AP3 Flashcards
Why do larger animals have a lower food intake per gram of body weight than smaller individuals?
Because metabolic rate doesnt increase in proportion to body size
What affects do other rates in an organism have on the specific metabolic rate?
As overall rates of an organism increases the specific metabolic rate decreases
What is specific metabolic rate?
MR= Body weight (w) 0.75
Metabolic rate per gram of body weight for that individual
What allometry does metabolic rate follow and what is the scaling unit?
- Negative allometry
- Scaling unit= 0.5
- Not proportional to body size
What is the definition of metabolic rate? How can it be measured?
- Amount of energy an individual uses per unit time
- Can be measured by oxygen intake or c02 production
What are 2 problems with isometry?
1) If limbs grew isometrically weight load for large individuals would be huge
2) Volume increases more rapidly than surface area for larger individuals
What is the equation to describe allometric relationships and what does each letter stand for?
y= a x b
y= size of a body part x= measure of whole body size a= initial growth index- size of y when x=1 b= scaling exponent- proportional change in y per unit x
What is evolutionary allometry and an example?
- Different between individuals of different species
Example: Wing size variation among many species of insects
What is isometric allometry?
What is static allometry?
Isometric= everything grows in proportion
Static= the bigger the organism the bigger a specific body part will grow (most common in sexually released traits)
What is ontogenetic allometry?
- Compare relative size of parts of the body between the same organism over its lifespan
- Proportions of the body change over time eg. babies heads and legs
What is allometry?
- The study of differential growth
- How physiological processes scale with body size
