Learn Animal Physiology with Knut Schmidt-nielsen's Classic Textbook (PDF Download)
Fisiologia Animal Knut Schmidt-nielsen Pdf Downloadl
If you are interested in learning more about how animals work and how they adapt to different environments, you might want to read Fisiologia Animal by Knut Schmidt-nielsen. This is a classic textbook on animal physiology that covers a wide range of topics from respiration to movement. In this article, we will give you an overview of the book, its author, and how you can download it as a PDF file.
Fisiologia Animal Knut Schmidt-nielsen Pdf Downloadl
Who was Knut Schmidt-nielsen and why is his book important?
Knut Schmidt-nielsen (1915-2007) was a Norwegian-born American physiologist who made significant contributions to the field of comparative physiology. He studied how animals cope with extreme conditions such as high altitude, low temperature, and desert environments. He also conducted experiments on animals such as camels, penguins, kangaroos, and whales. He was a professor at Duke University for over 40 years and received many honors and awards for his research.
One of his most influential works was Fisiologia Animal (Animal Physiology), which was first published in 1975 and has been revised and updated several times since then. The book is widely used as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in physiology and zoology. It is also a valuable reference for researchers and professionals in related fields. The book is praised for its clear style, comprehensive coverage, and focus on the fundamental principles of animal physiology according to major environmental features such as oxygen, food and energy, temperature, and water.
What is animal physiology and how does it relate to adaptation and environment?
Animal physiology is the branch of biology that studies how animals function at different levels of organization, from molecules to cells to organs to systems. It also examines how animals interact with their physical and biological environments and how they respond to changes in these environments. Animal physiology is closely related to other disciplines such as anatomy, biochemistry, genetics, ecology, evolution, and behavior.
One of the main goals of animal physiology is to understand how animals adapt to different environmental conditions. Adaptation is the process by which animals adjust their structure or function to enhance their survival and reproduction. For example, some animals have special adaptations that allow them to live in high altitudes where oxygen is scarce, such as increased hemoglobin levels or enlarged lungs. Other animals have adaptations that enable them to cope with low temperatures, such as thick fur or antifreeze proteins.
Animal physiology also explores how animals regulate their internal environment despite external fluctuations. This is called homeostasis, which means maintaining a stable state of balance within the body. For example, animals regulate their body temperature by sweating or shivering, their blood pressure by dilating or constricting blood vessels, and their blood glucose by secreting insulin or glucagon. Homeostasis involves complex feedback mechanisms that involve sensors, integrators, effectors, and signals.
What are the main topics covered in the book?
The book is divided into five parts, each covering a major aspect of animal physiology. Here is a brief summary of each part and its chapters:
Respiration
This part deals with how animals obtain and transport oxygen, which is essential for cellular respiration and energy production. It covers the following topics:
Oxygen transport in blood: how oxygen is carried by hemoglobin or other molecules in the blood and how it is affected by factors such as pH, temperature, and carbon dioxide.
Facilitated diffusion: how oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse across membranes with the help of special proteins called transporters or channels.
Circulation: how blood flows through the heart and blood vessels and how it is regulated by the nervous and endocrine systems.
Invertebrate circulation: how animals without a closed circulatory system, such as insects, mollusks, and crustaceans, transport oxygen and nutrients through their body fluids.
Blood coagulation and hemostasis: how blood clots form and prevent excessive bleeding and how they are dissolved when no longer needed.
Food and energy
This part deals with how animals digest, absorb, and utilize food, which is the source of energy and nutrients for growth and maintenance. It covers the following topics:
Digestion: how food is broken down into smaller molecules by mechanical and chemical processes in the mouth, stomach, intestines, and accessory organs such as the liver and pancreas.
Metabolism: how food molecules are converted into energy (ATP) or other compounds (such as fats, proteins, or carbohydrates) by biochemical pathways such as glycolysis, Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, or fermentation.
Thermoregulation: how animals maintain their body temperature within a narrow range by producing or losing heat through metabolic processes, conduction, convection, radiation, or evaporation.
Water and osmotic regulation
This part deals with how animals balance their water and salt levels, which are important for maintaining cell volume and function. It covers the following topics:
Excretion: how animals eliminate waste products such as ammonia, urea, or uric acid from their body fluids by organs such as the kidneys, skin, gills, or Malpighian tubules.
Salt balance: how animals regulate their salt concentration in their body fluids by absorbing or secreting ions such as sodium, potassium, chloride, or calcium through membranes or specialized cells such as epithelia or glands.
Kidney function: how the mammalian kidney filters blood, reabsorbs water and solutes, secretes wastes, and produces urine by structures such as the nephron, glomerulus, tubule, loop of Henle, collecting duct, or bladder.
Movement and information
This part deals with how animals move and sense their environment. It covers the following topics:
Muscle contraction: how skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles contract and relax by sliding filaments of actin and myosin powered by ATP.
Nerve impulses: how neurons transmit electrical signals along their axons by opening and closing ion channels that generate action potentials.
Sensory systems: how animals detect stimuli such as light, sound, touch, smell, taste, temperature, or pain by receptors that convert physical or chemical signals into nerve impulses.
Control and integration
This part deals with how animals coordinate their physiological functions by integrating information from different sources. It covers the following topics:
Hormones: how chemical messengers secreted by endocrine glands regulate various processes such as growth, development, reproduction, metabolism, stress response, or behavior.
Feedback mechanisms: how negative feedback loops maintain homeostasis by reducing deviations from a set point and how positive feedback loops amplify responses to a stimulus.
Homeostasis: how animals maintain a stable internal environment despite external fluctuations by adjusting their physiological parameters such as blood pressure, blood glucose, body temperature, or pH.
How can you download the PDF version of the book?
If you want to read Fisiologia Animal by Knut Schmidt-nielsen on your computer or mobile device, you can download it as a PDF file from various sources. Here are some of them:
Q: Where can I find more resources on animal physiology?
A: There are many resources on animal physiology that you can access online or offline. Some of the online resources include the following websites:
Cambridge University Press: Animal Physiology: This is the official website of the publisher of Fisiologia Animal by Knut Schmidt-nielsen. You can find information about the book, its author, its editions, and its features. You can also purchase or access the digital version of the book.
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology: This is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research articles on animal physiology. You can browse or search for articles on various topics such as respiration, metabolism, thermoregulation, osmoregulation, excretion, movement, sensory systems, hormones, and homeostasis.
The Physiological Society: This is a professional organization that promotes and supports the study of physiology. You can find information about membership, events, publications, education, outreach, and careers. You can also access various resources such as podcasts, videos, blogs, newsletters, and grants.
Some of the offline resources include the following books:
Animal Physiology: From Genes to Organisms by Lauralee Sherwood, Hillar Klandorf, and Paul Yancey: This is another textbook on animal physiology that covers similar topics as Fisiologia Animal by Knut Schmidt-nielsen. It emphasizes the integration of molecular and cellular mechanisms with whole-animal function and adaptation.
Principles of Animal Physiology by Christopher Moyes and Patricia Schulte: This is another textbook on animal physiology that covers similar topics as Fisiologia Animal by Knut Schmidt-nielsen. It focuses on the diversity and evolution of physiological traits among animals and their ecological implications.
Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Animals by Pat Willmer, Graham Stone, and Ian Johnston: This is a book on animal physiology that covers topics related to how animals cope with environmental challenges such as temperature, water availability, salinity, oxygen levels, and pollutants. It explores the physiological mechanisms and evolutionary adaptations that enable animals to survive and thrive in various habitats.
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