Zoophysiology

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Latest release: June 29, 2013
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36
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After travel through Alaska during the Second World War, in 1947 I went to Barrow with a very lively group of biologists. From their productive research developed the Arctic Research Laboratory. While we examined the rather surpris ingly modest metabolic rates of arctic warmblooded animals in cold, PER SCHO LANDER proposed and then carried out measurements of metabolism of some tropi cal animals in Panama. The differences could be formulated to show the basis of adaptation to arctic cold and to tropical warmth. Imagination and logic were required to formulate the comparison so that it could become a part of science, but the essential measurements were derived from animals and plants in their own arctic and tropical environments. Characteristics that adapt the forms of life to climatic conditions of various environments appear clear in the large dimensions of extremely differing climates. At the time of my arrival in Alaska many of the arctic Eskimos were still largely dependent on natural resources of their immediate and local environment, in which great seasonal changes in temperature and solar radiation appeared as dominant factors. The living environment on which they subsisted was also mar kedly affected by the changes of the seasons, in particular by the change in state of water to ice that terminated summer and by the melting that brought the late transition from winter to summer.
Arctic Life of Birds and Mammals: Including Man
Book 2 · Dec 2012 ·
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After travel through Alaska during the Second World War, in 1947 I went to Barrow with a very lively group of biologists. From their productive research developed the Arctic Research Laboratory. While we examined the rather surpris ingly modest metabolic rates of arctic warmblooded animals in cold, PER SCHO LANDER proposed and then carried out measurements of metabolism of some tropi cal animals in Panama. The differences could be formulated to show the basis of adaptation to arctic cold and to tropical warmth. Imagination and logic were required to formulate the comparison so that it could become a part of science, but the essential measurements were derived from animals and plants in their own arctic and tropical environments. Characteristics that adapt the forms of life to climatic conditions of various environments appear clear in the large dimensions of extremely differing climates. At the time of my arrival in Alaska many of the arctic Eskimos were still largely dependent on natural resources of their immediate and local environment, in which great seasonal changes in temperature and solar radiation appeared as dominant factors. The living environment on which they subsisted was also mar kedly affected by the changes of the seasons, in particular by the change in state of water to ice that terminated summer and by the melting that brought the late transition from winter to summer.
The Significance of Zoochromes
Book 3 · Dec 2012 ·
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As the title indicates, the theme of this book is the functions of biochromes in animals. Recent works on zoochromes, such as those of D. L. Fox (1953), H. M. Fox and VEVERS (1960) and VUILLAUME (1969), have been concerned primarily with the chemical nature and the taxonomic distribution of these materials, and although function has been considered where relevant this has not been the centre of interest and certainly not the basis for the arrangement of the subject matter. Functional significance is a profitable focus of interest, since it is the one theme which can make biochromatology a discrete and integral subject, and because it is the main interest in all biological fields. At present chromatology seems to be a particularly schizoid subject since it is clear that in metabolic functions biochromes are acting in a chemical capacity whereas integumental pigments function mainly biophysically, in neurological and behavioural contexts. It is profitable to attempt an integration by studying the functions of as many chromes as possible, from all aspects.
The Ethology of Predation
Book 7 · Dec 2012 ·
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Predation is an ecological factor of almost universal importance for the biol ogist who aims at an understanding of the habits and structures of animals. Despite its pervasive nature opinions differ as to what predation really is. So far it has been defined only in negative terms; it is thought not to be par asitism, the other great process by which one organism harms another, nor filter-feeding, carrion-eating, or browsing. Accordingly, one could define predation as a process by which an animal spends some effort to locate a live prey and, in addition, spends another effort to mutilate or kill it. Ac cording to this usage of the word a nudibranch, for example, that feeds on hydroids would be a predator inasmuch as it needs some time to locate col onies of its prey which, after being located, scarcely demand more than eating, which differs little from browsing. From the definition just proposed consumption of the prey following its capture has been intentionally omit ted. Indeed, an animal may be disposed of without being eaten. Hence the biological significance of predation may be more than to maintain nutrition al homeostasis. In fact, predation may have something in common with the more direct forms of competition, a facet that will be only cursorily touched upon in this book.
African Ungulates: A Comparative Review of Their Ethology and Behavioral Ecology
Book 8 · Dec 2012 ·
2.0
This book has been written mostly within sight of wild African ungulates, at the research center in Tsavo East National Park, V oi, Kenya. While this had many positive aspects, there were also a few drawbacks. The main one of these is the fact that Voi is not exactly at the hub of scientific activity, even if we restrict ourselves to African ungulates. Thus, whereas I had felt initially that I was sufficiently familiar with ethological work on these animals to write a useful review, it soon became woefully evident that this assumption was erroneous. Over the last few years studies on African ungulates have pro liferated and results are being published in journals almost all over the world. My location in East Africa was sometimes less than ideal with respect to access to the most recent literature, and I depended to a considerable extent on the goodwill of colleagues in giving or lending me relevant papers. I am happy to report that I received a great deal of support and cooperation in this respect. Nevertheless, I may have over looked some important papers inadvertently; their authors should not feel slighted by such omissions, which only reflect availability of literature to me. Readers may also notice a considerable geographical bias in favor of East Africa, at the expense of other African regions, particularly South Africa.
Water Balance in Land Arthropods
Book 9 · Dec 2012 ·
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Writers on arthropod water relationships range from bio physicists and biochemists to population ecologists-a fact that gives cause to wonder whether the field is already too heterogeneous to be written about in a single book by a single author. I have partly avoided the problem by concentrating largely on physiological mechanisms and by omitting most aspects of behavioural regulation and most aspects of heat balance and body temperature, except when these impinge directly on water balance. Even within this limited field there has been a lot of work during the past twenty years, as a result of which some problems have been solved (or at least more clearly defined), and many others have been opened up. On the whole there has been a welcome change to a more rigorous experimental approach and it is now possible for water balance people to state their problems in physiological terms. Good progress has been made towards understanding the mechanisms involved in nearly all avenues of water uptake and loss, although problems indeed remain. The cuticle has yielded part of its secrets to electron micrography, but ex ploration by means oflipid biochemistry among other techniques is necessary for a real understanding of cuticle permeability.
Carabid Beetles in Their Environments: A Study on Habitat Selection by Adaptations in Physiology and Behaviour
Book 10 · Dec 2012 ·
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With the increasing numbers of research workers and groups of investigators devoting themselves to the ecology of carabids I felt that the time had come to take stock of the existing knowledge in this field and to endeavour to weld my personal results and those of other workers into a comprehensive picture. It was with these aims in mind that the following study was conceived. A further goal was to attempt to show to what extent research on carabids can contribute to the larger fields of research encompassing ecology, ethology and evolution. In my opinion the investigations on carabids permit us to draw conclusions of general applicability and, as such, comparable with those made in recent years upon other groups of animals. I am well aware of the risk involved nowadays in attempting, on one's own, to integrate results from a wide variety of scientific disciplines into a meaningful whole, and for this reason I am always grateful for corrections and for additional information. It is impossible for me to mention by name all of the col leagues who have given me their support in the preparation of the book. Reprints of their publications have been placed at my disposal by almost all of the authors cited, as well as by others whose names and works have been omitted merely in order to prevent the book from taking on encyclopedic pro portions. I am nevertheless indebted to them all for their cooperation.
Diversity and Adaptation in Fish Behaviour
Book 11 · Dec 2012 ·
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Fish are extremely successful vertebrates. Because of a long and divergent history they are now found in almost every conceiv able aquatic habitat. This radiation has been accompanied by great diversity in structure, physiology, and behaviour. Despite this variability, fish must solve a number of basic problems that are common to all animals. The most important of these are: (1) to find and ingest appropriate food; (2) to avoid predation; and (3) to reproduce. The main purpose of this book is to describe the variety of behavioural strategies that fish use in coping with these problems. My approach has been to draw together material from both field and laboratory work that is widely scattered in the litera ture. The major emphasis is on field studies, since my main concern is with adaptive solutions to problems, and I believe these are most likely to be correctly perceived by workers who are familiar with the natural ecological setting of their animals. Of course, many details of behaviour cannot be seen and quantified adequately in the field, and therefore I have not ignored laboratory studies. However, even here I have concen trated on work that illustrates the variety of solutions that fish use to solve the three basic problems. Much important work, for instance on causation, development, and learning, is not included.
Osmoregulation in Birds
Book 12 · Dec 2012 ·
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The approach of this treatise is physiological throughout. In the eyes of the author it answers the rhetorical question raised by Maurice B. Visscher at the Physiology Congress in Washington D. C. in 1968: Does physiology exist? What he meant by this question was whether the fields of cellular physiology and physiology of the various organ systems had become so large that physiology as such had vanished. The firm answer is that physiology does indeed exist. Although it is important to study physiological problems at the subcellular level, it is importan- and equally difficult - to study organ regulation at the cellular level, organ interaction, and integration into the whole organism. An account of avian osmoregulation from an integrated point of view is attempted in this book. Since reading Homer W. Smith's From Fish to Philosopher and August Krogh's Osmoregulation in Aquatic Animals verte brate osmoregulation has been in the center of the author's interest. The focus was set on avian osmoregulation after personal contact with the School of Krogh when working in the laboratory of Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen. The fundamental concepts and isotope techniques introduced by Hans H. Ussing have been of constant inspiration. An excellent example for the study of osmoregulation at the cellular level was given by the late Jean Maetz. The writing of this book was suggested by Donald S. Farner who is thanked for thorough editorial assistance, and especially with help in the subtle semantic peculiarities of the English language.
Autonomic Nerve Function in the Vertebrates
Book 13 · Dec 2012 ·
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The intention of this book is to offer a comprehensive description and discussion of autonomic nerve function in the vertebrates from several points of view. Sections on anatomy, biochemistry of the transmitter substances and the structure, physiology and pharmacology of the different types of autonomic neurons have been included, together with chapters dealing with the autonomic nervous control of some organs and organ systems in the different vertebrate groups. Although knowledge in several of these areas is based primarily on studies of mammals, a certain emphasis has been placed on the autonomic nerve functions in the non-mammalian vertebrates to describe, from a comparative physiological point of view, the adaptations and possible "phylogenetic trends" in the development of the autonomic nerve functions in the vertebrates. It is very obvious that the literature created by the vigorous research activities within the fields of autonomic nervous anatomy, histochemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology and physiology is vast indeed, and not all aspects of the subject may have received fair treatment in the present volume. With an analogy from astronomy, it is hoped that the mass compressed into this book has reached the level of an energy-emitting neutron star, rather than the black hole which would be the result of compressing too large a mass.
Olfactory Imprinting and Homing in Salmon: Investigations into the Mechanism of the Imprinting Process
Book 14 · Dec 2012 ·
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Chance Favors Only the Prepared Mind How does a scientist go about the task of pushing back the curtains of the unknown? Certainly the romance of tackling the mysteries of nature provides the motivation, for who would not be inspired by the remarkable life history of this romantic beast, the salmon. After living in the Pacific Ocean for several years, salmon swim thousands of kilometers back to the stream of their birth to spawn. I have always been fascinated by the homing migration of salmon. Noone who has seen a 20-kilogram salmon fling itself into the air repeatedly until it is exhausted in a vain effort to surmount a waterfall can fail to marvel at the strength of the instinct that draws the salmon upriver to the stream where it was born. But how does it find its way back? I was puzzling over this problem during a family vacation in 1946. Inspired by the work of the great German Nobel Laureates, Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz, I had been conducting research with my graduate student Theodore Walker, since 1945, on the ability of fishes to discriminate odors emanating from aquatic plants. Von Frisch had studied schooling minnows and discovered that, if broken, their skin emitted a con specific chemical substance, termed Schreckstoff, which caused other members of its school to disperse and hide.
Spermatophores: Development, Structure, Biochemical Attributes and Role in the Transfer of Spermatozoa
Book 15 · Dec 2012 ·
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Physiology and biochemistry of male reproductive function and semen became the main area of my research in 1944, after my attention was finally diverted frorp. animal cells in general, to mammalian spermatozoa specifically~ Ever since, the interest has remained largely focussed on reproductive probletns in mammals, the work continuing mostly at the University of Cambridge, where I was privileged to hold also the Marshall Walton Professorship in Physiology of Reproduction. This work led to the publication of three books, The Biochemistry of Semen (Methuen 1954), The Biochemistry of Semen and of the Male Reproductive Tract (Methuen 1964) and lately, in co authorship with my wife, Dr. Cecilia Lutwak-Mann, Male Re productive Function and Semen - Themes and Trends in Phys iology, Biochemistry and Investigative Andrology (Springer Verlag 1981). In 1960, thanks to the Lalor Foundation, I was able to avail myself for the first time of a chance to visit the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and there to take part in a study of reproduction in marine animals. Ever since, first as Visiting Professor of Biology at the State University of Florida, and later as the Walker Ames Professor and frequent visitor to the Department of Zoology at the University of Washington in Seattle, it has been my good fortune to sustain this pew interest and to pursue it further.
Adaptation to Altitude-Hypoxia in Vertebrates
Book 16 · Dec 2012 ·
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Adaptation to altitude hypoxia is characterized by a variety offunctional changes which collectively facilitate oxygen trans port from the ambient medium to the cells of the body. All of these changes can be seen at one time or another in the course of hypoxic exposure. Yet, as already stressed (Hannon and Vogel, 1977), an examination of the literature gives only a sketchy and often conflicting picture of the exact nature of these changes and how they interact as a function of exposure duration. This is partly because of the limited number of variables explored in a given study, but it is also attributable to differences in experimental design, differences among species in susceptibility to hypoxia, nonstandardized experimental conditions, lack of proper control of physical (e. g. , temperature) and physiological variables (e. g. , body mass), failure to take measurements at key periods of exposure, and gaps in knowledge about some fundamental mechanisms. Furthermore the available data on animals native to high altitude are meager and/or inconclusive. Extensive further work under well-controlled experimental conditions is required before a detailed picture can be made. Nevertheless, it has been a guiding principle in the prepara tion of this monograph rather to summarize the vastly dis persed material that constitutes the comparative physiology of adaptation to high altitude into a coherent picture, than to provide a comprehensive survey of the field.
The Control of Fish Migration
Book 17 · Dec 2012 ·
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Fish migration is important and spectacular. Migratory fish gather energy in one portion of the environment and transport it to other areas, where it often becomes available to humans or to other elements in the ecosystem. Migration brings fish into situations that allow easy harvest as they concentrate along migration routes. Their journeys also make them vulnerable to human intereference at critical points along their route. Salmon, for example, may harvest plankton in the open ocean and transport that food energy to coastal and inland regions, where it is captured by fisheries or deposited in inland streams and utilized by the flora and fauna of the region. These salmon are able to complete journeys of thousands of kilometers from their natal streams to oceanic feeding grounds and back to the same home streams, an accomplishment that strains our credi bili ty . We now understand some of the timing and guiding stimuli used in these migrations, and mechanisms can be logically proposed, on the basis of the established abilities of fishes, to account for the unexplained portions of the migrations. There is no single factor guiding these fish. Instead, they are dependent on the presence in their environment of a great variety of appropriate orienting and timing stimuli. These stimuli are vulnerable to human interference. The more widespread and easily available the information on these requirements, the more readily fish can be protected from such interference.
Circannual Rhythms: Endogenous Annual Clocks in the Organization of Seasonal Processes
Book 18 · Dec 2012 ·
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In addition to the more or less static properties of the environ ment, plants and animals must cope with its temporal variations. Among the most conspicuous temporal changes to which organisms are exposed are periodic phenomena generated by the rotation of the earth about its axis, its revolution around the sun, and the more complex movements of the moon in relation to both sun and earth. The first two of these astronomical cycles are basic to the familiar daily and annual rhythms, respectively, in the environment. The third generates somewhat more complex cycles, such as those in moonlight and variations in tides. These environmental cycles have provided challenges and opportunities for organisms to adjust their physiology and behavior to them. Indeed, the predictability inherent to these periodic processes has enabled organisms to evolve innate endogenous rhythmic programs that match the environmental cycles and allow, in a variety of different ways, adjustment of biological activities to the cycles of environmental changes. The endogenous nature of rhythmicity was first clearly recognized in the 1930's in daily periodicities, the most widely distributed and best investigated class of biological rhythms of this type. In the 1950's, demonstrations of endogenous tidal and lunar rhythms, which occur in some littoral and marine organisms, ensued. Another decade passed before endogenous annual periodicities were first demonstrated unambiguously.
Calcium in Muscle Activation: A Comparative Approach
Book 19 · Dec 2012 ·
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This book offers a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to excitation-contraction-coupling in smooth and striated mus cles, including the myocardium. It is an account of the path ways and mechanisms by which cellular calcium is handled and activates the contractile proteins. It also describes how these mechanisms are adapted in various kinds of muscle to meet specific functional requirements, such as speed or economy. This monograph then presents facts, ideas and theories and the evidence on which they are based, and ifit stimulates others and furthers research, it will have served its purpose. All of the chapters are self-contained and may be read in any order, but readers unfamiliar with muscle are recommended to start with the introductory chapter on excitation and contraction. During all the years of writing this book, I received enormous help from Isolde Berger who corrected, edited and transformed my innumerable notes and drafts into a readable manuscript; she also compiled the list of references and the Subject Index. I owe a great debt of gratitude to her and also to Claudia Zeugner, who prepared the figures with expertise and care. Then I would like to thank the Deutsche F orschungs gemeinschaft and the Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung for supporting the work of my Department which has been reported in this monograph. A great many people contributed with helpful discussions.
Comparative Aspects of Extracellular Acid-Base Balance
Book 20 · Dec 2012 ·
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Interest in comparative acid-base physiology has considerably grown during last decades even in the absence of major technical or conceptual advances. This is firstly because it has become clear that the extracellular acid-base state reflects the performance of many exchange functions at the organism level: respiration and ventilation of the gas exchange surfaces, metab olism, iono-and osmoregulation. Such functions are much in fluenced by ambient conditions, and the measurement of acid base parameters thus provides useful information about the organism's responses to environmental challenges. Secondly, many processes at the molecular level are now known to be pH sensitive, and acid-base regulation thus appears to be a major requirement for the functional integrity of cells and organisms. How extracellular acid-base balance can be maintained in a wide variety of animals living in different conditions is the sub ject of this book. The approach is comparative and environ mental throughout. All body fluids share similar buffer proper ties, and common physicochemical principles apply to any acid base system. However, in accord with differing designs and con straints along animal evolution, varying effector organs and mechanisms are at work to maintain an appropriate acid-base state in the organism. Particular emphasis is placed on the fun damental differences between water and air breathers and on the acid-base and respiratory problems arising at the transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial life. Also the complex array of factors influencing the acid-base state in water-dwelling animals is thoroughly discussed.
The Comparative Physiology of the Pancreatic Islets
Book 21 · Dec 2012 ·
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As far as we are aware, this is the first attempt to cover the com parative physiology of the pancreatic islets in a monograph. The topics discussed would probably have sufficed to fill about half a dozen monographs, a matter that becomes obvious from a look at the Contents. Hence, we have tried to present the ma terial more in the form of a digest, to emphasize evolutionary perspectives, to point out critical issues, and to identify challenging topics for future research. This approach required an arbitrary reduction of the num ber of references, and we therefore join the chorus of recent authors who beg their colleagues for understanding if some of their publications do not appear in the bibliography. Keeping up with the current literature was like fighting one of those monsters that grow a couple of new heads for each one that is cut off. Nevertheless, we hope that we have covered most of the key publications up to the autumn of 1986. We gratefully acknowledge the advice of many colleagues, and in particular the invaluable criticisms of Robert L. Hazelwood and Erika Plisetskaya. Special thanks are due to the series editor, Donald S. Farner, for his patience and guidance, both of which were fresh proof of his legendary diplomatic skills. Finally, we wish to thank Dr. D. Czeschlik and his staff at the Springer Verlag for their patience and support. Philadelphia, PA AUGUST EpPLE Greenville, NC JACK E. BRINN September 1987 v Contents Chapter 1. Introduction .......................... .
Comparative Physiology of the Vertebrate Kidney
Book 22 · Dec 2012 ·
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This volume emphasizes the comparative approach to under standing vertebrate renal function. I am convinced that this approach is of particular value in understanding both the details of renal function at the cellular and subcellular levels and the renal role in regulating fluid volumes and solute concentrations. My exposure to this approach first occurred during a student research experience in the laboratory of Wilbur H. Sawyer, who also provided an introduction to the works of Homer W. Smith and August Krogh. The importance of this approach was reinforced by doctoral and postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen. It has been confirmed through years of personal experience since then. My research and my understanding of renal function have been aided through the years by collaboration and discussion with numerous students and associates. Of particular impor tance in developing my views on comparative renal function, and especially on the relationship of structure to function, has been my long association with my colleague and friend, Eldon J. Braun. Donald S. Farner, who suggested the writing of this volume, provided valuable editorial assistance. Much of my personal research in this area has been supported over the years by grants from the United States National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. The writing of this volume was completed while I was in Wiirzburg, Federal Republic of Germany, supported by a Senior U.S. Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Diverse Divers: Physiology and behavior
Book 23 · Dec 2012 ·
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This book is not a conventional review of diving physiology. The coverage of the literature has been selective rather than en compassing, the emphasis has been on field studies rather than laboratory investigations, and the dive responses described are often discussed from the perspective of some of the flaws or weaknesses in the conclusions. Some of these points are of more historical interest to note how our concepts have evolved as we learn more about behavior and responses to natural diving in contrast to forced submersions in the laboratory. As a result there is a degree of evaluation of some experiments on my part that may seem obvious or controversial to the specialist. I have followed this planat times in order to aid the reader, who I hope is often an untergraduate or graduate stu dent, the nonspecialist, and the layman, in appreciating to some degree the level of dissatisfaction or skepticism about certain areas of research in diving physiology. In view of historical boundaries in vertebrate biology, the subject is of broad enough importance to catch the interest of a wide audience of readers if I have done my job well. For ex ample, of the major epochal transitions or events there have been in vertebrate history, three come immediately to mind: (1) The transition from aquatic to aerial respiration which ultimately led to a broad occupation of terrestrial habitats. (2) The development of endothermy.
Ovarian Follicles in Reptiles and Birds
Book 24 · Mar 2013 ·
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In 1954, when I obtained my B. Sc. (Honours School) degree in Zoology, I was asked by my advisor, the late Professor Vishwa Nath, to make comparative cytological studies of oogenesis in birds for my M. Sc. (Honours School) thesis submitted to the Panjab University in 1956. Using the classical techniques of cytology, I studied the various aspects of follicle growth and atresia in five species of birds. Professor Vishwa Nath, who himself devoted most of his life to the study of the comparative cytology of gametogenesis in animals, was so much impressed by my findings on avian oogenesis that he asked me to continue my research work for the Ph. D. degree under his supervision. During my research work on avian oogenesis, I became very much interested in further comparative study of ovarian follicles in vertebrates and thus decided to make comparative, morphological and histochemical studies of ovarian follicles in reptiles, birds and mammals. Actually, very little information was available in this regard in 1957 when I started working for the Ph. D. degree. In subsequent years, I and my numerous dedicated and highly motivated M. Sc. and Ph. D. students con tinued to make comparative, morphological, histochemical, biochemical and physiological studies of ovarian follicles in all groups of vertebrates. In connection with the subject of this book, I would like to make special mention of my two brilliant students, namely Dr. S. K. Varma and Dr. R. K.