Professor Edwin Taylor

School of Biosciences
Emeritus Professor

Contact details

Address
School of Biosciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Biography

After studying zoology and comparative animal physiology for a B.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Southampton I was invited by Professor Otto Lowenstein to take up a 2 year University Fellowship in the Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology at the University of Birmingham in 1964. He recruited me to the teaching staff 2 years later and I stayed here until the end of my career, having taught the Animal Biology component of the first year course for 40 years (a record?) and been promoted to the personal chair of Animal Physiology in 1993. My work with 30 postgraduate students and a host collaborators from other laboratories across Western Europe, North and South America and the Caribbean has concentrated on the regulation of respiratory gas exchange, acid-base and water balance in crustaceans and vertebrates, ranging from fish through amphibians and reptiles to birds and mammals. Our work has resulted in 230 co-authored publications.

Publications

Taylor, E. W., Jordan, D. & Coote, J.H. (1999). Central control of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and their interactions in vertebrates.  Physiological Reviews.79, 855-916.

Wang, T., Hedrick, M.S., Ihmied, Y.M. & Taylor, E. W.  (1999)  Control and interaction of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems in anuran amphibians.  Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 124, 395-408. [21]

Naylor, J.K., Taylor, E.W. & Bennett, D.B.  (1999).  Oxygen uptake of developing eggs of Cancer pagurus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Cancridae) and consequent behaviour of the ovigerous females.  J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 79, 305-315.

Watt, A. J. S., Whiteley, N.M. & Taylor, E.W.  (1999).  An in situ study of respiratory variables in three British sublittoral crabs with different routine rates of activity.  J. exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 239, 1-21.

Wang, T., Taylor, E.W., Reid, S.G. & Milsom, W.K. (1999).  Lung deflation stimulates fictive ventilation in decerebrated and unidirectionally ventilated toads.  Respir. Physiol.  118, 181-191.

Beaumont, M. W., Taylor, E.W. and Butler, P.J. (2000).  The resting membrane potential of white muscle from brown trout (Salmo trutta) exposed to copper in soft, acidic water.  J. exp. Biol. 203, 2229-2236.

Beaumont, M.W., Butler, P.J., & Taylor, E.W. (2000).  Exposure of brown trout, Salmo trutta, to a sub-lethal concentration of copper in soft acidic water: effects upon muscle metabolism and membrane potential.  Aquatic Toxicology. 51, 259-272.

Al-Ghamdi, M. A. D., Jones, J.F.X. and Taylor, E.W. (2001) Evidence of a functional role in lung inflation for the buccal pump in the agamid lizard, Uromastyx aegyptius microlepisJ. exp. Biol. 204, 521-531.

Jackson, D.C., Wang, T., Koldkjaer, P and Taylor, E.W. (2001).  Lactate sequestration in the carapace of the crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes during exposure in air.  J. exp. Biol. 204, 941-946.

Taylor, E.W., Al-Ghamdi, M.A.D., Ihmied, Y.I. Wang, T. and Abe, A.S. (2001) The neuranatomical basis of central control of cardiorespiratory interactions in vertebrates. Exp. Phys. 86, 781-786.

Robertson, R. F., El-Haj, A. J., Clarke, A., Taylor, E.W. (2001). The effects of temperature on specific dynamic action and protein synthesis rates in the Baltic isopod, Saduria entomonJ. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 262, 113-129. [44]

Shingles, A., McKenzie, D.J., Taylor, E.W., Moretti, A. Butler, P.J. and Ceradini, S. (2001)  The effects of sublethal ammonia on swimming performance in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. J.exp. Biol. 204, 2691-2698.

Wang, T., Taylor, E.W., Andrade, D. and Abe, A.S. (2001) Autonomic control of heart rate during forced activity and digestion in the snake Boa constrictor. J. exp. Biol. 204, 3553-3560.

McKenzie, D.J., Taylor, E.W., Dalla Valle, A.Z. and Steffensen, J.F. (2002) Tolerance of acute hypercapnic acidosis by the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). J.comp. Physiol. 172, 347-354.

Robertson, R.F., Meagor. J. and Taylor, E.W. (2002) Specific dynamic action in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas (L.), in relation to acclimation temperature and to the onset of the emersion response.  Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 75, 350-359.

Beaumont, M. W., Butler, P.J. and Taylor, E.W. (2003).  Exposure of brown trout (Salmo trutta) to a sublethal concentration of copper in soft, acidic water: effects upon gas exchange and ammonia accumulation. J. exp. Biol. 206, 153-162.

Sundin, L., Turesson, J. and Taylor, E. W. (2003) Evidence for glutamatergic mechanisms in the vagal sensory pathway initiating cardiorespiratory reflexes in the shorthorn sculpin Myoxocephalus scorpiusJ. exp. Biol. 206, 867-876.

Agnisola, C., Randall, D. J. and Taylor, E. W. (2003) The modulatory effects of noradrenaline on vagal control of the heart in the dogfish, Squalus acanthiusPhysiol. Biochem. Zool. 76, 310 – 320.

Galli, G., Taylor, E.W. and Wang, T. (2004) The cardiovascular responses of the freshwater turtle Trachemys scripta to warming and cooling.  J. exp. Biol. 207, 1471-1478.

 

Campbell, H.A., Taylor, E.W. and Egginton, S. (2004) The use of power spectral analysis to determine cardio-respiratory control in the short-horned sculpin Myoxocephalus scorpius. J. exp. Biol. 207, 1969-1976.

 

Wang, T., Taylor, E.W., Reid, S.G. and Milsom, W.K. (2004) Interactive effects of mechano- and chemo-receptor inputs on cardiorespiratory outputs in the toad. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 140, 63-76.

Galli, L.J., Skovgaard, N., Abe, A.S., Taylor, E.W., Conlon, J.M. and Wang, T. (2005). Cardiovascular actions of rattlesnake bradykinin ([Val1, Thr6]bradykinin) in the anaesthetised South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. Am. J. Physiol. 288, R456-R465.

Galli, L.J., Skovgaard, N., Abe, A.S., Taylor, E.W. and Wang, T. (2005). The role of nitric oxide in the regulation of the systemic and pulmonary vasculature of the rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus.  J.comp. Physiol. 175, 201-208.

Campbell, H. A. Taylor, E.W. and Egginton, S. (2005) Does respiratory sinus arrhythmia occur in fishes? Biology Letters 1, 484-487.

Galli, G.L., Gesser, H., Taylor, E.W., Shiels, H.A. and Wang, T. (2006). The role of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the generation of high heart rates and blood pressures in reptiles. J. exp. Biol. 209, 1956-1963.

Campbell,  H. A. Leite , C. A.C.,Wang, T., Skals, M., Abe, A. S., Egginton, S., Rantin ,  F. T., Bishop, C. M.and Taylor, E.W. (2006). Evidence for a respiratory component, similar to mammalian respiratory sinus arrhythmia, in the heart rate variability signal from the rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus terrificus. J.exp. Biol. 209, 2628-2636.

 Taylor, E. W., Campbell, H. A., Levings, J. J., Young, M. J., Butler P. J. and Egginton S. (2006). Coupling of the respiratory rhythm in fish with activity in hypobranchial nerves and with heart beat. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 79, 1000-1009.

Galli, G. L. J. Taylor, E. W. and Shiels, H. A. (2006) Calcium flux in turtle ventricular myocytes. Am. J. Physiol. 291, R1781-R1789.

Grossman, P. and Taylor, E. W. (2007) Toward a proper understanding of respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Relations to cardiac vagal tone, evolution and biobehavioral functions. Biol. Psychol. 74, 263-285.

McKenzie D.J., Garofalo, E. Winter, M.J. Verweij, F. Ceradini, S. Day, N. van der Oost R. Butler, P.J. Chipman J.K. and E.W. Taylor (2007).Complex physiological traits as biomarkers of the sub-lethal toxicological effects of pollutant exposure in fishes.  Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 362: 2043-2059.

Taylor, E.W., Andrade, D. V., Abe, A. S., Leite, C.A.C. and Wang, T.  (2009). The unequal influences of the left and right vagi on the control of the heart and pulmonary artery in the rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus. J.exp. Biol. 212, 145-151.

Taylor, E.W., Leite, C.A.C., Florindo, L. H., Beläo, T. and Rantin, F.T. (2009). The basis of vagal efferent control of heart rate in a Neotropical fish, the pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus. J. exp. Biol. 212, 906-913.

Leite, C.A.C., Taylor E.W., Wang, T., Abe, A.S.and.de Andrade, D. O.V. (2013). Ablation of the ability to control the right-to-left cardiac shunt does not affect oxygen uptake, specific dynamic action or growth in rattlesnakes, Crotalus durissus J. exp. Biol. 216, 1881-1889.

Crossley, D.A., Sartori, M. R., Abe A.S. and Taylor E.W. (2013) A role for histamine in cardiovascular regulation in late stage embryos of the red-footed tortoise, Chelonoidis carbonaria Spix, 1824. J. comp. Physiol. B 183, 811-820.  

Taylor, E. W., Leite, C. A. C., Sartori, M. R., Wang, T., Abe, A. S. and Crossley, D. A., II (2014). The phylogeny and ontogeny of autonomic control of the heart and cardiorespiratory interactions in vertebrates. J. exp. Biol. 217, 690-703.

Burggren, W. W., Christoffels, V. M., Crossley, D. A. II, Enok, S., Farrell, A.P., Hedrick, M. S., Hicks, J. W A. P., Jensen, B., Moorman A. F. M., Mueller, C. A., Skovgaard, N., Taylor, E. W. and Wang, T. (2014) Comparative cardiovascular physiology: future trends, opportunities and challenges. Acta Physiol. 210, 257–276.

Monteiro, D. A., Taylor, E. W., Sartori, M. R., Cruz, A. L., Rantin, F. T. and Leite, C. A. C. (2018) Cardiorespiratory interactions previously identified as mammalian are present in the primitive lungfish. Sci. Adv. 2018;4: eaaq0800.

 Sartori, M. R. Kohl, Z. F., Taylor, E. W., Abe, A. S. and Crossley, D. A. II (2018). Convective oxygen transport during development in embryos of the snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina, J. exp. Biol. 221, jeb185967. doi:10.1242/jeb.185967

Sanches P.V.W.,Taylor, E. W., Livia M. Duran, André L. Cruz, Daniel P. M. Dias and Cleo A. C. Leite (2019) Respiratory sinus arrhythmia is a major component of heart rate variability in undisturbed, remotely monitored rattlesnakes, Crotalus durissus. J. exp. Biol. 222, jeb197954. doi:10.1242/jeb.197954.

Damsgaard, C. Baliga, V.B., Bates, E., Burggren,W. McKenzie, D.J.  Taylor, E.W. and Wright,P.A. (2019) Evolutionary and cardiorespiratory physiology of air breathing and amphibious fishes. Acta Physiol. 2019;00:e13406. https ://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13406

Blasco, R., Esbaugh, A.J., Killen, S.S., Rantin, F.T., Taylor E.W. and McKenzie D.J. (2020) Using aerobic exercise to evaluate sub-lethal tolerance of acute warming in fishes. J. exp. Biol. 223: jeb218602 doi: 10.1242/jeb.218602.

Filogonio, R., Sartori, MR, Morgensen, S., Tavares, D., Campos, R., Abe, AS,.Taylor, EW., Rodrigues, G J., De Nucci, G., Simonsen, U., Leite CAC and Wang, T. (2020) Cholinergic regulation along the pulmonary arterial tree of the South American rattlesnake: vascular reactivity, muscarinic receptors, and vagal innervation, Am. J. Physiol. 319, R156-R170. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00310.2019

Wang T., Abe, A. S,. Cruz-Neto, A. P, Andrade, D. and Taylor, E.W. (2021) Maintained barostatic regulation of heart rate in digesting snakes (Boa constrictor). J. Exp. Biol. (in press).