
The Lung-Air Sac System of Birds
Development, Structure, and Function
John N. Maina(Author)
Springer (Publisher)
Published on 14. October 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
XVI, 210 pages
978-3-642-06501-9 (ISBN)
Description
In biology, few organs have been as elusive as the lung-air sac system of birds. Considerable progress has recently been made to fill the gaps in the knowledge. While summarizing and building on earlier observations and ideas, this book provides cutting-edge details on the development, structure, function, and the evolutionary design of the avian respiratory system. Outlining the mechanisms and principles through which biological complexity and functional novelty have been crafted in a unique gas exchanger, this account will provoke further inquiries on the many still uncertain issues. The specific goal here was to highlight the uniqueness of the design of the avian respiratory system and the factors that obligated it.
More details
Edition
Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 2005
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin
Germany
Publishing group
Springer Berlin
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Research
Illustrations
89 s/w Abbildungen, 5 farbige Abbildungen
XVI, 210 p. 94 illus., 5 illus. in color.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
353 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-642-06501-9 (9783642065019)
DOI
10.1007/3-540-29727-8
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
09/2005
Springer
€160.49
Shipment within 10-15 days
Person
Achieving a BVM from the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and PhD and DVSc from the University of Liverpool (UK), John N. Maina has served as a professor of veterinary anatomy at the University of Nairobi and of human anatomy at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). He currently holds a position of Research Professor of Zoology at the University of Johannesburg. He has extensively comparatively investigated the functional designs of gas exchangers, mainly the lung-air sac system of birds and the bronchioalveolar lung of bats (Chiroptera). He has considerably published on the subject.
Content
Flight.- Development.- Qualitative Morphology.- Quantitative Morphology (Morphometry).- Comparative Respiratory Morphology.