The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine
Author: Martin Brüne
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 967
Release: 2019-01-31
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0192506781

Medicine is grounded in the natural sciences, where biology stands out with regard to our understanding of human physiology and the conditions that cause dysfunction. Ironically though, evolutionary biology is a relatively disregarded field. One reason for this omission is that evolution is deemed a slow process. Indeed, the macroanatomical features of our species have changed very little in the last 300,000 years. A more detailed look, however, reveals that novel ecological contingencies, partly in relation to cultural evolution, have brought about subtle changes pertaining to metabolism and immunology, including adaptations to dietary innovations, as well as adaptations to the exposure to novel pathogens. Rapid pathogen evolution and evolution of cancer cells cause major problems for the immune system. Moreover, many adaptations to past ecologies have actually turned into risk factors for somatic disease and psychological disorder in our modern worlds (i.e. mismatch), among which epidemics of autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, as well as several forms of cancer stand out. One could add depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions to the list. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine is a compilation of up-to-date insights into the evolutionary history of ourselves as a species, exploring how and why our evolved design may convey vulnerability to disease. Written in a classic textbook style emphasising physiology and pathophysiology of all major organ systems, the Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine is valuable reading for students as well as scholars in the fields of medicine, biology, anthropology and psychology.

Avian Immunology

Avian Immunology
Author: Bernd Kaspers
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2012-12-02
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0123972728

The second edition of Avian Immunology provides an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of avian immunology. From the ontogeny of the avian immune system to practical application in vaccinology, the book encompasses all aspects of innate and adaptive immunity in chickens. In addition, chapters are devoted to the immunology of other commercially important species such as turkeys and ducks, and to ecoimmunology summarizing the knowledge of immune responses in free-living birds often in relation to reproductive success. The book contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system, encompassing the mucosal, enteric, respiratory and reproductive systems. The diseases and disorders it covers include immunodepressive diseases and immune evasion, autoimmune diseases, and tumors of the immune system. Practical aspects of vaccination are examined as well. Extensive appendices summarize resources for scientists including cell lines, inbred chicken lines, cytokines, chemokines, and monoclonal antibodies. The world-wide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, as well as the threat of avian influenza pandemics like H5N1 and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks makes this book a vital resource. This book provides crucial information not only for poultry health professionals and avian biologists, but also for comparative and veterinary immunologists, graduate students and veterinary students with an interest in avian immunology. - With contributions from 33 of the foremost international experts in the field, this book provides the most up-to-date review of avian immunology so far - Contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system reviewing constitutive barriers, chemical and cellular responses; it includes a comprehensive review of avian Toll-like receptors - Contains a wide-ranging review of the "ecoimmunology" of free-living avian species, as applied to studies of population dynamics, and reviews methods and resources available for carrying out such research

The Lung-Air Sac System of Birds

The Lung-Air Sac System of Birds
Author: John Maina
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2005-09-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783540255956

In biology, few organs have been as elusive as the lung-air sac system of birds. Considerable progress has recently been made to fill the gaps in the knowledge. While summarizing and building on earlier observations and ideas, this book provides cutting-edge details on the development, structure, function, and the evolutionary design of the avian respiratory system. Outlining the mechanisms and principles through which biological complexity and functional novelty have been crafted in a unique gas exchanger, this account will provoke further inquiries on the many still uncertain issues. The specific goal here was to highlight the uniqueness of the design of the avian respiratory system and the factors that obligated it.

The Evolutionary, Structural and Functional Biology of the Avian Respiratory System

The Evolutionary, Structural and Functional Biology of the Avian Respiratory System
Author: John N. Maina
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2017-08-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9781498764988

The book will broadly examine and synthesize aspects of the evolution, development, structure and function of the avian respiratory system and the lung-air sac system. The following questions will be answered: from where did the avian respiratory system originate?; how did it form?; how is it built?; how does it function? and; how does the functional design of the system allow and sustain powered flight and flight at high altitude? The chapters will be contributed by an international group of researchers who are renowned authorities in their areas of specialization.

Manual of Ornithology

Manual of Ornithology
Author: Noble S. Proctor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 1993-01-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780300076196

"Here is a volume that has no parallel. . . . A good reference book for those interested in the details of avian anatomy."--Science Books & Films "A gold mine of facts. . . . Every library and biology department, as well as every birder, should have a copy close at hand."--Roger Tory Peterson, from the foreword One of the most heavily illustrated ornithology references ever written, Manual or Ornithology is a visual guide to the structure and anatomy of birds--a basic tool for investigation for anyone curious about the fascinating world of birds. A concise atlas of anatomy, it contains more than 200 specially prepared accurate and clear drawings that include material never illustrated before. The text is as informative as the drawings; written at a level appropriate to undergraduate students and to bird lovers in general, it discusses why birds look and act the way they do. Designed to supplement a basic ornithology textbook, the Manual of Ornithology covers systematics and evolution, topography, feathers and flight, the skeleton and musculature, and the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, excretory, reproductive, sensory, and nervous systems of birds, as well as field techniques for watching and studying birds. Each chapter concludes with a list of key references for the topic covered, with a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the volume.

The Biology of the Avian Respiratory System

The Biology of the Avian Respiratory System
Author: John N. Maina
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2017-04-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319441531

The central focus of this book is the avian respiratory system. The authors explain why the respiratory system of modern birds is built the way it is and works the way that it does. Birds have been and continue to attract particular interest to biologists. The more birds are studied, the more it is appreciated that the existence of human-kind on earth very much depends directly and indirectly on the existence of birds. Regarding the avian respiratory system, published works are scattered in biological journals of fields like physiology, behavior, anatomy/morphology and ecology while others appear in as far afield as paleontology and geology. The contributors to this book are world-renowned experts in their various fields of study. Special attention is given to the evolution, the structure, the function and the development of the lung-air sac system. Readers will not only discover the origin of birds but will also learn how the respiratory system of theropod dinosaurs worked and may have transformed into the avian one. In addition, the work explores such aspects as swallowing mechanism in birds, the adaptations that have evolved for flight at extreme altitude and gas exchange in eggs. It is a highly informative and carefully presented work that provides cutting edge scientific insights for readers with an interest in the respiratory biology and the evolution of birds.

In a Class of Their Own

In a Class of Their Own
Author: Gary Ritchison
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 2516
Release: 2023-11-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031148525

With more than 10,000 species that vary in size, use diverse habitats that extend across latitudes and altitudes, consume a wide variety of food items, differ in how they fly (or not), communicate, and reproduce, and have different life histories, birds exhibit remarkable variation in form (anatomy) and function (physiology). Our understanding of how natural selection has generated this variation as birds evolved and as different species adapted to their unique circumstances has grown considerably in recent years. In In a Class of Their Own: A Detailed Examination of Avian Forms and Functions, this variation is explained in great detail, beginning with an overview of avian evolution and continuing with information about the structure and function of the avian skeleton, muscles, and the various body systems. Other chapters focus on avian locomotion (including flight), migration, navigation, communication, energy balance and thermoregulation, and various aspects of avian reproduction, such as nests and nest building, clutch sizes, and parental care. In a Class of Their Own: A Detailed Examination of Avian Forms and Functions will be must reading for anyone, professional or non-professional, who needs or wants to learn more about birds.

Current Perspectives on the Functional Design of the Avian Respiratory System

Current Perspectives on the Functional Design of the Avian Respiratory System
Author: John N. Maina
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2023-09-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031351800

Birds have and continue to fascinate scientists and the general public. While the avian respiratory system has unremittingly been investigated for nearly five centuries, important aspects on its biology remain cryptic and controversial. In this book, resolving some of the contentious issues, developmental-, structural- and functional aspects of the avian lung-air sac system are particularized: it endeavors to answer following fundamental questions on the biology of birds: how, when and why did birds become what they are? Flight is a unique form of locomotion. It considerably shaped the form and the essence of birds as animals. An exceptionally efficient respiratory system capacitated birds to procure the exceptionally large quantities of oxygen needed for powered (active) flight. Among the extant air-breathing vertebrates, comprising ~11,000 species, birds are the most species-rich-, numerically abundant- and extensively distributed animal taxon. After realizing volancy, they easily overcame geographical obstacles and extensively dispersed into various ecological niches where they underwent remarkable adaptive radiation. While the external morphology of birds is inconceivably uniform for such a considerably speciose taxon, contingent on among other attributes, lifestyle, habitat and phylogenetic level of development have foremost determined the novelties that are displayed by diverse species of birds. Here, critical synthesizes of the most recent findings with the historical ones, evolution and behavior and development, structure and function of the exceptionally elaborate respiratory system of birds are detailed. The prominence of modern birds as a taxon in the Animal Kingdom is underscored. The book should appeal to researchers who are interested in evolutionary processes and how adaptive specializations correlate with biological physiognomies and exigencies, comparative biologists who focus on how various animals have solved respiratory pressures, people who study respiration in birds and other animals and ornithologists who love and enjoy birds for what they are – profoundly interesting animals.

Physiology of Cold Adaptation in Birds

Physiology of Cold Adaptation in Birds
Author: Claus Bech
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 398
Release: 1989-08
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

Workshop held June 1988. Thirty-nine contributions treat the central mechanisms of thermoregulation, heat production, metabolic adaptations, respiration and circulation, physiology of hypometabolism, breeding and incubation, and adaptations to cold in chicks. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs

Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs
Author: Nichole Klein
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2011-04-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0253013550

Sauropods, those huge plant-eating dinosaurs, possessed bodies that seem to defy every natural law. What were these creatures like as living animals and how could they reach such uniquely gigantic sizes? A dedicated group of researchers in Germany in disciplines ranging from engineering and materials science to animal nutrition and paleontology went in search of the answers to these questions. Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs reports on the latest results from this seemingly disparate group of research fields and integrates them into a coherent theory regarding sauropod gigantism. Covering nutrition, physiology, growth, and skeletal structure and body plans, this volume presents the most up-to-date knowledge about the biology of these enormous dinosaurs.