The Design of Mammals: A Scaling Approach - Hardcover

Prothero, John William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1107110475 ISBN 13: 9781107110472

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Despite an astonishing 100 million-fold range in adult body mass from bumblebee bat to blue whale, all mammals are formed of the same kinds of molecules, cells, tissues and organs and to the same overall body plan. A scaling approach investigates the principles of mammal design by examining the ways in which mammals of diverse size and taxonomy are quantitatively comparable. This book presents an extensive reanalysis of scaling data collected over a quarter of a century, including many rarely or never-cited sources. The result is an unparalleled contribution to understanding scaling in mammals, addressing a uniquely extensive range of mammal attributes and using substantially larger and more rigorously screened samples than in any prior works. An invaluable resource for all those interested in the 'design' of mammals, this is an ideal resource for postgraduates and researchers in a range of fields from comparative physiology to ecology.

About this title

About the Author

John William Prothero served on the faculty of the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington, Seattle, from 1965 to 1999. During this time, he taught histology for fifteen years and subsequently functional neuroanatomy for nearly twenty years. He has a long-term interest in many aspects of scaling.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1107110475
• ISBN 13: 9781107110472
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 388