Amphibians are the extant descendants of the first vertebrate class to successfully colonize terrestrial environments; hence they occupy a unique position between fish and reptiles. Amphibian skin provides essentially no resistance to evaporative water loss, and consequently daily water turnover rates are an order of magnitude greater than in other terrestrial vertebrate groups. This has led to a suite of physiological, morphological and behavioural adaptations that have allowed a successful terrestrial existence in spite of this apparently spendthrift water retention strategy.
Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Amphibians provides a synthesis of current research on the comparative physiology of amphibians with a particular emphasis on water balance. It adopts a strong environmental perspective and includes a wealth of information on ecology, phylogeny and development. As with other books in the Ecological and Environmental Physiology Series, the emphasis in this book is on the unique physiological characteristics of the amphibians, although the latest experimental techniques and future research directions are also considered. This accessible text is suitable for both graduate students and researchers in the fields of amphibian comparative physiology and physiological ecology, including specialist courses in amphibian ecology. It will also be of value and use to the many professional herpetologists requiring a concise overview of the topic.

This book is the only account of what honeybees actually see. Bees detect some visual features such as edges and colours, but there is no sign that they reconstruct patterns or put together features to form objects. Bees detect motion but have no perception of what it is that moves, and certainly they do not recognize "things" by their shapes. Yet they clearly see well enough to fly and find food with a minute brain. Bee vision is therefore relevant to the construction of simple artificial visual systems, for example for mobile robots. The surprising conclusion is that bee vision is adapted to the recognition of places, not things. In this volume, Adrian Horridge also sets out the curious and contentious history of how bee vision came to be understood, with an account of a century of neglect of old experimental results, errors of interpretation, sharp disagreements, and failures of the scientific method. The design of the experiments and the methods of making inferences from observations are also critically examined, with the conclusion that scientists are often hesitant, imperfect and misleading, ignore the work of others, and fail to consider alternative explanations. The erratic path to understanding makes interesting reading for anyone with an interest in the workings of science but particularly those researching insect vision and invertebrate sensory systems.

This book covers hot topics in the nutrition and metabolism of terrestrial and aquatic animals, including the interorgan transport and utilization of water, minerals, amino acids, glucose, and fructose; the development of alternatives to in-feed antibiotics for animals (e.g., swine and poultry); and metabolic disorders (or diseases) resulting from nutrient deficiencies. It enables readers to understand the crucial roles of nutrients in the nutrition, growth, development, and health of animals. Such knowledge has important implications for humans. Readers will also learn from well-written chapters about the use of new genome-editing biotechnologies to generate animals (e.g., cows and swine) as bioreactors that can produce large amounts of pharmaceutical proteins and other molecules to improve the health and well-being of humans and other animals, as well as the growth and productivity of farm animals. Furthermore, the book provides useful information on the use of animals (e.g., cattle, swine, sheep, chickens, and fish) as models in biomedical research to prevent and treat human diseases, develop infant formulas, and improve the cardiovascular and metabolic health of offspring with prenatal growth restriction. Editor of this book is an internationally recognized expert in nutrition and metabolisms. He has about 40 years of experience with research and teaching at world-class universities in the subject matters. He has published more than 660 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 90 chapters in books, and authored two text/reference books, with a very high H-index of 127 and more than 66,000 citations in Google Scholar. This publication is a useful reference for nutrition and biomedical professionals, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in animal science, aquaculture, zoology, wildlife, veterinary medicine, biology, biochemistry, food science, nutrition, pharmacology, physiology, toxicology, and other related disciplines. In addition, all chapters provide general and specific references to nutrition and metabolism for researchers and practitioners in animal agriculture (including aquaculture), dietitians, animal and human medicines, and for government policy makers.

This book is the result of more than 20 years of experience in working with near-infrared spectroscopy for raw milk analysis. The totality of this work presents extensive possibilities for milk spectral measurements that can be carried out in dairy. Moving beyond the standard milk components such as fat, protein, or lactose, this book presents near-infrared spectroscopy as a method that can also be used in disease diagnostics. The measurements and experimental results presented here are all based on the utilization of usually neglected near-infrared regions-regions with strong absorbance of water. The author has found the water - light interaction discussed to be an immensely rich source of information, not only on milk composition but also on the physiological status of the animals involved. A special section of the book is dedicated to exploration of potential interfering factors that may influence the analysis and contribute to the robustness of the models. The research described in this book served as a basis for the development of the novel discipline aquaphotomics and is of interest to anyone working in this field.

Veterinary students and practicing technicians will find this book to be an important bench manual as well as an educated tool to have on their desk. Also included in the package is a free online resource for testing and additional information.

Advances in Insect Physiology publishes eclectic volumes containing important, comprehensive and in-depth reviews on all aspects of insect physiology. It is an essential reference source for invertebrate physiologists and neurobiologists, entomologists, zoologists and insect biochemists. First published in 1963, the serial is now edited by Steve Simpson (Oxford University, UK).
* More than 300 pages with contributions from the leading researchers in entomology
* Over 40 figures and illustrations combined
* Includes an in-depth review of the genetics of the honey bee
* Discusses the physiological diversity in insects

After the chicken, the House Sparrow is the most widely distributed bird species in the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica and on most human-inhabited islands. Although its Latin name is Passer domesticus, it is certainly not domesticated. In fact, it is widely regarded as a pest species and is consequently not protected in most of its extensive range. This combination of ubiquity and minimal legal protection has contributed to its wide use in studies by avian biologists throughout the world.
The purpose of this book is to review and summarize the results of these global studies on House Sparrows, and to provide a springboard for future studies on the species. House Sparrows have been used to study natural selection in introduced species, circadian rhythms, and the neuroendocrine control of the avian annual cycle. One current question of considerable interest concerns the catastrophic House Sparrow population declines in several urban centers in Europe. Is the House Sparrow a contemporary canary in the mine? Other topics of broad interest include the reproductive and flock-foraging strategies of sparrows, and sexual selection and the function of the male badge in the species. Anderson also explores the role of the House Sparrow in disease transmission to humans and their domesticated animals.

To understand what is happening in the brain in the moment you decide, at will, to summon to consciousness a passage of Mozart's music, or decide to take a deep breath, is like trying to "catch a phantom by the tail". Consciousness remains that most elusive of all human phenomena - one so mysterious, one that even our highly developed knowledge of brain function can only partly explain. This book is unique in tracing the origins of consciousness. It takes the investigation back many years in an attempt to uncover just how consciousness might have first emerged. Consciousness did not develop suddenly in humans - it evolved gradually. In 'The Primordial Emotions', Derek Denton, a world renowned expert on animal instinct and a leader in integrative physiology, investigates the evolution of consciousness. Central to the book is the idea that the primal emotions - elements of instinctive behaviour - were the first dawning of consciousness. Throughout he examines instinctive behaviours, such as hunger for air, hunger for minerals, thirst, and pain, arguing that the emotions elicited from these behaviours and desire for gratification culminated in the first conscious states. To develop the theory he looks at behaviour at different levels of the evolutionary tree, for example of octopuses, fish, snakes, birds, and elephants. Coupled with findings from neuroimaging studies, and the viewpoints on consciousness from some of the key figures in philosophy and neuroscience, the book presents an accessible and groundbreaking new look at the problem of consciousness.

This comprehensive textbook provides detailed information on calving management in dairy and beef cattle. Enriched with diverse learning opportunities, it conveys the fundamentals of reproductive anatomy and physiology, parturition, birth complications and various obstetrical manoeuvres, as well as dam and calf care. In order to promote best practices in this specialized subject, the book covers all significant points from conception to calving and the perinatal period. Clear chapter structures, a wealth of illustrations and videos, obstetrical case studies, and question-and-answer lists round out the reading experience, making the book a unique source of information on how to support mother cows and obtain viable offspring. In addition, readers can download the free Springer Nature Flashcards App and benefit from 77 digital study questions to test their knowledge. Calving is a significant event in terms of providing care and nutrition for mother cows and calves. The reproductive health status in cattle farms is crucial to immediately initiate lactation and new conception. Assistance by technical personnel, dystocia and stillbirth occurrences can reach ca. 50%, 14% and 6% of parturitions, respectively. Hence, zootechnical and veterinary management of calving is of great importance for animal welfare. This textbook makes a valuable contribution to teaching and everyday practice in cattle medicine and obstetrics. Veterinary students, residents, practitioners and technical personnel will discover it to be a rich learning and reference resource.

Oxygen uptake for metabolic energy demand and the elimination of the resulting carbon dioxide is one of the essential processes in all higher life forms; in the case of animals, everything from protozoans to insects and vertebrates including humans. Respiratory Biology of Animals provides a contemporary and truly integrative approach to the topic, adopting a strong evolutionary theme. It covers aerobic metabolism at all levels, from gas exchange organs such as skin, gills, and lungs to mitochondria - the site of cellular respiration. The book also describes the functional morphology and physiology of the circulatory system, which often contains gas-carrying pigments and is important for pH regulation in the organism. A final section describes the evolution of animal respiratory systems. Throughout the book, examples are selected from the entire breadth of the animal kingdom, identifying common themes that transcend taxonomy. Respiratory Biology of Animals is an accessible supplementary text suitable for both senior undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in respiratory biology, comparative animal physiology, and environmental physiology. It is also of relevance and use to the many professional academics requiring a concise but authoritative overview of the topic.

Pheromones and other kinds of chemical communication underlie the behavior of all animals. Building on the strengths of the first edition, widely recognized as the leading text in the subject, this is a comprehensive overview of how pheromones work. Extensively revised and expanded to cover advances made over the last ten years, the book offers a thorough exploration of the evolutionary and behavioral contexts of chemical communication along with a detailed introduction to the molecular and neural basis of signal perception through olfaction. At a time of ever increasing specialization, Wyatt offers a unique synthesis, integrating examples across the animal kingdom. A final chapter critically considers human pheromones and the importance of olfaction to human biology. Its breadth of coverage and readability make the book an unrivaled resource for students and researchers in a range of fields from chemistry, genetics, genomics, molecular biology and neuroscience to ecology, evolution and behavior.

In this authoritative three-volume reference work, leading researchers bring together current work to provide a comprehensive analysis of the comparative morphology, development, evolution, and functional biology of the skull.

Through its emphasis on recent research, its many summary tables, and its bibliography of more than 4,000 entries, this first modern, synthetic treatment of comparative amphibian environmental physiology emerges as "the" definitive reference for the field. Forty internationally respected experts review the primary data, examine current research trends, and identify productive avenues for future research.

In the thirty years since its discovery by Terje Lomo and Tim Bliss, Long Term Potentiation (LTP) has become one of the most extensively studied topics in contemporary neuroscience. In LTP the strength of synapses between neurons is potentiated following brief but intense activation. LTP is thought to play a central role in learning and memory, though the exact nature of its role is less clear. In spite of years of research, there are many questions about LTP regarding its functional relevance that remain unanswered - for example, is it a model of memory formation, or is the actual neural mechanism used by the brain to store information? This volume presents a state of the art account of LTP. It begins with lively accounts, by the scientists most closely involved, of the discovery of LTP and of the experiments that established its basic properties and induction mechanisms. Later contributions contain reviews and new research that cover the range of molecular, cellular, physiological and behavioural approaches to the study of LTP. Provocative, accessible, and authoritative, this book makes it clear why LTP continues in equal measure to puzzle and beguile neuroscientists today. Advance praise for Long Term Potentiation: "This book provides a definitive overview of the development of ideas about synaptic plasticity and about the wide range of current research in this fascinating field." Colin Blakemore, University of Oxford

Advances in Insect Physiology is committed to publishing eclectic volumes containing comprehensive and in-depth reviews on all aspects of insect physiology. First published in 1963, these volumes are an essential reference source for invertebrate physiologists, insect neurobiologists, entomologists, zoologists and insect biochemists. This volume is a serial index volume containing Volumes 1-29.
* Contents of Volumes 1-29
* Cumulative Subject Index
* Contributor Index

Arthropods as pests in crops, vectors of diseases, pollinators, and natural enemies of pests are of huge economic importance. They affect livestock, human health and food supplies around the world. This unique book examines and reviews how light and colour can be used to enhance pest management in agricultural and medical applications by manipulating the optical responses of arthropods. Arthropods use optical cues to find food, oviposition sites and to navigate. Light also regulates their diurnal and seasonal activities. Plants use optical cues to attract or deter various species of arthropod. In this book, an international team of experts show how light can be used successfully to attract, arrest, confuse and deter arthropods as well as to disrupt their biological clocks. The book: Presents an up-to-date and thorough summary of what is known about how arthropods of agricultural and medical importance respond to visual cues. Describes techniques that use light to manipulate pests and beneficial insects and mites. Presents a broad discussion of the potential use of optical manipulation of arthropods to improve the health of plants, domestic animals and humans.

Although birds have a rather uniform body plan and physiology, they exhibit marked variation in development type, parental care, and rate of growth. This makes them ideal for studying and understanding evolutionary adaptation. Presenting an integrative perspective of organism biology, ecology, and evolution, this book is a case study in evolutionary diversification of life histories.

Cold is the single most important enemy of life, and this book, first published in 1985, discusses the responses of living organisms to low temperatures. Subfreezing temperatures in particular affect the properties of water, which is essential to life, and the book describes the physics and chemistry of water in the context of physiology. Injury from cooling and the way in which organisms respond and survive, as well as the mechanism of cold hardening in micro-organisms, insects and plants are discussed. The laboratory exploitation of low temperatures to preserve life and to protect labile materials against freeze damage is also considered.

In the last decade, research on the previously dormant field of camouflage has advanced rapidly, with numerous studies challenging traditional concepts, investigating previously untested theories and incorporating a greater appreciation of the visual and cognitive systems of the observer. Using studies of both real animals and artificial systems, this book synthesises the current state of play in camouflage research and understanding. It introduces the different types of camouflage and how they work, including background matching, disruptive coloration and obliterative shading. It also demonstrates the methodologies used to study them and discusses how camouflage relates to other subjects, particularly with regard to what it can tell us about visual perception. The mixture of primary research and reviews shows students and researchers where the field currently stands and where exciting and important problems remain to be solved, illustrating how the study of camouflage is likely to progress in the future.

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

The Oxford Animal Biology Series is an innovative new series of supplementary undergraduate texts in comparative animal biology. Topics within each book are addressed using examples from throughout the animal kingdom, looking for parallels that transcend taxonomy. Further reading sections will guide the student into the literature at greater depth. The series will be international in scope, both in terms of the species used as examples and in references to scientific work. Energy for Animal Life, the first book in the series, is about how animals get energy, and how they use it, a central topic in our understanding of animal biology. Life depends on energy, and much of the activity of animals is devoted to getting the food which is their energy source. It encompasses the food chain, from solar radiation and photosynthesis to food sources for herbiviores and for carnivores, and compares the merits of different designs of digestive system, and of different strategies for finding and choosing food. Of course, animal energy isn't simply a question of feeding, and several chapters in turn look at energy use. The energy costs of motion - of running, swimming, and flight - are discussed in one chapter, and the energetic demands of growth and reproduction in another. A chapter on body temperature shows how the processes of life go faster at higher temperatures, and discusses how animals regulate their temperature. A final chapter draws all of these aspects of energy use together, and considers the energy budgets of several different animals, assessing the different energy gains and costs of their everyday activities in the wild. The book is truly comparative, drawing on examples from a wide range of animal species, and lots of practical information on relevant experiments is included. The style is very accessible, and suitable as supplementary reading for first and second year undergraduates taking a degree course in biological sciences.

Volume 5 in the series "Advances in Structural Biology" is based upon a selection of articles presented at the Workshop on Molecular Bio-physics of the Cytoskeleton: Microtubule Formation, Structure, Function, and Interactions (August 18-22 1997 at the Banff Conference Centre in Banff, Alberta, Canada). Its main objective was to review the state-of-the-art of the field and stimulate a multidisciplinary investigation into the molecular biology of the cytoskeleton, which is amply manifested in the articles selected and published in this volume.

Volume 2 has focused on aspects of the pituitary gland both anterior (growth hormone and prolactin receptors, and GH action) and posterior (vasopressin) pituitary. In addition, thyroid cancer and steroidogenic enzymes and precocious puberty are covered. Finally, the "hot topics" include leptin and growth factor signaling.

This book constitutes a unique source of hard-copy information on mouse variants and is an essential work of reference for biologists who use mouse genetic strains and variants in their research. The third edition reflects the great expansion of knowledge in the field in recent years, and includes new chapters and data. As in earlier editions, the main chapter provides a catalogue of all known mouse genes. Genetic maps are supported by a large table of data on recombination fractions.

This valuable resource provides a systematic account of the biochemistry of smooth muscle contraction. As a comprehensive guide to this rapidly growing area of research, it covers the structure and characteristic properties of contractile and regulatory proteins, with special emphasis on their predicted function in the live muscle. Also included in this book are intermediate filament proteins, and desmin and vimentin, whose function in smooth muscle is unknown; and several enzymes involved in the phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of contractile and other proteins.