Customer Reviews

Invertebrate Zoology

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Ruppert and Barnes' text, now in its 6th edition sets the standard for invertebrate zoology texts. The authors provide adequate depth for undergraduate courses in invertebrate zoology, and good fodder for graduate students starting in the discipline as well.

There are outstanding collections of line drawings in the text -- a method of illustration I prefer to photographs for most instructional purposes.

There is good coverage of invertebrate animal groups, but, since it's published in 1994, there are a few places where the book is becoming dated. There is, for example, no information about the Cycliophora, the latest invertebrate phyla to be proposed.

I hope that there will continue to be new editions of this text produced. I cut my teeth on the 3rd edition, and other editions have figured prominently as I have worked through my graduate and professional careers.

Top-notch material. If you are considering which text to select for an invertebrate zoology course, I urge you to give this book a look.

A modern replacement of Libby Hyman's classic series, but, even so, is now beoming out of date because of the rapid advances in molecular biology. Dr. Barnes is deceased and I understand that Dr. Ruppert has no plans to update the book, a horrendous undertaking. Nevertheless, I know of no substitute for this fine text. Readers should also refer to Margulis & Schwartz "Five Kingdoms".

The text of choice for my marine invertebrates field course, I have referred back to the worn pages of this book again and again in numerous courses. Even after finishing my degree, this book remains my favourite while my copies of Brusca & Brusca and Pechenick remain untouched.

It should be noted that in these days of daily advances and discoveries, especially in the realm of molecular biology, that textbook phylogenies should generally not be trusted. Ruppert and Barnes is no different, and relationships should be found in the most recent literature (and still taken with a huge grain of salt :) ).

This text is the most comprehensive yet easy to read book on invertebrates out there. Using an evolutionary approach, it begins with the simplest organisms and ends with the most complex. Reproduction, organ systems, and lifestyle are discussed in detail giving the reader a functional view of a continuum of simple to complex nervous systems, digestive systems and locomotive and reproductive life styles. This book explains invertebrate zoology using techniques and concepts that can be used to study most biology topics in a systematic fashion. It is a must own for any undergraduate or post graduate!!!

This 1994 edition contains references and drawings of Burgess shale organisms. Some cladograms reflect RNA nucleotide sequencing; however, reference should be made to Raven's "The Biology of Plants" for most recent evolutionary relationships.-F.M. Sturtevant, PhD

This book covers all the major taxa of invertebrate fauna and is surprisingly comprehensive for such a diverse topic.

I recently purchased the latest edition and have been studying it pretty closely. Its one of the best biology texts I have, good for building a foundation in understanding the structure and function of invertebrate taxa. It is not very heavy on the ecology, but even though I am an ecology grad student I don't really mind. It is more helpful for me to feel like I grasp the basics of what an organism is, before moving on to an explicit focus of how an organism functions in an ecosystem. I own the seventh edition, and from what I read in the introduction, it is a significant revision from the sixth. The classification system has been updated and 5 additional chapters that I am very fond of have been added. These chapters focus on the conceptual significance of thematic changes in organism design - there is a chapter on the eukaryotic cell, on multicellularity, or the eumetazoa and the development muscles and nerves, on bilatera, and one other that I haven't gotten too. The chapter on protozoa (though limited in scope) did quite a lot to impress me that the strange animals like sponges and coral at the base of animal phylogeny are not at all strange when viewed in the context of their protist predecessors.

One thing that bothered me at first about the book was that its all in black and white. Many invertebrates are really spectacular to look at, so my heart was a little heavy when I first flipped through the pages. I suppose this saves them money and makes the book more affordable, but the excellent line diagrams are probably more helpful in learning tissue and organ anatomy, so I've forgiven them. The diagrams are worth half the value of the book - you really need to see the structures you are reading about to understand them.

In short, its a great book, and I recommend it for the more hardnosed, curious type of student and enthusiast.

This is the best invertebrate zoology textbook on the market, perhaps the best ever written. The authors are not content to merely present in fine detail the classification, anatomy, physiology, behavior, and ecology of invertebrates, they present alternative interpretations and controversial opinions where these topics are concerned. In that way, invertebrate zoology comes alive as an active, important, and relevant field of study for understanding the ecology and evolutionary relationships of these organisms in a global setting. I highly recommend this book for a course of study or as a reference for Earth Science instructors who wish to solidify and deepend their knowledge and understanding of invertebrates.