Life depends on energy, and the majority of animal activity centers around finding energy in the form of food. Energy for Animal Life, the first book in the innovative new Oxford Animal Biology Series, gives a thorough yet precise description of how animals get and use energy -- a central topic in understanding animal biology. From solar radiation and photosynthesis to food sources for herbivores and carnivores, this book encompasses the food chain. It compares the merits of different designs of the digestive system as well as of different strategies for finding and choosing food. Several...

Optimization theory is designed to find the best ways of doing things. The structures of animals, their movements, their behavior, and their life histories have all been shaped by the optimizing processes of evolution or of learning by trial and error. In this revised edition of R. McNeill Alexander's widely acclaimed Optima for Animals, we see how extraordinarily diverse branches of biology are illuminated by the powerful methods of optimization theory.

What is the best strength for a bone? Too weak a bone will probably break but an excessively stout one will be...

This book is about the major groups of animals, their structure, physiology and ways of life.