This volume provides a thought-provoking, interdisciplinary perspective on the empirical and analytic study of body composition and the techniques used for measuring body components, such as fat, water, muscle, and bone mass and density. The nature of regional differences, developmental changes, pathological abnormalities, and the impact of heredity and environment in shaping body composition are discussed in the context of human evolution. For instance, the author looks at how growth, aging, and exposure to heat, cold, excess or lack of nourishment modify normal body composition.

Covering the psychological aspects of ergonomics, this volume places considerable emphasis on the radical changes in work practices over the past twenty years stimulated by high technology systems and computerization. Ergonomics is a multidisciplinary activity concerned mainly with people at work, but also with other human purposeful activities such as war, sports, games and leisure. The objective of ergonomics is to make these activities more effective and safer by applying established principles of anatomy, physiology and psychology. Together with Singleton's earlier volume, The Body at Work, this book forms a comprehensive textbook of ergonomics. This is a useful text for undergraduate and graduate students of psychology, physiology, management, social sciences, engineering, industrial design, computer science and information technology.

How can geckoes walk on the ceiling and basilisk lizards run over water? What are the aerodynamic effects that enable small insects to fly? What are the relative merits of squids' jet-propelled swimming and fishes' tail-powered swimming? Why do horses change gait as they increase speed? What determines our own vertical leap? Recent technical advances have greatly increased researchers' ability to answer these questions with certainty and in detail.

This text provides an up-to-date overview of how animals run, walk, jump, crawl, swim, soar, hover, and fly. Excluding only the tiny creatures that use cilia, it covers all animals that power their movements with muscle--from roundworms to whales, clams to elephants, and gnats to albatrosses. The introduction sets out the general rules governing all modes of animal locomotion and considers the performance criteria--such as speed, endurance, and economy--that have shaped their selection. It introduces energetics and optimality as basic principles. The text then tackles each of the major modes by which animals move on land, in water, and through air. It explains the mechanisms involved and the physical and biological forces shaping those mechanisms, paying particular attention to energy costs.

Focusing on general principles but extensively discussing a wide variety of individual cases, this is a superb synthesis of current knowledge about animal locomotion. It will be enormously useful to advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and a range of professional biologists, physicists, and engineers.

In this, our second edition of Reproduction in Mammals, we are responding to numerous requests for a more up-to-date and rather more detailed treatment of the subject. The first edition was accorded an excellent reception, but Books 1 to 5 were written some 14 years ago and inevitably there have been many advances on many fronts since then. As before, the manner of presentation is intended to make the subject matter interesting to read and readily comprehensible to undergraduates in the biological sciences, and yet with sufficient depth to provide a valued source of information to graduates engaged in both teaching and research. Our authors have been selected from among the best known in their respective fields. Book 5 is concerned with the many ways in which we can now manipulate reproductive processes in animals and humans, thanks to our new understanding of hormone action and improved control over early developmental events. We have at our disposal a whole array of synthetic hormone agonists, antagonists and antibodies that can be used at will to stimulate or inhibit fertility in animals and humans alike, so that productivity in livestock can be promoted according to plan and child-bearing becomes more a matter of choice than chance. We can compensate for infertility by in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, and overcome inherent deficiencies by techniques involving embryo manipulation. Existing barriers to the dissemination and application of this new-found knowledge are discussed in some detail, since it is becoming increasingly clear that improvements in the quality of life for people in many developing countries will be long delayed unless they can meet essential needs and call a halt to runaway population growth.

It is generally recognized that larger animals eat more, live longer, have larger offspring, and so on; but it is unusual to see these commonplace observations as a basis for scientific biology. A large number of empirically based relationships describe biological rates as simple functions of body size; and other such relations predict the intrinsic rate of population growth, animal speed, animal density, territory size, prey size, physiology, and morphology. Such equations almost always exist for mammals and birds, often for other vertebrates and invertebrates, sometimes for protozoa, algae, and bacteria, and occasionally even for plants. There are too many organisms to measure all aspects of the biology of every species of population, so scientists must depend on generalizations. Body size relations represent our most extensive and powerful assemblage of generalizations, but they have never been organized for use in ecology. This book represents the largest single compilation of interspecific size relations, and instructs the reader on the use of these relationships; their comparison, combination, and criticism. Both strengths and weaknesses of our current knowledge are discussed in order to indicate the many possible directions for further research. This important volume will therefore provide a point of departure toward a new applied ecology, giving quantitative solutions to real questions. It will interest advanced students of ecology and comparative physiology as well as professional biologists.

In this, our second edition of Reproduction in Mammals, we are responding to numerous requests for a more up-to-date and rather more detailed treatment of the subject. The first edition was accorded an excellent reception, but the Books 1 to 5 were written twelve years ago and inevitably there have been advances on many fronts since then. As before, the manner of presentation is intended to make the subject matter interesting to read and readily comprehensible to undergraduates in the biological sciences, and yet have sufficient depth to provide a valued source of information to graduates engaged in both teaching and research. Our authors have been selected from among the best known in their respective fields. Book 4 pays particular attention to genetic, environmental, behavioural and immunological mechanisms that can contribute to an animal's overall reproductive fitness, through which natural selection must ultimately operate.

Reveals how the physical laws of nature control the physiological functions of all animals and influence their size. Shows why the size of living things is of such fundamental importance.

In this, our Second Edition of Reproduction in Mammals, we are responding to numerous requests for a more up-to-date and rather more detailed treatment of the subject. The First Edition was accorded an excellent reception, but the first five books were written ten years ago and inevitably there have been advances on many fronts since then. As before, the manner of presentation is intended to make the subject matter interesting to read and readily comprehensible to undergraduates in the biological sciences, and yet with sufficient depth to provide a valued source of information to graduates engaged in both teaching and research. Our authors have been selected from among the best known in their respective fields. This volume discusses the manifold ways in which hormones control the reproductive processes in male and female mammals. The hypothalamus regulates both the anterior and posterior pituitary glands, whilst the pineal can exert a modulating influence on the hypothalamus. The pituitary gonadotrophins regulate the endocrine and gametogenic activities of the gonads, and there are important local feedback effects of hormones within the gonads themselves. Non-pregnant females display many different types of oestrous or menstrual cycles, and there are likewise great species differences in the endocrinology of pregnancy. But the hallmark of mammals is lactation, and this also exerts a major control on subsequent reproductive activity.

What is animal welfare? Why has it proved so difficult to find a definition that everyone can agree on? This concise and accessible guide is for anyone who is interested in animals and who has wondered how we can assess their welfare scientifically. It defines animal welfare as 'health and animals having what they want', a definition that can be easily understood by scientists and non-scientists alike, expresses in simple words what underlies many existing definitions, and shows what evidence we need to collect to improve animal welfare in practice. Above all, it puts the animal's own point of view at the heart of an assessment of its welfare. But, can we really understand what animals want? A consistent theme running through the book is that not only is it possible to establish what animals want, but that this information is vital in helping us to make sense of the long and often confusing list of welfare measures that are now in use such as 'stress' and 'feel good hormones', expressive sounds and gestures, natural behaviour, cognitive bias, and stereotypies. Defining welfare as 'health and what animals want' allows us to distinguish between measures that are simply what an animal does when it is alert, aroused, or active and those measures that genuinely allow us to distinguish between situations the animals themselves see as positive or negative. Sentience (conscious feelings of pleasure, pain, and suffering) is for many people the essence of what is meant by welfare, but studying consciousness is notoriously difficult, particularly in non-human species. These difficulties are discussed in the context of our current - and as yet incomplete - knowledge of human and animal consciousness. Finally, the book highlights some key ideas in the relationship between animal welfare science and animal ethics and shows how closely the well-being of humans is linked to that of other animals. The Science of Animal Welfare is an ideal companion for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in animal behaviour and welfare, as well as for professional researchers, practitioners and animal welfare consultants. At the same time, it is easily understandable to non-scientists and anyone without prior knowledge but with an interest in animals and the rapidly evolving science of animal welfare.

Originally published in 1982, this book was designed to supplement Knut Schmidt-Nielsen's Animal Physiology. Using Schmidt-Nielsen's comparative approach to the study of animal form function, the text pursues in greater detail topics introduced in Animal Physiology. Like the textbook, the Companion is organised according to major environmental features: oxygen, food and energy, temperature, and water, concluding with a section on movement and structure. The papers brought together in this volume were presented in July 1980 to honour Smith-Nielsen's sixty-fifth birthday, at the Fifth International Conference on Comparative Physiology, held in Sandbjerg, Denmark.

Wild animals survive in a variety of complex environments; they are exposed to predictable and unpredictable changes in their particular environment on a daily or seasonal basis. However, we live in a time when almost all natural environments are undergoing relatively rapid change, and many of these changes, such as the pollution of air and water, removal of natural food sources, environment fragmentation, and climate change, are the result of human activity. Animal Physiology: an environmental perspective shows how an understanding of the physiology of animals in their natural habitats helps us to understand not only how and why animals evolved the way they did, but how we can act to protect at least some of them from the extreme effects of the changes affecting their environments. Part One sets the foundation for the topics covered in the remainder of the book by introducing a range of fundamental processes that are essential to life. It considers the diversity of habitats on Earth in which animals live, and examines animal groups and their evolutionary relationships. It then explores the different feeding strategies used by animals to obtain the energy they require to carry out all the essential functions of life, and how animals convert the chemical energy in food molecules into the energy they need to power all body functions. Finally, it explores the general properties of animal cells, and how animals maintain a suitable internal environment in which their cells are protected from external influences. We then examine those fundamental principles governing the main exchanges between the cells within animals, and between an animal and its environment. Parts two to four of the book explore how different organ systems - respiratory and circulatory systems, excretory organs and endocrine systems - enable animals to interact with their environment, and how environmental temperature profoundly affects the physiology of animals. Part five considers how the sensory and nervous systems provide animals with information on their internal as well as their external environment, and how they, together with the endocrine system, are involved in the control and co-ordination of muscles, reproduction, salt and water balance, and the cardio-respiratory systems. Digital formats and resources Animal Physiology: an environmental perspective is supported by online resources and is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats. The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks The book's online resources include: For students: - Original articles: a list of original articles consulted during the writing of each chapter so that you can explore the original research for yourself. - Additional case studies and experimental approach panels to augment those in the printed book. - Answers to numerical questions: full solutions to numerical questions so that you can verify your working. For registered adopters of the text: - Digital image library: Includes electronic files in JPG format of every illustration, photo, graph and table from the text

Essential Ornithology provides the reader with a concise but comprehensive introduction to the biology of birds, one of the most widely studied taxonomic groups. The book begins by considering the dinosaur origins of birds and their subsequent evolution. Development, anatomy, and physiology are then discussed followed by chapters devoted to avian reproduction, migration, ecology, and conservation. Sections dealing with aspects of bird/human relationships and bird conservation give the book an applied context. This new edition has been thoroughly updated, providing new information from rapidly-developing fields including the avian fossil record, urban and agricultural ecology, responses to climate change, invasive species biology, technologies to track movement, avian disease, and the role of citizen scientists. There is also a greater focus on North American ornithology. Drawing extensively upon the wider scientific literature, this engaging text places the results of classical studies of avian biology alongside the most recent scientific breakthroughs. Useful case studies are presented in a concise and engaging style with the student reader foremost in mind. Key points are highlighted and suggestions for guided reading and key references are included throughout. Essential Ornithology is a companion textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in avian science, as well as a useful reference for professional researchers and consultants. Amateur ornithologists will also find this book offers a scientifically rigorous and accessible overview for a more general readership.

This book provides a critical review of the questions as well as the data pertaining to the contribution of the right "non-dominant" hemisphere to verbal communication. Three main sources of observation are reviewed: experiments with normal subjects, with split-brain subjects, and with brain-damaged subjects. The first three chapters present (1) a historical introduction, (2) a critical review of the advantages and limits of the different methodologies used, and (3) a discussion of the contribution of the aphasia literature. Then, each subsequent chapter addresses one particular component of the possible contribution of the right hemisphere to verbal communication: lexical-semantics, written language, prosody and pragmatics. This book is intended for professionals who would like to consult a critical contemporary review of the subject. It offers a unique synthesis of nearly all the behavioral literature on the topic coming from many different, but complementary, fields such as neuropsychology, linguistics, neurology and speech sciences; it also contains a helpful bibliography. The authors open many new doors to promising research avenues in terms of both theoretical and practical questions, and offer a rapidly accessible source of information and reference.

An elegant analysis of how animals work and function. Professor Schmidt-Nielsen’s incisive account gives a clear understanding of comparative physiology in relation to body size, form and function, energy supply, and environment. The author is concerned with principles. For example, he explains how difficult it may be to lose heat and water from the respiratory tract. This leads to a consideration of the mechanism of panting as a means of heat loss. The author describes the centuries-old problem of how birds breathe, which now has been solved in his laboratory. He then discusses energy expenditure for swimming, running, and flying, and the effects of activity on heat balance. The ability of mammals to maintain different parts of the body at different temperatures is explained on the basis of counter-current heat exchange; a related mechanism permits the fast-swimming tuna to enjoy some of the advantages of being warm-blooded. The problems raised by being small in size, or large, are considered in detail. It is shown that many physiological variables can be placed on a scale which permits the derivation of non-dimensional numbers to describe the interrelations between different parameters. This interesting and stimulating account was written primarily for students, but since it brings together and synthesizes much new and up-to-date information it will interest all biologists and physiologists.

All being done, we went to Mrs Shipmans, who is a great butter-woman; and I did see there the most of milke and cream, and the cleanest, that I ever saw in my life (29 May 1661). Among others, Sir Wm. Petty did tell me that in good earnest, he hath in his will left such parts of his estate to him that could invent such and such things -as among others, that could discover truly the way of milk coming into the breasts of a woman ... (22 March 1665). My wife tells me that she hears that my poor aunt James hath had her breast cut off here in tow- her breast having long been out of order (5 May 1665). From the Diary of Samuel Pepys, published as The Shorter Pepys (edited by R. Latham), Penguin Books (1987) The long-standing ultimate importance of research on the mammary gland is illustrated by the importance attached to cows' milk for human consumption, to human lactation and to breast cancer by Samuel Pepys and his contemporaries in the middle of the 17th century. Research has tended to develop in isolation in these three areas of continuing contemporary importance largely because in most countries, the underlying science of agricultural productivity is funded separately from the underlying science of human health and welfare.

This volume had it's inception in a series of eight lectures delivered at Columbia University during the spring of 1905, and represents, in a much condensed form, the results of a decade of uninterrupted study of the Formicidae, and of the works that have been written on these insects.

It is well known and researched, that deprivation of oxygen to the brain can quickly result in irreversible damage and death. What is less well known, is that some vertebrate species are exceptionally tolerant of brain hypoxia. The Brain Without Oxygen: Causes of failure - Physiological and molecular mechanisms for survival, Third edition, discusses the mechanisms of brain hypoxia tolerance in these exceptional vertebrates, which include diving marine mammals, high altitude dwellers and the hibernating mammal. Special attention is given to the extraordinary adaptations that allow a few turtle and fish species to tolerate months of brain anoxia.

This third, fully updated edition addresses the potential of these animal models as targets for human clinical intervention. Perhaps the most interesting of these, are those involved in the suppression of metabolic activities to new set points well below their normoxic minima or maintenance levels. This volume will be valuable reading for researchers in physiology, medicine and general biological sciences, and of great importance to pharmaceutical companies researching novel models for stroke and brain ischemia.

Vertebrate Endocrinology, Sixth Edition, provides a comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of the endocrine system for college and university students as well as researchers. This book is logically arranged, easily comprehended, and well-illustrated. It covers traditional hormone-based systems and introduces all forms of chemical communication, their implications for the health of humans, domesticated, and wild vertebrates. Written by two experts who have completed extensive research in comparative vertebrate endocrinology with an emphasis on natural and anthropogenic environmental factors influencing endocrine systems. Collectively, the authors have taught courses in endocrinology at the undergraduate and graduate level for more than 60 years. After first publishing in 1985, Vertebrate Endocrinology, Sixth Edition, continues to serve as an important resource for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in the biological sciences, animal sciences, and veterinary sciences. Endocrine researchers will also benefit from the book's relevance in the areas of comparative, veterinary, and mammalian endocrinology.

What is animal welfare? Why has it proved so difficult to find a definition that everyone can agree on? This concise and accessible guide is for anyone who is interested in animals and who has wondered how we can assess their welfare scientifically. It defines animal welfare as 'health and animals having what they want', a definition that can be easily understood by scientists and non-scientists alike, expresses in simple words what underlies many existing definitions, and shows what evidence we need to collect to improve animal welfare in practice. Above all, it puts the animal's own point of view at the heart of an assessment of its welfare. But, can we really understand what animals want? A consistent theme running through the book is that not only is it possible to establish what animals want, but that this information is vital in helping us to make sense of the long and often confusing list of welfare measures that are now in use such as 'stress' and 'feel good hormones', expressive sounds and gestures, natural behaviour, cognitive bias, and stereotypies. Defining welfare as 'health and what animals want' allows us to distinguish between measures that are simply what an animal does when it is alert, aroused, or active and those measures that genuinely allow us to distinguish between situations the animals themselves see as positive or negative. Sentience (conscious feelings of pleasure, pain, and suffering) is for many people the essence of what is meant by welfare, but studying consciousness is notoriously difficult, particularly in non-human species. These difficulties are discussed in the context of our current - and as yet incomplete - knowledge of human and animal consciousness. Finally, the book highlights some key ideas in the relationship between animal welfare science and animal ethics and shows how closely the well-being of humans is linked to that of other animals. The Science of Animal Welfare is an ideal companion for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in animal behaviour and welfare, as well as for professional researchers, practitioners and animal welfare consultants. At the same time, it is easily understandable to non-scientists and anyone without prior knowledge but with an interest in animals and the rapidly evolving science of animal welfare.

Conservation physiology is a rapidly expanding, multidisciplinary field that utilizes physiological knowledge and tools to understand and solve conservation challenges. This novel text provides the first consolidated overview of its scope, purpose, and applications, with a focus on wildlife. It outlines the major avenues and advances by which conservation physiology is contributing to the monitoring, management, and restoration of wild animal populations. This book also defines opportunities for further growth in the field and identifies critical areas for future investigation. By using a series of global case studies, contributors illustrate how approaches from the conservation physiology toolbox can tackle a diverse range of conservation issues including the monitoring of environmental stress, predicting the impact of climate change, understanding disease dynamics, improving captive breeding, and reducing human-wildlife conflict. Moreover, by acting as practical road maps across a diversity of sub-disciplines, these case studies serve to increase the accessibility of this discipline to new researchers. The diversity of taxa, biological scales, and ecosystems highlighted illustrate the far-reaching nature of the discipline and allow readers to gain an appreciation for the purpose, value, applicability, and status of the field of conservation physiology. Conservation Physiology is an accessible supplementary textbook suitable for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of conservation science, eco-physiology, evolutionary and comparative physiology, natural resources management, ecosystem health, veterinary medicine, animal physiology, and ecology.

Essential Ornithology provides the reader with a concise but comprehensive introduction to the biology of birds, one of the most widely studied taxonomic groups. The book begins by considering the dinosaur origins of birds and their subsequent evolution. Development, anatomy, and physiology are then discussed followed by chapters devoted to avian reproduction, migration, ecology, and conservation. Sections dealing with aspects of bird/human relationships and bird conservation give the book an applied context. This new edition has been thoroughly updated, providing new information from rapidly-developing fields including the avian fossil record, urban and agricultural ecology, responses to climate change, invasive species biology, technologies to track movement, avian disease, and the role of citizen scientists. There is also a greater focus on North American ornithology. Drawing extensively upon the wider scientific literature, this engaging text places the results of classical studies of avian biology alongside the most recent scientific breakthroughs. Useful case studies are presented in a concise and engaging style with the student reader foremost in mind. Key points are highlighted and suggestions for guided reading and key references are included throughout. Essential Ornithology is a companion textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in avian science, as well as a useful reference for professional researchers and consultants. Amateur ornithologists will also find this book offers a scientifically rigorous and accessible overview for a more general readership.

Fully prepare yourself for your written exam with this detailed study guide. Suitable for the Level 3 Technical Certificate/Diploma/Advanced Diploma in Animal Management, this study guide fully covers all of the learning outcomes for the mandatory unit Biological Systems of Animals. Written for level 3 students, using clear language and straightforward explanations, this colourful study guide will help you work your way through the units and then prepare for your exam. Fully explains anatomical and physiological systems using understandable language. Includes clearly labelled diagrams, so you can understand the structure and function of each system. Check your knowledge and understanding with questions at the end of each topic. Includes opportunities to practice labelling of diagrams. Answers to all questions are available online.

Essentials of Clinical Anatomy of the Equine Locomotor System presents a unique photographic record of dissections showing the topographical anatomy of the locomotor system of the horse. Readers of this book will be able to see the position and relationships of the bones, joints, muscles, nerves and blood vessels that make up each region of the forelimb, vertebral column and hindlimb. Key features: Important features of regional and topographical anatomy are presented using full-color photos of detailed dissections Anatomy is presented in a clinical context Preparations of cross-sectional anatomy facilitate interpretation of diagnostic imaging, such as ultrasonography, MRI images and CT scans All dissections are of fresh material, rather than preserved specimens, to demonstrate the appearance of tissues in the living animal, or at post mortem autopsy This new atlas is essential for anybody involved in detailed anatomical study, complex lameness evaluation or advanced imaging techniques in horses. It will be a useful guide for veterinary students, and a reference for equine vets in practice.