Comparative Physiology: Primitive Mammals

This book attempts to dispel the widely held notion that 'primitive' animals are less advanced or less complex than the 'non-primitive'.

Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (Edited by), Liana Bolis (Edited by), Charles Richard Taylor (Edited by)

9780521106306, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 June 2009

356 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

Comparative Physiology: Primitive Mammals attempts to dispel the widely held notion that 'primitive' animals are less advanced or less complex than the 'non-primitive'. The term 'primitive', or more accurately 'conservative', refers to the fact that these animals have retained many of the characteristics of their evolutionary ancestors. Because they have been able to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions, these so-called primitive animals should be considered highly successful evolutionary solutions. The papers contained in this volume are the result of the Fourth International Conference on Comparative Physiology held at Crans-sur-Sierre in 1978. The conference, which was sponsored by the Interunion Commission on Comparative Physiology representing the International Unions of Biological Sciences, Physiological Sciences, and Pure and Applied Biophysics, brought together scientists from various fields to discuss the widely scattered information on primitive mammals from the perspective of comparative physiology.

1. Biology of the earliest mammals A. W. Crompton
2. Biological strategies of living conservative mammals John F. Eisenberg
3. Milk and mammalian evolution Olav T. Oftedal
4. The reptilian digestive system: general characteristics Charles L. Guard
5. The gastrointestinal tract of mammals: major variations C. E. Stevens
6. Digestive tract and digestive function in monotremes and nonmacropod marsupials C. J. F. Harrop and I. D. Hume
7. Form and function of the macropod marsupial digestive tract I. D. Hume and D. W. Dellow
8. The digestive tract: inmsectivore, prosimian, and advanced primate Edgar T. Clemens
9. Evolution of mammalian homeothermy: a two-step process? C. Richard Taylor
10. Have some mammals remained primitive thermoregulators? Or is all thermoregulation based on equally primitive brain functions? John Bligh
11. What is a primitive thermoregulatory system H. Craig Heller
12. The evolution of energy metabolism in mammals A. J. Hulbert
13. Metabolic capabilities of monotremes and the evolution of homeothermy Terence J. Dawson and T. R. Grant
14. Energy metabolism in hedgehogs: primitive strategies? Amiram Shkolnik
15. Relations of metabolic rate and body temperature Piotr Poczopko
16. The smallest insectivores: coping with scarcities of energy and water Stan Lee Lindstedt
17. Metabolic levels and biological strategies in shrews Peter Vogel
18. The respiratory system of the smallest mammal Eward R. Weibel, Helgard Claassen, Peter Gehr, Senada Sehovic and Peter H. Burri
19. Energetics of locomotion: primitive and advanced mammals C. Richard Taylor
20. Physiological responses to locomotion in marsupials R. V. Baudinette
21. Mechanics of locomotion in primitive and advanced mammals Norman C. Heglund
22. Elasticity in the locomotion of mammals R. McN. Alexander
23. Elastic storage: role of tendons and muscles Giovanni A. Cavagna, G. Citterio and P. Jacini
24. Properties and distributions of the fiber types in the locomotory muscles of mammals Robert B. Armstrong
25. Endocrines: problems of phylogeny and evolution P. J. Bentley
26. Pituitary-ovarian interactions in marsupials C. H. Tyndale-Biscoe and Susan M. Evans
27. Placental function and embryonic development in marsupials Marilyn B. Renfree
28. Adrenocorticosteroids in prototherian, metatherian and eutherian mammals Magda Weiss
29. The renin-angiotensin system in marsupials J. R. Blair-West and Angela Gibson
30. Physiology of the adrenal
cortex in monotremes C. Sernia
31. Physiology of the adrenal cortext in marsupials I. R. McDonald
Index.

Subject Areas: Physiology [MFG]