How do animals work?
How do animals work? Why do different animals work in
different
ways? The blue whale in the Pacific, the tapeworm lodged in the
gut of
a fox, and the flour beetle in your cupboard all must eat and grow
and
reproduce yet they differ enormously in size, longevity and
environment. The particular ways in which each of these animals
has
solved these problems are different yet there are also underlying
similarities in the mechanics of their solutions. Evolutionary
theory
makes the diversity understandable and cell physiology reveals the
unity of function. In this course, evolutionary theory and cell
physiology converge as we examine whole animal form and function.
We
will have the happy opportunity to study the remarkable diversity
of
animals on this planet. We will examine the array of strategies
(adaptations) which animals possess that enables them to survive
and
reproduce in an often unpredictable world. The central question
that we
will consider is how do animals maintain their organization in the
face
of environmental perturbations.