Journey Through the Animal Kingdom The vegetative physiology deals with the fundamental building blocks of life: respiration, circulation, nutrition, energy balance, metabolism, and osmoregulation. How do they function under everyday and extreme conditions? Comparative examples from different animal groups provide insight into the evolution of life processes, their performance limits, and adaptation to various habitats. Neuro- and sensory physiology focuses on the topics of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. For each area, the book offers striking examples of the specific adaptation of sensory and neuro functions to particular biotopes and behaviors. From jellyfish to primates, the evolutionary development of nervous and sensory systems and their functions is traced. The new edition has been streamlined and now combines the two volumes into one.