Respiratory Physiology of Newborn Mammals: A Comparative Perspective emphasizes common trends among mammalian species in an effort to extract general rules about both the structure and the mechanisms of neonatal respiration. Jacopo P. Mortola outlines the key aspects of developmental respiratory physiology in the perinatal period. Based on what is learned from interspecies comparisons, Mortola addresses the question of how pulmonary ventilation fulfills the metabolic requirements of the newborn infant. Exceptions to the rules illuminate adaptations to particular tasks or conditions. Each chapter concludes with interspecies comparisons and clinical implications for the medically or zoologically oriented reader. The combination of developmental and comparative perspectives offers an original contribution to the field of developmental physiology.

The book is divided into five chapters: "Gestation and Birth," Metabolic and Ventilatory Requirements," "Mechanical Behavior of the Respiratory Pump," "Reflex Control of the Breathing Pattern," and "Changes in Temperature and Respiratory Gases." It will be of value to researchers, clinicians, and students interested in developmental physiology, comparative biology, and zoology, as well as neonatalogists and pediatric pulmonologists who are interested in alternative perspectives on current clinical practice.

Jacopo P. Mortola, M.D., is a professor of physiology at McGill University.