FARMER, C.G.: Myocardial Oxygenation and the Evolution of the Vertebrate Cardiopulmonary System For many vertebrates, there are no other normal stresses to which the cardiopulmonary system is exposed that come close to the extreme stresses of heavy exercise. Hence it is expected that the demands of exercise have exerted strong selection pressures on the evolution […]

HERNANDEZ, L.P.: Functional morphology and developmental biology of zebrafish: Reciprocal illumination from an unlikely couple Developmental biology and functional morphology have not generally been considered fields across which a useful synergy could evolve. However, recent discoveries in vertebrate morphology have been due to adoption of techniques commonly used by developmental biologists. Furthermore, reciprocal contributions are […]

Gibb, A. C.; Dickson, K. A.: Functional morphology and biochemistry: Is there a correlation between metabolic enzyme activity and swimming performance? Many animals, including marine fishes, are difficult to study in their natural habitat. Consequently, little is known about their routine behavior and locomotor performance. Comparative physiologists and ecologists have searched for a specific morphological, […]

DRUCKER, E.G.: Experimental hydrodynamics of fish locomotion: functional insights from wake visualization The fins of fishes are sophisticated control surfaces that play important roles in stabilization and propulsion of the body during locomotion. Despite a century of active investigation into the mechanisms of fin function, there remains one critical area in which progress has been […]

IRSCHICK, D.J.: Evolutionary approaches for studying functional morphology: Examples from studies of performance capacity Without evolutionary information, the adaptive significance of interspecific differences in both morphology and function are difficult to discern. Here, I outline the utility of applying evolutionary approaches to functional morphology in general, and performance in particular by using two model systems. […]

MEAD, K. S.: An Interdisciplinary, Multilevel Approach To Olfaction In Stomatopods Mantis shrimp rely on their sense of smell to find food, mates, and habitat. They sample their olfactory environment by flicking their antennules with a rapid outstroke followed by a slow return stroke. Flicking facilitates fluid and odorant access to the chemosensory sensillae (aesthetascs) […]

ASHLEY-ROSS, M.A.*; GILLIS, G.B.: A brief history of functional morphology The discipline of functional morphology grew out of a descriptive comparative anatomical tradition; its transformation into a modern experimental science facilitated largely by technological advances. Early morphologists, such as Cuvier and Thompson, felt that function was predictable from organismal form, to the extent that animals […]

COUGHLIN, D. J.: A Molecular Mechanism for Variations in Muscle Function in Rainbow Trout Rainbow trout provide an excellent model for the molecular analysis of muscle function. For several years I have studied a developmental shift in muscle kinetics and swimming performance in trout. At the parr-smolt transformation, red or slow-twitch muscle of trout undergoes […]

HOLBROOK, N.M.*; ZWIENIECKI, M.A.; MELCHER, P.J.: The dynamics of “dead” wood: Hydrogel-mediated changes in xylem hydraulic properties Xylem vessels are well known for their passive role in water transport and the possibility that these tubes comprised of dead cells might possess the ability for rapid flow control has never been considered. The prevailing view among […]

Hairston, Jr., N.G.: Temporal dispersal: ecological and evolutionary implications of prolonged egg diapause Zooplankton egg banks are the accumulation of diapausing embryos buried in the sediments of many aquatic ecosystems. These eggs, which are analogous life history stages to the seeds of many plants, can survive in a ready-to-hatch state for periods ranging from decades […]