Preface

Summary

We started corresponding early in 1988 with exchange of reprints and discovered that we had very similar anatomical interests and a shared desire to promote interdisciplinary discussion to resolve problems of mutual interest. However well the anatomy of the gastro-intestinal tract of a wide range of animal species is described and quantified, there can be no real explanation of observed patterns without consideration of the meshanical and chemical properties of the different foods consumed, and the digestive processes – mechanical and chemical – involved in their processing.

We met in Cambridge in May 1989 in the gardens of Selwyn College and continued discussions over dinner in Hall. We resolved to hold a workshop in Cambridge, from which a book would result, on the Form, Function and Evolution of the Digestive System in Mammals. Plans were developed, with the target of April 1991 once September 1990 proved unpopular among the 30 or so prospective participants – a blend of anatomists, physiologists, zoologists, botanists, ecologists and anthropologists. Lack of funds caused postponement for a further 12 months and it was only possible to hold the Workshop through the enthusiasm and determination of the participants in finding their travel (and some subsistence) money and with help from Dalgetypic and Cambridge University Press who covered most of the costs of the 4 days in Cambridge. We are indebted to them all.

Seventeen of us gathered in Selwyn College on 31 March 1992 and departed on the morning of 4 April.