Vertebrate Biology

Linzey: Vertebrate Biology Front Matter Preface © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2003 Preface to the Instructor Vertebrate Biology is designed to provide a firm foundation for students interested in the natural history of vertebrates. While this may be the only course that some students will take dealing with the biology of vertebrates, othes will subsequently enroll in more specialized courses such as ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology, and mammology. In writing Vertebrate Biology, I have tried to keep the needs and wishes of both instructors and students in mind. As an instructor for more than 35 years, I know how challenging it is to teach a dynamic, balanced, up-to-date course that is both relevant and interesting to students. I’m sure you feel the same way. A book that draws the reader’s attention facilitates learning and an interested student is an avid learner. As instructors, our job is to guide students in their learning process. As this text was taking shape, I pondered its length. If I wrote a short textbook, many topics would have to be omitted, and it would not meet the needs of many instructors. If I wrote a larger book, I could include more topics, discuss certain ones in more detail, and even include some supplemental information that would be interesting but not absolutely essential. I chose the latter course. In order to keep the book to a reasonable length, most concepts are illustrated by one or two good examples for each group to which the