20-22: Locomotion Flashcards
Why must animals locomote?
Find food
Avoid becoming food
What is buoyancy?
An upwards force that opposes the weight of an immersed object
What does buoyancy force depend on?
Volume
An object is buoyant if it is less dense than water
Density =
Mass x volume
How seals overcome buoyancy
Exhale before diving to reduce buoyancy
They can remain submerged for over 20 mins
Blood contains more haemoglobin than us
Store oxygen in myoglobin
How diving birds overcome buoyancy
Compress their plumage
How jellyfish maintain neutral buoyancy
Do not possess well defined muscle tissue
Circular muscles are arranged as distinct bands on subumbrella surface
Contract/relax, causing bell to pulse
How siphonophores (hydrozoa) maintain buoyancy
Have swimming bells called nectophore
These contain mesogloea (mainly water)
It is used in jet propulsion
How does the Portuguese man o’ war maintain buoyancy?
Has a pneumatophore- a gas filled bladder and sail
This is filled with carbon monoxide from a gas gland
A siphon allows the gas to be expelled quickly, allowing it to be submerged
How do fish and invertebrates change body temperature in water?
Move up and down the water column- the higher in the column, the warmer and more buoyant they are
They cannot change their own because they are ectothermic
How do bathypelagic (1000-4000m depth) achieve neutral buoyancy?
Deposit wax esters in their tissues
What are wax esters?
Ester of fatty acid and fatty alcohol
Same chemical properties as triglycerides, but indigestible
Sperm whales’ use of lipid
Lipid contained in a large spermaceti organ in head
To descend, lipid cools until it solidifies
Increase in density makes whales able to sink without much downwards swimming
Calanoides actus (3mm long) use of lipid
Changes molecular structure of waxy esters
Makes them solid to induce sinking
What are open (Physostomous) swim bladders?
There is a connection (pneumatic duct) between the gas bladder and the esophagus
How do physostomous swim bladders work?
Gases for filling bladder are retrieved from the water surface
Pneumatic duct connects swim bladder to oesophagus
Eg. primitive ray-finned fish,-carp, catfish, eels
How do closed (Physoclistous) swim bladders work?
Found in ray-finned fish
The rete mirible fills the swim bladder via the gas gland with oxygen
Gas is reabsorbed by the oval as required
How do organisms stay stable when submerged?
Centre of gravity and centre of buoyancy should not be in the same place
When submerged, centre of gravity should be directly below the centre of buoyancy
How do organisms stay stable on the water surface?
Centre of gravity is above the centre of buoyancy
The centre of buoyancy moves as the body tilts
What is Reynolds number? (Re)
The flow around an organism depends on the intertial force/viscous force ratio (Re) of the fluid Low Re (<10) = no vortices generated High Re (>10) = vortices may be generated (if the object isn't streamlined)
Fluid flow at low Re
Inertia is negligible compared to drag
Fluid has no inertia so remains attached to objects’ surface- continues moving downstream
Streamlining is ineffectual as drag is dependent on surface area
Like moving through treacle
Fluid low at high Re
Inertia is more dominant
To prevent separation of the flow (drag), a body needs to be streamlined
Implications of a low Re for locomotion
When propulsion stops, motion stops
How do ostracods (seed shrimps) swim?
Use a second antennae