All animals face the possibility of food limitation and ultimately starvation-induced mortality. This book summarizes state of the art of starvation biology from the ecological causes of food limitation to the physiological and evolutionary consequences of prolonged fasting. It is written for an audience with an understanding of general principles in animal physiology, yet offers a level of analysis and interpretation that will engage seasoned scientists. Each chapter is written by active researchers in the field of comparative physiology and draws on the primary literature of starvation both in nature and the laboratory. The chapters are organized among broad taxonomic categories, such as protists, arthropods, fishes, reptiles, birds, and flying, aquatic, and terrestrial mammals including humans; particularly well-studied animal models, e.g. endotherms are further organized by experimental approaches, such as analyses of blood metabolites, stable isotopes, thermobiology, and modeling of body composition.

Marshall D. McCue: An introduction

Jean-Hervé Lignot, Yvon LeMaho: A history of modern research into fasting, starvation, and inanition
Kevin L. Kirk: Starvation in rotifers: physiology in an ecological context
Allen G. Gibbs, Lauren A. Reynolds: Drosophila as a model for starvation
Johannes Overgaard, Tobias Wang: Metabolic transitions during feast and famine in spiders
Nadav Bar, Helene Volkoff: Adaption of the physiological, endocrine and the digestive system functions to prolonged food deprivation in fish
Frédéric Hervant: Starvation in subterranean species versus surface-dwelling species: crustaceans, fish, and salamanders
Marshall D. McCue, Harvey B. Lillywhite, Steven J. Beaupre: Physiological responses to starvation in snakes
Rike Campen, Matthias Starck: Cardiovascular circuits and digestive function of intermittent-feeding sauropsids
Esa Hohtola: Thermoregulatory adaptations to starvation in birds
Susanne Jenni-Eiermann and Lukas Jenni: Fasting in birds: general patterns and the special case of endurance flight
Ulf Bauchinger, Scott R. McWilliams: Tissue-specific mass changes during fasting: the protein turnover hypothesis
Xueying Zhang et al: Seasonal changes in body mass and energy balance in wild small mammals
Jehan-Hervé Lignot: Changes in form and function of the gastrointestinal tract during starvation: from pythons to rats
Edwin R. Price, Teresa G. Valencak: Changes in fatty acid composition during starvation in vertebrates
Miriam Ben-Hamo et al.: Physiological Responses to Fasting in Bats
Hank Harlow: Muscle protein and strength retention by bears during winter fasting and starvation
Duane E. Ullrey: Seasonal starvation in northern white-tailed deer
Cory Champagne et al: Fasting physiology of the pinnipeds
Kent A. Hatch: The use and application of stable isotope analysis to the study of starvation, fasting, and nutritional stress
Kevin Grant: Study andtreatment of human starvation in the United Kingdom and India
Kevin D. Hall: Quantitative physiology of human starvation: adaptations of energy expenditure, macronutrient metabolism and body composition
Krista A. Varady: Alternate day fasting: effects on body weight and chronic disease risk in humans and animals
Marshall D. McCue: Horizons in starvation research.