14 Exotic Animals - Reptiles

Question 1

Why cant mammals survive under 10g?

Answer 1

A lot of food we eat goes to maintaining out internal body temperature

• too expensive to survive under 10g bc smaller animal has a larger need for energy (loses heat more rapidly)
• eg shrew has to continuously eat to maintain temperature

Question 2

Why can reptiles get down to 0.1g?

Answer 2

They rely on environmental temperature to maintain efficiency; dont rely on stable body temperature

Question 3

Why is being small advantageous to reptiles?

Answer 3

easier to cool down

Question 4

locomotory pattern in reptiles

Answer 4

just like fish; undulate

- biomechanically inefficient when they move

Question 5

how do lizards locomotory pattern affect their respiration? (cant breathe while they run)

Answer 5

when undulating (twisting their bodies sde to side), they end up putting different pressure on different parts of the lungs

• end up lowering the pressure on the side thats expanding and vv
• get airflow BETWEEN the two lungs
• limits the amount of o2 available to them to sustain exercise for a long time; cant run far without getting out of breath, need to recover the normal level of o2 in their blood

Question 6

exception to the locomotory problem

Answer 6

monitor lizard; able to run faster than supposed to (have additional respiratory mechanism to maintain efficiency)
-use their throat to pump air down into their mouth while they run

Question 7

tortoise defense mechanism

Answer 7

their outer shell; whole body has adapted to that lifestyle

Question 8

how are tortoises biomechanically inefficient?

Answer 8

• inflexible spine and trunk
• walk forwards by tilting over bc shell doesn’t allow allow a lot of flexibility in the trunk
• will pivot on one foot and rock forward until the next foot is on the floor

Question 9

Why are snakes so flexible?

Answer 9

Snakes are all ribcage, each individual vertabrae has a limited range of motion but what makes them so bendy is that they have a lot of it

Question 10

Advantages of snake flexibility (2)

Answer 10

• project itself over half of it’s body length to climb trees
• flatten body, manipulate themselves into all sorts of places

Question 11

Mamba fangs

Answer 11

-short fangs (or snake would bit it’s lower jaw); can kill themselves with their own venom

Question 12

Viper (rattlesnake) fangs

Answer 12

• long fangs which are folded flat against the jaw and extend when the animal comes to bite

Question 13

spitting cobra fangs

Answer 13

have hole in fang that points forward

-project venom through the whole and squirt targeted to predators eyes

Question 14

effect of venom on humans (2)

Answer 14

either:

1. haemotoxic: breakdown tissue
2. neurotoxic: affect nervous system

Question 15

do all snakes have fangs?

Answer 15

no, but all have teeth that are recurved backwards

Question 16

Why are the snakes that kill the most people (3rd world) not the most dangerous (1st world)? (2)

Answer 16

Difference is:

1. contact: most dangerous snakes live in the middle of no where; where (indians, africans) live (dense population also)
2. medical care; might not be able to afford

Question 17

How to make antivenin?

Answer 17

• milk snake (extract venom) and inject small portions into an animal like a horse (can tolerate small amounts unlike a small animal)
• horse will react to the venom and produce antibodies to it
• we can farm those antibodies and get antivenin which will negate some of the effects

Question 18

“King”

Answer 18

generally a snake that makes it’s way by eating other snakes

Question 19

Why are reptiles good indicator species?

Answer 19

mutations indicate calamities in the environment; climate change, pollution

Question 20

how is gender determined for reptiles?

Answer 20

by the temperature of the nest

-higher temp: female

Question 21

why is temperature so important for reptiles? (climate change)

Answer 21

difference in temperature where gender switches form male to female is around 0.8C, so one degree of temperature difference could drive species into extinction

Question 22

How do crocodiles control the temperature of their nest?

Answer 22

Depends on how hard it was to get a mate
- if female croc struggled, she would make sure that the temperature of the nest prefers male offspring (bc she perceived that the environment doesnt have much)