This book is about animals and their problems. It is not only about how animals function, but about the problems of living and how animals solve them. It is also about aspects of physiology that I find particularly fascinating or interesting. The book is written for the student who wants to know what animals do and how they do it.
The text deals with the familiar subjects of physiology: respiration, circulation, digestion, and soon. These subjects are treated in thirteen chapters, arranged according to major environmental features: oxygen, food and energy, temperature, and water. I consider this arrangement important, for there is no way to be a good physiologist, or a good biologist for that matter, without understanding how living organisms function in their environment.
The book is elementary and the needed background is minimal.
The first edition of Animal Physiology has been widely used and praised as an introductory textbook. Here are some of the significant changes in this second edition:
—The entire text has been revised and much of it rewritten.
—New material has been added, expanding the book by 10 percent.
— Fifteen new photographs illustrate important concepts and principles.
— All figures have been redrawn in a clear and appealing style.
— SI units are introduced, although traditional metric units are retained for those who are not yet comfortable with the International System of Units.
—The entire text has been redesigned and reset in an attractive and readable style.
The result is an enlightening, cohesive, readable, and enjoyable text by one of the world's foremost animal physiologists. It should continue to appeal to teachers and students as a leading introduction to the field.
Author(s): Knut Schmidt-Nielsen
Edition: 2d ed.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 1979
Language: English
Pages: 560
City: Cambridge [Eng.]; New York
Preface to the second edition ix
To my students xi
About this book 1
What is physiology? 3
PART ONE: OXYGEN 5
1 Respiration in water 7
Gases in air and water 8
Aquatic respiration 15
References and Additional reading 23
2 Respiration in air 25
Respiratory organs 27
Respiratory movements 28
Role of the skin in respiration 29
Mammalian lungs 31
Regulation of respiration 34
Air-breathing fish 37
Bird respiration 43
Insect respiration 49
References and Additional reading 61
3 Blood 64
Oxygen transport in blood 65
Carbon dioxide transport in blood 81
References and Additional reading 87
4 Circulation 89
General principles 89
Vertebrate circulation 91
Invertebrate circulation 113
Blood coagulation and hemostasis 117
References and Additional reading 1 19
PART TWO: FOOD AND ENERGY 123
5 Food, fuel, and energy 125
Feeding 126
Digestion 131
Nutrition 142
Noxious compounds and chemical defense 152
References and Additional reading 157
6 Energy metabolism 161
Metabolic rate 162
Energy storage: fat and glycogen 164
Effect of oxygen concentration on metabolic rate 165
Problems of diving mammals and birds 169
Metabolic rate and body size 183
Body size and problems of scaling 190
Energy cost of locomotion 192
Effect of high altitude 196
References and Additional reading J 99
PART THREE: TEMPERATURE 203
7 Temperature effects 205
Physiological effects of temperature change 207
Extreme temperatures: limits to life 209
Physiological temperature adaptation 219
References and Additional reading 225
8 Temperature regulation 228
Body temperature of birds and mammals 229
Temperature, heat, and heat transfer 234
Heat balance 241
Torpor and hibernation 264
Body temperature in "cold-blooded" animals 270
References and Additional reading 278
PART FOUR: WATER 283
9 Water and osmotic regulation 285
The aquatic environment 285
Aquatic invertebrates 289
Aquatic vertebrates 297
The terrestrial environment 308
Moist-skinned animals 309
Arthropods 313
Terrestrial vertebrates 321
Marine air-breathing vertebrates 326
References and Additional reading 333
10 Excretion 338
Organs of excretion 340
Nitrogen excretion 362
References and Additional 372
PART FIVE: MOVEMENT, INFORMATION,
AND INTEGRATION 377
11 Muscle, movement, locomotion 379
Ameboid, ciliary, and flagellar locomotion 380
Movement and muscle 385
Skeletons 403
Locomotion: biomechanics 406
Buoyancy 417
References and Additional reading 432
12 Information and senses 437
Sensory information: possibilities and limitations 439
Transduction and transmission of information 460
References and Additional reading 474
13 Control and integration 478
Control and control theory 479
Nervous control systems 484
Hormonal control systems 503
Control and integration in invertebrates 516
References and Additional reading S24
APPENDIXES 527
A Measurements and units 529
VI CONTENTS
B Diffusion 533
C Logarithmic and exponential equations 536
D Thermodynamic expression of temperature
effects 537
E Solutions and osmosis 538
F The animal kingdom 542
INDEX 545
