Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgement 1. INTRODUCTION (a) The oxygen requirements of vertebrates (b) A comparison of air and water as respiratory media 2. AQUATIC RESPIRATION OF FISHES (a) Respiration in Cyclostomes (b) Bony fishes (i) Gill structure (ii) Counter-current principle (iii) The water flow across the gills (iv) Ventilation of the gills (v) Action of the skeletal and muscular systems during ventilation (c) Cartilaginous fishes (d) Ecological variations in the pattern of ventilation 3. AIR-BREATHING IN FISHES (a) Accessory respiratory organs (b) Lungs and the swimbladder of fishes (c) The swimbladder (i) Structure of the swimbladder (ii) Functiona the swimbladder (d) Respiration of lungfishes 4. RESPIRATION OF TETRAPODS (a) Ventilation in the Frog (b) Respiration of Reptiles (c) Birds (d) Mammals (e) Diving in Tetrapods 5. THE METABOLIC ACTIVITY OF VERTABRATES (a) Body size and metabolism (b) Metabolic rate and temperature (i) Poikilotherms (ii) Homoiotherms (iii) Hibernation 6. CONTROL OF RESPIRATION AND BODY TEMPERATURE (a) Respiration (b) Chemical regulation of respiration (c) Temperature control (i) Heat production and conservation (ii) Heat loss (iii) Nervous mechanisms 7. TRANSPORT OF THE RESPIRATORY GASES (a) The transport of oxygen (b) The transport of carbon dioxide 8. THE HEART AND CIRCULATORY SYSTEM IN RELATION TO AQUATIC AND AERIAL RESPIRATION (a) The heart and aortic arches of fishes (b) Circulation in bony fishes with air-breathing organs (c) The heart and aortic arches of Dipnoi (d) The heart and aortic arches of Amphibia (e) The heart and aortic arches of modern reptiles (f) The mammalian double circulation (g) Structural and physiological changes in the mammalian heart and circulation at birth 9. CELLULAR RESPIRATION (a) The cytochrome system (b) Energy relationships (c) The supply of ATP (d) Lactic acid and exercise 10. CONCLUSIONS Further Reading Index

About the Author

G. M. Hughes is a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and University Lecturer in Zoology.