Description

This text lays out the principles of mechanistic comparative physiology in an ecological and evolutionary context. The subject of evolutionary physiology has been advancing considerably and this book will bring readers up to date on a number of new techniques, ideas and data. Topics include NMR spectroscopy and molecular biology, evolution and adaptation, phylogenetically based analytical techniques and more.

Features

• Presents an integrated analysis of adaption from the molecular level to the level of whole organism function
• Discusses the impacts of environmental variables on organisms, followed by a detailed exploration of the mechanisms by which biochemical systems adapt to these environmental challenges
• The origins of novel biochemical traits are discussed in terms of exploitation of pre-existing genetic information to generate new functions

Reviews

"The result is a masterpiece: exciting, invigorating, and challenging."--Science , VOL 296, April 2002

"Noting that "an underlying unity in biochemical design persists in the face of a remarkable degree of adaptive diversification in biochemical structures and processes," Hochachka (zoology, radiology, and sports medicine, U. of British Columbia, Canada) and Somero (director, Stanford U.'s Hopkins Marine Station) explain the evolutionary and genetic mechanisms by which organisms' biochemical systems have adapted so as to exploit a huge range of ecological niches on the land and in the sea. They review and analyzing the scientific literature that has appeared in the past 15 years. They come to three main conclusions about the adaptive process: that it is highly conservative and preserves biochemical unity, that the time available to an organism to fabricate and adaptive response governs strongly the types of materials that can be exploited, and that the organizational complexity of an organism create regulatory constraints not found in less complex organisms."--SciTech Book News

Product Details

480 pages; 156 b&w halftones/line illus; 7 x 10; ISBN13: 978-0-19-511703-5ISBN10: 0-19-511703-4

About the Author(s)