Reproductive Physiology of Marsupials (Monographs on Marsupial Biology)

E-040: Cambridge University Press. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1987. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Cambridge University Press. 1987. 490 pgs. Illustrated with numerous b/w illustrations, text figures. DJ has light shelf-wear present to the DJ. No ownership marks present. The text is clean and free of marks, binding tight and solid, boards have light shelf wear present. Marsupials differ from most other mammals in their method of reproduction, in that they have chosen, in an evolutionary sense, to develop lactation rather than placentation for the nurture of their young. The neonate is therefore born with a mixture of advanced and embryonic characters, and yet is readily accessible within the pouch, providing a unique system for the study of the ontogeny of various physiological and endocrinological parameters. Marsupials are therefore ideal animals for research into mammalian reproductive physiology. The results of this exciting new research are summarized in this book by two of the foremost workers in the field. Individual chapters analyse the genetic and hormonal control of sexual differentiation, male and female reproductive structures and their functions, the role of the corpus luteum in the oestrous cycle and pregnancy, the hormonal control of embryonic diapause and the role of the marsupial placenta in the development of the embryo. This book is more than just a straightforward review of marsupial reproduction for its detailed analyses and broad comparative coverage will attract mammalogists and reproductive physiologists with a wide range of research interests. EB; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 490 pages .