Animal Energetics, Volume 1: Protozoa through Insecta provides information pertinent to bioenergetics, which is the study of energy transformation in living systems that can be studied at various levels of biological organization, including organismic, population, as well as molecular and cellular. This book discusses the various facets of animal energetics. Comprised of 10 chapters, this book starts with an overview of the wide spectrum of trophic types found within the free-living Protozoa. This text then discusses the substantial differences that occur in the growth, respiration, and overall feeding activities of sponges. Other chapters consider the evolution of symbioses in platyhelminths and rhynchocoelans, which provides an opportunity to understand the physiological adaptations that are favored in their life cycle. This book discusses as well the data on energetics of predators, pests, and parasitoids. The final chapter deals with the inherent difficulties encountered in the estimation of bioenergetics components. Nutritionists, biologists, physiologists, and ecologists will find this book useful.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.

This book represents the first attempt to quantify environmental factors and life history traits that accelerate or decelerate species diversity in animals. About 15%, 8% and 77% of species are distributed in marine (70% of earth’s surface), freshwater (terra firma fosters more diversity. The harsh hadal, desert and elevated montane habitats restrict diversity to 0.5-4.2%. Costing more time and energy, osmotrophic and suspension modes of food acquisition limit diversity to Selfing hermaphrodites (0.9%), parthenogens ( Incidence of heterogamety is four-times more in males than in females. Hence, evolution is more a male-driven process. Egg size is determined by environmental factors, but lecithality is genetically fixed. In poikilotherms, sex is also determined by gene(s), but differentiation by environmental factors. The extra-ovarian vitellogenesis (> 96%), spermatozoan (81%) rather than spermatophore mechanism of sperm transfer, promiscuity and polygamy over monogamy, iteroparity (99.6%) over semelparity and internal fertilization (84%) are preferred, as they accelerate diversity. Body size and egg size determine fecundity. Indirect life cycle (82%) and incorporation of feeding larval stages accelerate diversity. Brooding and viviparity (6.4%) decelerate it. Parasitism extends life span and liberates fecundity from eutelism. Evolution is an ongoing process, and speciation and extinction are its unavoidable by-products. The in-built conservation mechanism of reviving life after a sleeping duration has been reduced from a few million years in microbial spores to a few thousand years in plant seeds and a few hundred years in dormant eggs in animals. Hence, animal conservation requires priority. The existence of temperature-resistant/insensitive individuals, strains and species shall flourish during the ongoing global warming and earth shall continue with such burgeoning species, hopefully inclusive of man.

This broad review is the first to gather comprehensive information on the complete contemporary range of toxicity testing procedures and hazard assessment procedures, which is normally scattered and difficult to find. The two-volume set provides a consistent, template-based approach, linking relevant information on background, theory and practice to each bioassay. Volume 1 covers small-scale toxicity test methods. Includes extensive glossary.