physiology
study of: functions that make up living things, their mechanisms, and their regulation
what are the major molecules in animals?
carbohydrates
lipids
proteins
nucleic acids
what elements make up the majority of the molecules in animals?
hydrogen
oxygen
nitrogen
carbon
what percentage of body weight is made of water?
55-65%
phenotype
one’s morphology; appearance (includes physiology and behavior)
product of one’s genotype and evolution
genotype
product of evolution
acts through natural selection and other evolutionary processes
can result in multiple phenotypes
phenotypic plasticity
the ability of a phenotype to change in response to environmental conditions
typically occurs during development
adaptation
changes in a population over evolutionary time from natural selection that improves the survivability or reproductive fitness of the species
homeostasis
maintenance of constant internal environment despite changes in the external environment
is NOT an equilibrium
what are the regulatory systems of the body?
nervous system and endocrine system
what are the regulatory mechanisms?
feedback (positive and negative)
feed forward action
acclimatization
negative feedback
regulatory mechanism where a step late in the pathway causes a decrease in the activity of a step earlier in the pathway to reduce the flow through it
most used mechanism
maintains homeostasis
postive feedback
regulatory mechanism where a step late in the pathway causes an increase in activity of step earlier in the pathway to increase the flow through it
occurs until the endpoint is reached
feed-forward action
anticipates a change in a regulated variable and improves the speed of the homeostatic response
acclimatization
adjustment in physiological functions in response to natural changes in the environment
involves multiple factors
is typically reversible
acclimation
adjustment in responses to one factor
caused by an artificial change in the environment
laboratory phenomenon
