology: the scope of developmental biology - developmental anatomy; life cycles and the evolution of developmental patterns; fundamentals of experimental embryology; genes and development - introduction, techniques, and ethical issues; the genetic core of development - differential care expression; cell-cell communication in development. Part II Early embryonic development: fertilization; early development of invertebrates; genetics of axis specification in "drosophila"; early development of vertebrates - amphibians; early development of vertebrates - fish, birds, and mammals. Part III Later embryonic development: the central nervous system and the epidermis; the neural crest and axonal guidance; dorsal and paraxial mesoderm; lateral mesoderm and endoderm; limb development; sex determination; reinitiating development - regeneration and metamorphosis; the saga of the germ line. Part IV Ramifications of developmental biology: plant development; ecological developmental biology; evolutionary biology.