Chapter 1 - Animals & Environments Flashcards
What is a vertebrate?
Any organism that contains a backbone and spinal cord.
What are the main groups of vertebrate animals?
Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians
Which organ system can you live without?
NONE, you need them all to survive.
Name the organ systems.
Endocrine Skeletal Muscular Nervous Urinary Lymphatic/Immune Digestive Respiratory Circulatory Integumentary Reproductive
What is the endocrine system majorly responsible for?
Hormones
What is the skeletal system majorly responsible for?
Structural and support
What is the muscular system majorly responsible for?
Movement and motility
What is the nervous system majorly responsible for?
Physical feeling and control center
What is the urinary system majorly responsible for?
Waste and excretion
What is the lymphatic/immune system majorly responsible for?
Immunity
What is the digestive system majorly responsible for?
Energy and metabolism
What is the respiratory system majorly responsible for?
Gas exchange, oxygen supply, and ridding carbon dioxide
What is the circulatory system majorly responsible for?
Blood, transports oxygen
What is the reproductive system majorly responsible for?
Pass on genes, hormones, in females it regulates calcium levels and in males it regulates testosterone levels.
What is the integumentary system majorly responsible for?
Protection, temperature regulation, absorption
Why should we even care about physiology?
Important to know the functions of animals and organisms:
How they adapt, and why they adapt
Useful in areas of medicine in understanding effects of certain diseases and possibilities for cures.
How does a salmon regulate the amount of sodium within its system when living in the ocean?
When a salmon moves from freshwater to an ocean water environment there is an INCREASE in the sodium ATPase activity, in which the fish scales will RELEASE more sodium.
When a salmon moves from an ocean water environment to fresh water there is a DECREASE in the sodium ATPase activity, in which the fish scales will INTAKE more sodium.
Define homeostasis.
Maintenance of internal constancy within an organism, for example when humans are cold they shiver to get warm and when they are hot they sweat to cool down/
What is conformity? Provide an example and list an advantage and disadvantage.
Occurs in an organism when its internal environment varies as does the external environment it exists in.
i.e. Babies are unable to regulate their temperature, so when there is a decrease of temperature in their internal environment, they have a seizure.
Advantage: Energetically cheap
Disadvantage: Changes can occur frequently and without notice, could be dangerous to organism’s survival.
What is regulation? Provide an example and list an advantage and disadvantage.
Occurs in an organism when its internal environment will remain constant, when there is variation of their external environment.
i.e. Humans are able to regulate their temperature, so as the temperature around them decreases they shiver to warm themselves up.
Advantage: Keeps internal environment at necessary conditions, within reason.
Disadvantage: Costs energy.
What is an acute and chronic response?
Acute: occurs suddenly
Chronic: occurs as it adjusts to environment
Describe negative feedback and provide an example.
Starts with something and body adjusts to lower it.
i.e. Dopamine regulation
Describe positive feedback and provide an example.
Starts with something and continues to send signals amplifying the response.
i.e. Oxytocin regulation
What are the three main types of environmental specialization?
- Temperature
- Oxygen
- Water
What is the difference between natural selection and adaptation?
Natural selection is an increase in allele frequency that produce phenotypes of which are favored for greater likelihood of survival and reproduction, adaptation is a physiological mechanism or trait that is a result of natural selection (over long periods of time, species may have changes that favor their survival and reproduction).
