Abstract

Physiological Mammalogy, Volume II: Mammalian Reactions to Stressful Environments deals with natural mammalian populations and their adaptations to stressful environments. The book explores the physiology and morphology of reproduction and development; water metabolism; and hibernation.
This volume is organized into three chapters and begins with a discussion of aspects of reproduction and embryology that are purely mammalian, emphasizing the mammalian reproductive organs and the evolutionary trends in such organs. The next chapter focuses on water balance in desert rodents. Inasmuch as reproduction is considerably affected by the environment, it also can be considered a process modified by environmental stresses. The final chapter examines hibernation as a mechanism for mammals to avoid periods of unfavorable environment. This chapter also describes the poikilothermic state of mammalian populations during hibernation, along with the consequences of reduced metabolic rate during hibernation.
Experimental animal biologists and those who work with mammals will find this book invaluable.