Cardio-Respiratory Control in Vertebrates Comparative and Evolutionary Aspects

About this book

The focus of Cardio-Respiratory Control in Vertebrates is the evolution of cardiovascular and respiratory control in vertebrates. Life originated in water, which has constantly changing temperatures and O₂ levels. Fish gills can extract up to 80% of their inspired O₂, because they have a countercurrent bloodstream. Oxygen sensors have been found within the gill arches of ray-finned fish such as carp and trout, and these O₂ sensors screen the inspired water and the capillary blood.

Very likely, land vertebrates and the lungfish arose as a sister group, and both possess real lungs. Lungfish include 6 species, inhabiting shallow lakes or rivers, whereas the second ramification includes all the land vertebrates. A possible ancestor to the lungfish and land vertebrates has been discovered in China, and this fossil (Styloichthys) bridges a gap. Living 417 million years ago, it could represent one of the last ramifications before the common ancestor to the lungfish and land vertebrates. In addition, rather constant atmospheric O₂ levels permit a joint acid-base regulation by the lung and the kidney. Likewise, lungfish and land vertebrates share a central control of pulmonary ventilation, while the peripheral receptor contribution to acid-base regulation is minor.

Contents

- Control of Respiration in Aquatic Vertebrates
- Overview of the Respiratory System
- Gas Transport and Gill Function in Water-Breathing Fish
- Patterns of Acid-Base Regulation During Exposure to Hypercarbia in Fishes
- Buoyancy Control in Aquatic Vertebrates
- Gas Exchange and Control of Respiration in Air-Breathing Teleost Fish
- Effects of Temperature on Cardiac Function in Teleost Fish
- Physiological Evidence Indicates Lungfish as a Sister Group to the Land Vertebrates
- Aestivation in Amphibians, Reptiles, and Lungfish
- Evolution of pulmonary mechanics and respiratory control
- Trade-offs in the Evolution of the Respiratory Apparatus of Chordates
- Environmental Selection Pressures Shaping the Pulmonary Surfactant System of Adult and Developing Lungs
- Midbrain Structures and Control of Ventilation in Amphibians
- Comparative Aspects of Hypoxia Tolerance of the Ectothermic Vertebrate Heart
- Control of the Heart and of Cardiorespiratory Interactions in Ectothermic Vertebrates
- The Endocrine-Paracrine Control of the Cardiovascular System
- Stoking the Brightest Fires of Life Among Vertebrates
- Respiratory Physiology of Birds: Metabolic Control
- Prenatal Development of Cardiovascular Regulation in Avian Species
- Control of Breathing in Birds: Implications for High-Altitude Flight
- Mammalian and Human Physiology
- Peripheral Chemoreceptors in Mammals: Structure, Function and Transduction
- Central Chemosensitivity in Mammals
- Human Exercise Physiology

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