A01=Kent Dunlap
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anatomy
Author_Kent Dunlap
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=PS
Category=PSAF
Category=PSAJ
COP=United States
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Discovery channel
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Evolutionary history
health
Historical development
History of neck evolution in vertebrates
injuries
Language_English
NPR Science
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PBS Nova
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Forthcoming
role of the neck in survival
softlaunch
structures across species
vertebrate history
vulnerabilities
Product details
- ISBN 9780520393035
- Weight: 590g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 11 Feb 2025
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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“Fascinating discourse [that] travels through anatomy, paleontology, anthropology, the arts, the zoo, museums, medicine, murder and more. . . . Superb."―Wall Street Journal
A 300-million-year tour of the prominent role of the neck in animal evolution and human culture.Humans give a lot of attention to the neck. We decorate it with jewelry and ties, kiss it passionately, and use it to express ourselves in word and song. Yet, at the neck, people have also shackled their prisoners, executed their opponents, and slain their victims. Beyond the drama of human culture, animals have evolved their necks into a staggering variety of shapes and uses vital to their lifestyles. The Neck delves into evolutionary time to solve a living paradox—why is our neck so central to our survival and culture, but so vulnerable to injury and disease?
Biologist Kent Dunlap shows how the neck's vulnerability is not simply an unfortunate quirk of evolution. Its weaknesses are intimately connected to the vessels, pipes, and glands that make it so vital to existence. Fun and far-reaching, The Neck explores the diversity of forms and functions of the neck in humans and other animals and shows how this small anatomical transition zone has been a locus of incredible evolutionary and cultural creativity.
Kent Dunlap is Professor of Biology at Trinity College, Hartford, where he teaches physiology and anatomy and conducts research on the neurobiology and behavior of fishes (animals without necks!). In the summers, he also makes pottery and sculpts ceramic animals.
