Chipman A. Organismic Animal Biology. An Evolutionary Approach 2024

Textbook in PDF format

Neither cellular/molecular nor ecosystem processes can be fully understood without a detailed understanding of the biology of the whole organism. Despite this, much of modern biology teaching tends to be focused on the cellular and molecular level, with the organism often neglected.
1 The hierarchical nature of biology
2 Species concepts and speciation
3 What is an organism? The simplest organisms
4 The concept of evolutionary change
5 Multicellularity
6 Porifera: The simplest multicellular organisms
7 Germ layers: Inside and out
8 Motility and symmetry
9 Diploblastic organisms: Cnidaria and Ctenophora
10 Colonial organisms and complex life cycles
11 An introduction to Bilateria
12 Sensory systems
13 Platyhelminthes
14 Parasitism
15 Mollusca
16 Skeletons and coeloms
17 Annelida
18 Segmental organization of the body
19 Size and complexity
20 Molting animals
21 Arthropoda I: General introduction and Chelicerata
22 Terrestrialization
23 Arthropoda II: Mandibulata
24 Transport and gas exchange systems
25 Embryogenesis
26 Echinodermata
27 Chordata and Hemichordata
28 Excretory systems
29 Vertebrate characteristics
30 Vertebrate diversity
31 Vertebrate organogenesis
32 Organismic biology in the twenty-first century