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Since the award-winning first volume, "The Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives", published in 2004, the field has witnessed tremendous developments in research, rapid advances in technology, and the emergence of new investigators beginning to explore issues of biodiversity, distribution, physiology, and ecology in ways that eluded more traditional studies.

As an entirely new companion volume, "Sharks and Their Relatives II: Biodiversity, Adaptive Physiology, and Conservation" brings you up to speed on these significant changes, specifically examining how elasmobranch fishes - the sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras - successfully survive in a wide range of habitats. It emphasizes conservation of threatened species. With contributions from an international group of investigators, this multidisciplinary volume begins by examining elasmobranch biodiversity patterns and their integrated sensory systems.

It then explores the physiological adaptations - from unique sensory modalities to compensatory mechanisms for physiological and environmental stress - that make these animals particularly well suited for the range of habitats where they are found, in both oceanic and freshwater realms. The book then considers the human interactions and anthropogenic effects on worldwide elasmobranch populations and the potential extinction risks posed by increasing threats from changes in habitat, changes in water chemistry, and growing commercial exploitation.