Empirical and mechanistic mathematical models of temporal evolution of milk production in ruminants

In the various sectors of animal science there has been little exploration of the theoretical mathematical aspects of data analysis and modelling. The dominant statistical methods used for the analysis of experimental data ar e rarely valuable for developing a deeper understanding of the problem. In addition they do not take account of the evolution over time of those varia bles of major interest to be studied. Only recently have more sophisticated methods of mathematical modelling begun to be used Nonetheless attention t ends to be focused exclusively on empirical models. Mathematical models wit h greater explanatory power, in particular those which use differential equ ations, are as yet little used. This work develops a mathematical approach to a problem that is of great interest in animal science. the development o ver time of milk production in economically important ruminant species.