Barry Gordon Lovegrove

Fires of Life (eBook, ePUB)

Endothermy in Birds and Mammals

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

"Vividly narrated and illustrated" this analysis of how endothermy evolved in birds and mammals is "provocative and fascinating" ( Southeastern Naturalist). 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. "A lovely synthesis. . . . A particular value of this book is the unification of the paleontological and comparative physiology literatures. I loved the images of reconstructed ancestral vertebrates; these bring the bones to life, and helped me reimagine our endothermic ancestors." -Jon Harrison, Quarterly Review of Biology "In my view Barry Gordon Lovegrove is probably the best person alive to tackle this subject in the round." -Andrew Clarke, Emeritus Fellow, British Antarctic Survey, author of Principles of Thermal Ecology "Barry Lovegrove has a history of tackling key macroevolutionary questions from the perspective of evolutionary physiology. [A] must-read." -Theodore Garland, Jr., University of California, Riverside "The evolutionary journey of endothermy in vertebrates: a lot older and hotter than you think." -Fritz Geiser, University of New England

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Yale University Press
• Seitenzahl: 381
• Erscheinungstermin: 24. Juni 2022
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780300245202
• Artikelnr.: 64219586

Autorenporträt

Barry Gordon Lovegrove is professor emeritus in the School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is the author of The Living Deserts of Southern Africa, winner of the 1995 University of Natal Book Prize, and co-editor of Hypometabolism in Animals.