Customer Reviews

Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

a student of vertebrate comparative anatomy will find almost everything he needs in this book. the writings are clear, the drawings excellent, the topics are all very thoroughly covered. it gives not just dry facts but also highly stimulating explanations, within a broad evolutionary context. why "only" 4 stars? well, it is not so easy to navigate through, to the point of being not well organized. you will have to look hard for what you need, especially if you are a novice. it might have been a better book still, where it differently organized, but, all in all, an excellent and important, up to date textbook

I've used Kadong from the first edition and admire much about the text. As another reviewer commented, one has to be deliberate about the organization or the first time reader might feel as if he were going in circles. However, the single greatest shortcoming of this comparative anatomy text is the chapter on muscles which is inadequate and confusing unless one has already studied this subject. Kardong simply fails to provide an arganized description of trunk and appendicular muscles of the primary vertebrate models. The begining student would be well advised to turn to Walker, Kent or Romer for this topic.

This is the book that I used to teach comparative vertebrate anatomy. The previous major flaw of the book was the many inaccuracies in the figures. However many of these appear to be changed. All in all this book is a good book to reference to for a variety of questions about vertebrates. Not the easiest of books to wade through for a beginner but Kardong for the most part does a good job in explanations and descriptions for a book of this level

This university textbook on vertebrate morphology is clearly written and is actually suitable for the general reader with no experience in the subject. Basic concepts such as morphological concepts, phylogeny, paleontology and evolution are discussed at the start of the book. A good overview is presented regarding theories of chordate emergence. Early vertebrates are then presented, starting with a reconstruction of a conodont animal. Chapters on biological design (ie, what adaptations are actually possible) and embryology then follow. Chapters describing and comparing organ systems in various vertebrates then follow, and include the integument (ie, skin), skeletal system, muscular system, respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive system, urogenital system, endocrine system, nervous system and sensory organs.

Your own history is inside, not in simple easy words, so you will have to read, study and you will see how evolution creates so many variations of the vertebrate body plan. Good for teachers and students of general biology, zoology, comparative anatomy and evolution. Darwin would have read this book very happy.

I took the class from which this book was written for. When I took the comparative anatomy class from Kardong he was giving us photocopies from his work in progress and still had editors notes and omissions on the papers. Just from reading all those photocopies, I couldn't wait for this book to come out. I recieved my B.S. in Zoology before this book ever came out and when I recieved my first copy, I was elated. If your serious about zoology, this is a good book for you. However, this book is not for light reading or the beginning zoology student.

If you want a good text book on comparative anatomy, then go buy this book. This is the required book for my anatomy class. I found it to be an excellent source for information and it helped deepen my understanding about a lot of the topics that we took up. The bad thing however is that it is a rather boring book to look at -- few colors or pictures in the whole book. (Most of the images in the book were drawings and not pictures). The language can be a little technical too, sometimes, but not too technical that it would leave you dozing in your chair.

All in all, i would say that this is a good text (with an emphasis on "text") book to have, especially if you want to learn a lot about anatomy. But if you just want to see pretty pictures, then go look for another book.

Great Revision of the last edition. Kardong really breaks down many of the principles in great detail and has fantastic explainations with the aid of illustrations.

Excellent book to be used in undergraduate and graduate classroons. Helpful in understanding comparative anatomy in detail.

This book was a great buy considering how much cheaper this version was compared to the newest version. The only differences between the versions are minor at the most and this book should be considered as an alternative to the newest version if you want to save some money.