Efficiency and Economy in Animal Physiology

About this book

There is often confusion over the meaning and usage of terms such as efficiency, economy, effectiveness, optimization and perfection in biology. This book defines and discusses these concepts within a broad evolutionary perspective and considers how evolutionary pressures can affect the economy and efficiency of animals. Chapters consider biomaterials, skeletal systems, muscular function, aquatic and terrestrial locomotion, and cardiovascular systems. The result is a book of interest to all biologists, particularly those working in the field of comparative physiology and evolutionary biology.

Contents

1. Efficiency, effectiveness, perfection, optimization: their use in understanding vertebrate evolution C. Gans; 2. On the efficiency of energy transformations in cells and animals R. W. Blake; 3. Adapting skeletal muscle to be efficient C. J. Pennycuick; 4. Efficiency and other criteria for evaluating the quality of structural biomaterials J. M. Gosline; 5. Efficiency and optimization in the design of skeletal support systems A. A. A . Biewener and J. E. A. Bertram; 6. Efficiency in aquatic locomotion: limitations from single cells to animals T. Daniel; 7. The concepts of efficiency and economy in land locomotion R. J. Full; 8. Respiration in air-breathing vertebrates: optimisation and efficiency in design and function W. K. Milsom; 9. Cardiac energetics and the design of vertebrate arterial systems D. R. Jones; 10. An evolutionary perspective on the concept of efficiency; how does function evolve? G. V. Lauder.

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