David O. Norris

Vertebrate Endocrinology, Sixth Edition, provides a comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of the endocrine system for college and university students as well as researchers. This book is logically arranged, easily comprehended, and well-illustrated. It covers traditional hormone-based systems and introduces all forms of chemical communication, their implications for the health of humans, domesticated, and wild vertebrates. Written by two experts who have completed extensive research in comparative vertebrate endocrinology with an emphasis on natural and anthropogenic environmental factors influencing endocrine systems. Collectively, the authors have taught courses in endocrinology at the undergraduate and graduate level for more than 60 years. After first publishing in 1985, Vertebrate Endocrinology, Sixth Edition, continues to serve as an important resource for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in the biological sciences, animal sciences, and veterinary sciences. Endocrine researchers will also benefit from the book’s relevance in the areas of comparative, veterinary, and mammalian endocrinology.

Forensic botany is the application of plant science to the resolution of legal questions. A plant’s anatomy and its ecological requirements are in some cases species specific and require taxonomic verification; correct interpretation of botanical evidence can give vital information about a crime scene or a suspect or victim. The use of botanical evidence in legal investigations in North America is relatively recent. The first botanical testimony to be heard in a North American court concerned the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby boy and the conviction of Bruno Hauptmann in 1935. Today, forensic botany encompasses numerous subdisciplines of plant science, such as plant anatomy, taxonomy, ecology, palynology, and diatomology, and interfaces with other disciplines, e.g., molecular biology, limnology and oceanography. Forensic Plant Science presents chapters on plant science evidence, plant anatomy, plant taxonomic evidence, plant ecology, case studies for all of the above, as well as the educational pathways for the future of forensic plant science.