Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the difference between jawless and jawed fishesDiscuss the distinguishing features of sharks and rays compared to other modern fishes

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Lampreys are primitive vertebrates, so research on their genes and proteins can provide unique insights into the evolution of biological processes. LIP, an important immune protein in lampreys, also regulates lamprey growth and development, but the mechanisms of its development- regulating effects are unclear. To learn more, researchers recently examined the function of LIP in a doxycycline (Dox)-activated transgenic zebrafish embryo model. LIP overexpression was toxic to the zebrafish embryos, causing death or developmental malformation by inducing cell death on a broad scale. Specifically, LIP triggered the ferroptosis cell death pathway by upregulating genes such as tfr1a and acsl4a and by causing lipid peroxidation. The LIP-mediated ferroptosis in turn led to pericardial edema in the zebrafish. Direct inhibition and silencing of tfr1a and acsl4a suppressed both ferroptosis and pericardial edema, confirming the roles of these genes in LIP’s developmental effects..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This video features the remarkable discovery Jonathan made in 1998 about Basking sharks, the second largest fish on Earth. While diving with Basking sharks in the frigid waters of the Bay of Fundy, Jonathan saw parasitic lampreys on the backs of the sharks. This had never before been documented, so he returned the next year with a shark biologist and a lamprey biologist to attempt to recover living lampreys from the backs of Basking sharks. They didn't think Jonathan could do it. Wait until you see what happens! Please see the accompanying lesson plan for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.