Chapter 7: Animal Adaptations to the Environment

Question 1

The process by which most morphological and physiological features change as a function of body size in a predictable way

Answer 1

Scaling

Question 2

Organism that feeds on plant tissue

Answer 2

Herbivore

Question 3

Organism that feeds on animal tissue

Taxonomically, a member of the order Carnivora (Mammalia)

Answer 3

Carnivore

Question 4

An animal (heterotroph) that feeds on both plant and animal matter

Answer 4

Omnivore

Question 5

Organism that feeds on dead organic matter

Usually applies to detritus-feeding organisms other than bacteria and fungi

Answer 5

Detritivore

Question 6

Maintenance of a nearly constant internal environment in the midst of a varying external environment

More generally, the tendency of a biological system to maintain itself in a state of stable equilibrium

Answer 6

Homeostasis

Question 7

Regulation of body temperature by internal heat production

Allows maintenance of appreciable difference between body temperature and external temperature

Answer 7

Endothermy

Question 8

Determination of body temperature primarily by external thermal conditions

Answer 8

Ectothermy

Question 9

An organism whose body temperature varies according to the temperature of its surroundings

Answer 9

Poikilotherm

Question 10

Animal with a fairly constant body temperature

Answer 10

Homeotherm

Question 11

An organism that during part of its life history becomes either endothermic or ectothermic

Hibernating endotherms become ectothermic, and foraging insects such as bees become endothermic during periods of activity

They are characterized by rapid, drastic, repeated changes in body temperature

Answer 11

Heterotherm

Question 12

Body temperature that occurs when the snake occupies various environments

Answer 12

Operative environmental temperature

Question 13

The temperature of the snake is influenced by the physical characteristics of the snake (body shape, color, and thermal conductivity) and the exchange of heat between the snake and the surrounding environment

Answer 13

Operative temperature range

Question 14

Range of environmental temperatures within which the metabolic rates are minimal

Answer 14

Thermoneutral zone

Question 15

Temporary great reduction in an animal’s respiration, with loss of motion and feeling

Reduces energy expenditure in response to some unfavorable environmental condition, such as heat or cold

Answer 15

Torpor

Question 16

Having a higher concentration of salts in the body tissue than does the surrounding water

Answer 16

Hyperosmotic

Question 17

Having a lower concentration of salts in the body tissue than does the surrounding water

Answer 17

Hypoosmotic

Question 18

A characteristic describing an organism with body fluids that have the same osmotic pressure as seawater

Answer 18

Isosmotic

Question 19

Place where a plant or animal lives

Answer 19

Habitat

Question 20

A period of dormancy, usually seasonal, in the life cycle of an insect, in which growth and development cease and metabolism greatly decreases

Answer 20

Diapause

Question 21

In ectotherms, lowering body temperature below freezing without freezing body tissue, by means of solutes (particularly glycerol)

Answer 21

Supercooling

Question 22

Dormancy in animals during a period of drought or a dry season

Answer 22

Estivation

Question 23

Let’s talk about global warming and animal body mass

Answer 23

“Bergmann’s rule states that for endotherms, body size for a species tends to increase with decreasing mean annual temperature.”

“Recent global warming has resulted in both increases and decreases in the average size of different animal species.

Decreases in body size have been related to the benefit of smaller body size in thermal balance,

Whereas increases in body size have been associated with increases in food availability under warmer climates.”