During the course of the developnent of most areas of scien- tific research certain events occur that serve to bring a particular area into focus. We feel that this symposilHll volume serves that role with regard to the study of the reproductive biology of amphib- ians. The collection of vnrks contained in this volume provides an excellent review of a diversity of past contributions to this field of investigation and brings together in one volume the major ap- proaches that have been utilized to study amphibian reproductive biology. The work emphasizes recently-completed studies and therefore can be considered to be an up-to-date account of the field. Equally signif icant, however, the contributors to this volume have excelled in pointing out directions for future research that will be of im- mense value in integrating the component parts of reproductive bi- ology, i.e., genetics, developnental biology, physiology, behavior, and ecology, into an eVOlutionary framework.
