G. M. Hughes

This small book is a comprehensive account of respiration (gas exchange) in vertebrate animals. It is written at the level of the professional biologist, but understandable by graduate students and advanced undergraduates. It is now somewhat dated, as the one-way flow of air through the lung is no longer thought to be unique to birds, having been demonstrated in various extant reptiles. Likewise, our understanding of heart function in non-crocodilian reptiles is more sophisticated than was known in the early 1960s. Although I read this work carefully back in the early 1980s (and my copy of the book is filled with underlining and marginal notes), it has outlived its usefulness to me.

The book's coverage is indicated by its chapter headings, as follows:

1) Introduction
2) Aquatic respiration in fishes
3) Air breathing in fishes
4) Respiration of tetrapods
5) Metabolic activity of vertebrates
6) Control of respiration and body temperature
7) Transport of respiratory gases
8) The heart and circulatory system
9) Cellular respiration
10) Conclusions… (más)