{"product_id":"9783642643682","title":"Homeostasis in Desert Reptiles","description":"\u003ch1\u003eHomeostasis in Desert Reptiles\u003c\/h1\u003e \u003ch2\u003eBradshaw, Sidney Donald\u003c\/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDeserts, whether hot or cold, are considered to be one of the most difficult environments for living systems, lacking the essential free water which ac­ counts for approximately 60-70% of their body mass and more than 98% of their constituent atoms {Macfarlane 1978}. Amongst vertebrates, reptiles are usually thought of as the animals most adapted or suited to such environments because of their diurnal habit, based on a need for external heat, and their ability to survive far from obvious sources of water. This impression is rein­ forced when one examines the composition of vertebrate faunae characteristic of deserts and arid zones: reptiles predominate and they are often the only vertebrates to be found in hyper-arid areas, such as some parts of the Sahara {Monod 1973}. I recently had occasion to examine this assumption carefully, however, and was led inexorably to the conclusion that reptiles represent a particularly successful desert group, not because of their evolution of superior adaptations, but because of their possession of a basic suite of behavioural and physiologi­ cal characteristics that suit them uniquely to this very resource-limited environment {Bradshaw 1986a}. These fundamental reptilian characteristics are: 1. their low rates of metabolism, compared with birds and mammals, which result in extremely low rates of resource utilisation and lead to considerable economy in the handling of water 2.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ch3\u003eDetails\u003c\/h3\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublished by: Springer\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublication Date: 2011-09-28\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFormat: Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ISBN-10: 9783642643682\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eISBN-13: 9783642643682\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDOI: 10.1007\/978-3-642-60355-6\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDimensions: 235cm x155cm\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePages: 213\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Springer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44359183532172,"sku":"9783642643682","price":99.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9783642643682_78431b1c-7d5a-400d-91a2-8db136c1e7d0.jpg?v=1755104003","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9783642643682","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}