Table of Contents

The Evolution of Birds with Implications from new Fossil Evidences.- The Avian Lingual and Laryngeal Apparatus within the Jaw Apparatus and in Comparison with the Mammalian Condition: Functional Morphology and Biomechanics of Evaporative Cooling, Feeding, Drinking, and Vocalization.- Pulmonary Transformations of Vertebrates.- Flying High: The Unique Physiology of Birds that Fly at High Altitudes.- Molecular Aspects of Avian Lung Development.- Development of the Airways and the Vasculature in the Lungs of Birds.- Structure and Function of Avian Pulmonary Capillaries: Comparison with Mammals.- Functional Design of the Mature Avian respiratory System.- Structure and Function of the Shell and the Chorioallantoic Membrane of the Avian Egg: Embryonic Respiration.

About the Author

John N. Maina served as a professor of veterinary anatomy for 17 years at the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and of human anatomy for 13 years at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). He currently works as a research professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been investigating the structure of the avian respiratory system for nearly four decades and published 150 papers in peer reviewed journals, 12 book chapters and 5 books on the comparative functional design of the gas exchangers. He has collaborated with others both nationally and internationally, held appointments in various academic institutions and has been invited to give lectures at different meetings/conferences and academic institutions. He has lectured in courses pertaining to the structure and function of the animal and the human bodies.