Forthcoming events Dissertations Seminars Animal physiology Animal physiology is an experimental science, concerned with the functioning of all animal organs and tissues. It is a wide field with large interfaces connecting it to other disciplines. The boundary between physiology and cell biology is virtually non-existent.
Animal physiology is also closely related to medical physiology.
Indeed, most of our present-day knowledge about the function of the human body has first been learned from studies of other animals. Mechanisms in the human body, such as the transmission of nerve impulses, the beating of the heart, and the digestion of food, are fundamentally no different from those of other species. Moreover, animal physiology is closely related to ecology and environmental science. The impact of environmental factors on an animal cannot be assessed without an understanding of its physiology. There are animals physiologically adapted to a wide range of environments, from the desert to the depths of the sea.