Lecture 14 Flashcards

1
Q

How do endothermic animals produce heat?

A
. Increased nasal metabolic rate 
. Muscular activity 
. Shivering 
. Non-shivering thermogenesis 
. Hear increment of feeding
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2
Q

How do endotherms reduce heat loss?

A
. Size 
. Insulation 
- fur/ feathers 
- blubber 
. Countercurrent heat exchangers
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3
Q

What are the methods of reducing energy expenditure?

A
. Fasting
. Huddling 
. Sleep 
. Torpor 
. Hibernation
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4
Q

What are the three things ectotherms use to regulate body temperature?

A

. Morphology
. Behaviour
. Physiology

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5
Q

What is vasoconstriction?

A

Is where the vessels in the periphery of the animal shut down

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6
Q

What is vasodilation?

A

Is where vessels in the periphery of the animal open up

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7
Q

How does the opening up and closing down if the vessels in the periphery of an animal influence it’s heart rate?

A

When they open up is when the heart rate is high and when they close down is when the heart rate is low

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8
Q

When a marine iguana goes into water what does it do to keep the temperature of the core warm?

A

It has vasoconstricts the blood vessels in surrounding tissues essentially making its insulation layer thicker keeping the temp to the core of the animal. It is not pumping blood into the skin

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9
Q

When a marine Iguana goes into water why is it not pumping blood into the skin?

A

Because that has contact with the cold water, so it is trying to avoid the warmed up blood from it sitting in the sun and keep it for the core

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10
Q

When marine Iguanas come out of the cold water what do they do?

A

They soak up the solar radiation and open the vessels in the skin and vasodilate

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11
Q

When marine iguanas come out of the water they vasodilate, why is this?

A

Means that cold or cooled blood is then circulated into the skin where it comes into close proximity with the environment and with the solar radiation

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12
Q

What are the ways of heat production in ectothermic animals?

A
. Increased basal metabolic rate 
. Muscular activity 
. Shivering 
. Non-shivering thermogenesis 
. Heat increment of feeding
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13
Q

Tuna are fast, constant swimming fish so what do they need to do to be efficient? How do they do this?

A

To be efficient then all the muscles should be kept at a constant temperature. So they can adapt all the enzymes that are used within that muscle to an optimum temperature (which you can’t do if your overall muscle and cardiovascular system is like a normal fish)

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14
Q

How to endothermic animals produce heat?

A

. Muscular activity
. Shivering
. Non-shivering thermogenesis
. Heat increment of feeding

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15
Q

How do endothermic reduce heat loss?

A
. Size 
. Insulation 
- fur/ feathers 
- blubber 
. Countercurrent heat exchangers
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16
Q

What is the best insulator?

A

Air

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17
Q

Air is the best insulator but only as long as what?

A

You can maintain that air layer, is you lose the air in the fur then you lose your insulation entirely

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18
Q

Why doesn’t the sea otter lose it’s insulation when it’s fur gets wet but all the others do?

A

This is because it has an incredibly dense underfur and even if it is wet the water still can’t get into this layer and it still maintains its structure retaining the air and insulation

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19
Q

Other than working as insulation what other proposed blubber have that makes it useful?

A

It is a potential source of energy because it is essentially fat

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20
Q

What is the problem with having fur as an insulator?

A

It is a physical barrier

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21
Q

How are animals with blubber able to modify their insulation?

A

By cardiovascular control

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22
Q

Give a difference between blubber and fur

A

Blubber is a living tissue

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23
Q

Explain how animals with blubber control their body temperature

A

Blubber is a living tissue so it has a blood supply that goes into it.
Their heart rate changes because they have control of the blood supply to the periphery

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24
Q

Animals that have blubber control their temperature by controlling their blood supply to the periphery. How do they do this if it is too hot?

A

It opens up the blood vessels and allows the heat to escape through the blubber so the blood vessels that are very close to the surface radiate heat

25
Q

Animals that have blubber control their temperature by controlling their blood supply to the periphery. When animals go into the water it is cold so how does their body respond to this?

A

It shuts off the blood supply to the blubber so essentially what you are seeing is a change in the thickness of the layer (so they are able to modify their insulation by cardiovascular control)

26
Q

What is the difference between temperature control of phocid seals (e.g. elephant seals and grey seals) and otariid seals (fur seals)?

A

Phocid seals have very fine control over their temperature, so they have the blubber as their main insulation layer and can see that they have control over their skin temp. They have found that the skin temperatures can actually go down before the animals get into cool areas. Otariid/ fur seals on the other hand have changed in temperature but they are related to overall body temperature

27
Q

Give examples of species that fast

A

. Bears
. Seals (elephant seals for example)
. Great whales
. Emperor penguins

28
Q

Why do bears fast?

A

They fast in wintertime because the resources aren’t there

29
Q

Why do elephant seals fast?

A

They may spend several months ashore without feeding, they are not starving as they have put on the reserves, is seen when the females stay with the pup (so just utilise the resources they have put in in preparation for this period)

30
Q

When do great whales fast?

A

They fast when they migrate to warmer waters to have their hound and in this time they will not feed

31
Q

Why do animals not starve when they are fasting (fasting doesn’t not equal starvation)?

A

Because they are put on resources in preparation for this period

32
Q

Emperor penguin chicks are unique because they take 2 seasons to grow, why is this?

A

They do this because they are raised to a certain size just before winter and only get a little bit of feeding over winter so have to put in the reserves before so they are essentially fasting over winter

33
Q

What are the three phases of fasting in emperor penguins?

A

The body mass changes rapidly at first over the first 10 days or so and then you get this steady rate of mass loss and then you get an increase in the rate in which mass is lost towards the end of the fast

34
Q

What are the 3 phases of fasting?

A

. Phase 1: uses carbohydrate stores
. Phase 2: mainly fat metabolism (some protein)
. Phase 3: protein metabolism (=starvation)

35
Q

What does huddling do?

A

. Reduces heat loss

. Warms the local environment

36
Q

How does sleep reduce energy expenditure? What are regular periods of sleep a characteristic of?

A

. Reduction in activity
. Reduction in oxygen consumption
. Reduction in body temperature (circadian rhythm)
. Even a small (1-2 degrees) decrease in body temperature can have a significant effect on energy expenditure (7-15% reduction)
. Regular periods are a characteristic of birds and mammals

37
Q

What is the reduction in MR in a sheep during sleep?

A

8-13%

38
Q

What is the reduction in MR in little penguins during sleep?

A

8%

39
Q

What is the reduction in MR in pigeons during sleep?

A

12%

40
Q

What is the reduction in MR in humans when they are asleep?

A

9-12%

41
Q

What is the method of reducing energy expenditure torpor?

A

. A state of reduced activity, metabolism and body temperature
. Short term

42
Q

What kind of animals is torpor used in?

A

Ectotherms and endotherms

43
Q

How can torpor be distinguished from sleep in endotherms?

A

By the slow rate of arousal
(Can’t suddenly move like if you were sleeping and threatened, has to be a period where the body comes up to its normal body temp)

44
Q

Animals that use torpor can be thought of as what?

A

‘Daily heterotherms’
(So during its active phase it’s endotherm will show classic endothermic response but when it is in torpor those thermoregulatory requirements are very much different so it changes its body temperature)

45
Q

Describe arousal from torpor

A

. Both lose and regain of body temperature fairly rapid (<1-3h)
. Mixture of shivering and NST (mammals)
. Cooling and warming possibly related to photoperiod
. Increase in Vo2

46
Q

Give the aspects of torpor (when it is used/ not used, difference between larger and smaller animals, difference if juvenile)

A

. Not used by animals during reproduction
. More frequent in winter than summer
. Larger animals have shorter and lower periods of torpor
. Juvenile animals show longer and deeper periods of torpor
. Allows small animals to exploit areas that would otherwise be inaccessible
. However, there are many high latitude animals that do not exhibit torpor

47
Q

What is the difference in how long torpor is and how long hibernation is?

A

Torpor: days (usually <1)
Hibernation: weeks- months

48
Q

What groups use torpor and what groups use hibernation?

A

Torpor: birds and mammals
Hibernation: mammals

49
Q

What is the mass range (also median) in animals using torpor and animals using hibernation?

A

Torpor: ~2-9,000g (median= 19g)
Hibernation: 10-80,000 (median= 85g)

50
Q

What is the extreme minimum and normal minimum in animals in torpor and animals in hibernation?

A
Torpor:
. extreme min- 10 degrees 
. Normal min- varies with species 
Hibernation:
. Extreme min- -3 degrees 
. Normal min- 5 degrees
51
Q

What is the reduction in BMR in torpor and in hibernating animals?

A

Torpor: 30%
Hibernating: 5%

52
Q

What is the reduction in RMR (resting metabolic rate) in animals in torpor and in hibernation?

A

Torpor: 10-20%
Hibernating: <1%

53
Q

What can happen to the tissues in some hibernating mammals?

A

Can freeze

54
Q

While in hibernation animals can go down to -3 degrees but what do they usually go down to?

A

Usually go down to near the ambient temperatures

55
Q

What is torpor related to?

A

Temperature

56
Q

What is hibernation related to?

A

Temperature and metabolic inhibition

57
Q

How do most amphibians and reptiles spend their winter and why?

A

In a torpid state due to a reduction in temperature

58
Q

What do tortoise do when they hibernate through winter?

A
. Lay down fat reserves 
. Burrow below depth of frost 
. Metabolic inhibition 
. High arterial pCO2 
. Respiratory acidosis- implicated in metabolic depression
59
Q

What do snakes do when they hibernate through winter? And what are the critical factors to their survival/ survival seems to depend on?

A

. Retreat to hibernacula
. Store lipid in fat bodies and glycogen in the liver
. Critical factors in snake survival are:
- lipid reserves
- resistance to desiccation
- low temperature