| Description |
1 online resource (xxii, 356 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
PART I. The story in the rocks -- A narrative of travels -- Conquering land: ticking boxes -- The Karoo -- The permo-triassic kick-start -- Reptile takeover -- The great shrinking -- Feathers and fur -- Taking to the air -- The heat of darkness -- PART II. The story in the bloods -- The day of reckoning -- Clown mouse and golden mole -- Madness -- Ankarafantsika -- Ancient hibernation -- Twenty-four nipples -- The pronghorn pinnacle -- Cool sperm -- Why we are hot -- Appendix one: heat on demand -- Appendix two: nasal evaporative cooling -- Appendix three: family trees -- References -- Index |
| Summary |
A groundbreaking argument on how endothermy-arguably the most important innovation in vertebrate evolution-developed in birds and mammals This pioneering work investigates why endothermy, or "warm-bloodedness," evolved in birds and mammals, despite its enormous energetic costs. Arguing that single-cause hypotheses to explain the origins of endothermy have stalled research since the 1970s, Barry Gordon Lovegrove advances a novel conceptual framework that considers multiple potential causes and integrates data from the southern as well as the northern hemisphere. Drawing on paleontological data; research on extant species in places like the Karoo, Namaqualand, Madagascar, and Borneo; and novel physiological models, Lovegrove builds a compelling new explanation for the evolution of endothermy. Vividly narrated and illustrated, this book stages a groundbreaking argument that should prove provocative and fascinating for specialists and lay readers alike |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Warm-blooded animals -- Evolution
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Evolution (Biology)
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Macroevolution.
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Body temperature -- Regulation.
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Mammals.
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Body Temperature Regulation
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Mammals
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Mammalia (class)
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MEDICAL -- Physiology.
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SCIENCE -- Life Sciences -- Human Anatomy & Physiology.
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Mammals
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Body temperature -- Regulation
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Evolution (Biology)
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Macroevolution
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780300245202 |
|
0300245203 |
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