Robert Elsner
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226246710
- eISBN:
- 9780226247045
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226247045.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Behavior / Behavioral Ecology
The comparative physiology of seemingly disparate organisms often serves as a surprising pathway to biological enlightenment. This book sheds new light on the remarkable physiology of diving seals ...
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The comparative physiology of seemingly disparate organisms often serves as a surprising pathway to biological enlightenment. This book sheds new light on the remarkable physiology of diving seals through comparison with members of our own species on quests toward enlightenment: meditating yogis. As the text reveals, survival in extreme conditions such as those faced by seals is often not about running for cover or coming up for air, but rather about working within the confines of an environment and suppressing normal bodily function. Animals in this withdrawn state display reduced resting metabolic rates and are temporarily less dependent upon customary levels of oxygen. For diving seals—creatures especially well-adapted to prolonged submergence in the ocean's cold depths—such periods of rest lengthen dive endurance. But while human divers share modest, brief adjustments of suppressed metabolism with diving seals, it is the practiced response achieved during deep meditation that is characterized by metabolic rates well below normal levels, sometimes even approaching those of non-exercising diving seals. And the comparison does not end here: hibernating animals, infants during birth, near-drowning victims, and clams at low tide all also display similarly reduced metabolisms.Less
The comparative physiology of seemingly disparate organisms often serves as a surprising pathway to biological enlightenment. This book sheds new light on the remarkable physiology of diving seals through comparison with members of our own species on quests toward enlightenment: meditating yogis. As the text reveals, survival in extreme conditions such as those faced by seals is often not about running for cover or coming up for air, but rather about working within the confines of an environment and suppressing normal bodily function. Animals in this withdrawn state display reduced resting metabolic rates and are temporarily less dependent upon customary levels of oxygen. For diving seals—creatures especially well-adapted to prolonged submergence in the ocean's cold depths—such periods of rest lengthen dive endurance. But while human divers share modest, brief adjustments of suppressed metabolism with diving seals, it is the practiced response achieved during deep meditation that is characterized by metabolic rates well below normal levels, sometimes even approaching those of non-exercising diving seals. And the comparison does not end here: hibernating animals, infants during birth, near-drowning victims, and clams at low tide all also display similarly reduced metabolisms.
Robert Elsner
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226246710
- eISBN:
- 9780226247045
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226247045.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Behavior / Behavioral Ecology
This chapter provides a brief overview of the biology of survival and well-being, focusing on animal adaptations—tolerating unfavorable environments by lowering their energetic requirements and ...
More
This chapter provides a brief overview of the biology of survival and well-being, focusing on animal adaptations—tolerating unfavorable environments by lowering their energetic requirements and withdrawing into states of depressed metabolism. Animals in these withdrawn states are less dependent upon their customary levels of oxygen consumption, temporarily lessening their need for that life-sustaining resource, later resuming normal activity when conditions become more favorable. The extraordinary variations with which animal adaptations are expressed give evidence of the vast range of environments in which life can be accommodated. Some seal species can suspend breathing for more than an hour while diving deep in near-freezing temperatures and darkness, thriving in an aquatic world by reactions far beyond human abilities. Moreover, hibernating mammals—ground squirrels, bears, and others—avoid the hazards of seasonal food scarcity and thermal extremes by withdrawing from activity and entering into deep torpor, sometimes approaching freezing levels of body temperature with much-reduced metabolism and respiration.Less
This chapter provides a brief overview of the biology of survival and well-being, focusing on animal adaptations—tolerating unfavorable environments by lowering their energetic requirements and withdrawing into states of depressed metabolism. Animals in these withdrawn states are less dependent upon their customary levels of oxygen consumption, temporarily lessening their need for that life-sustaining resource, later resuming normal activity when conditions become more favorable. The extraordinary variations with which animal adaptations are expressed give evidence of the vast range of environments in which life can be accommodated. Some seal species can suspend breathing for more than an hour while diving deep in near-freezing temperatures and darkness, thriving in an aquatic world by reactions far beyond human abilities. Moreover, hibernating mammals—ground squirrels, bears, and others—avoid the hazards of seasonal food scarcity and thermal extremes by withdrawing from activity and entering into deep torpor, sometimes approaching freezing levels of body temperature with much-reduced metabolism and respiration.
