Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
The aim of this book is not only to describe the basic functions of the respiratory systems of vertebrates, and the diversity in these functions among vertebrates, but also to examine adaptations in these systems that allow numerous vertebrates to explore more or less extreme environments in which oxygen availability is limited or in which there is no oxygen at all.
For the organism to be able to respond to variable oxygen levels, it needs to be able to sense oxygen. This can be done either directly, by monitoring the level of O2, or indirectly, by responding to changes in the energy status of tissues or cells. Even if some oxygen-sensing structures and their functions have been examined relatively thoroughly, such as the oxygen-sensing carotid bodies in mammals, it is clear that many mechanisms related to oxygen sensing are still largely unknown, particularly when it comes to the almost mysterious ability of many (perhaps most) cells to detect and respond to changing oxygen levels. Chapter 2 will describe the present state of knowledge in this very active field of research. In Chapters 3–4, we will examine the fundamental functions of the respiratory systems of air-breathing and water-breathing vertebrates, laying out the framework for the final five chapters, which deal with adaptations to particularly challenging situations for vertebrates: life at high altitude, diving, surviving in hypoxic waters, and surviving without any oxygen at all.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.