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.