Definitions chapter 7: Animal adaptations to the environment Flashcards
Scaling
The process by which most morphological and physiological features change as a function of body size in a predictable way
Herbivore
Organism that feeds on plant tissue
Carnivore
Organism that feeds on animal tissue; taxonomically , a member of the order Carnivora (Mammalia)
Omnivore
An animal (heterotroph) that feeds on both plant and animal matter
Detritivore
Organism that feeds on dead organic matter; usually applies to detritus-feeding organisms other than bacteria and fungi
Conformers
Species for which changes in external environmental conditions induce internal changes in the body that parallel the external conditions
Regulator
Animals that use a variety of biochemical, physiological, morphological, and behavioral mechanisms to regulate their internal environments over a broad range of external environmental conditions
Homeostasis
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
Set Point
In a homeostatic system, it refers to the normal or desired state
Estivation
Dormancy in animals during a period of drought or a dry season
Diapause
A period of dormancy, usually seasonal, in the life cycle of an insect, in which growth and development cease and metabolism greatly decrease
Hyperosmotic
Having a higher concentration of salts in the body tissue than does the surrounding water
Hypoosmotic
Having a lower concentration of salts in the body tissue that does the surrounding water
Isosmotic
A characteristic describing an organism with body fluids that have the same osmotic pressure as seawater
Thermal Conductivity
Ability to conduct or transmit heat
Homeotherm
Animal with a fairly constant body temperature; also spelled homoiotherm and homotherm
Poikilotherm
An organism whose body temperature varies according to the temperature of its surroundings
Ectothermy
Determination of body temperature primarily by external thermal conditions
Endothermy
Regulation of body temperature by internal heat production; allows maintenance of appreciable difference between body temperature and external temperature
Operative Environmental Temperature
Body temperature that occurs when the snake occupies each of these environments
Thermoneutral Zone
Range of environmental temperatures within which the metabolic rates are minimal
Heterotherms
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
Torpor
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
Hibernation
Winter dormancy in animals, characterized by a great decrease in metabolism
Supercooling
In ectotherms, lowering body temperature below freezing without freezing body tissue, by means of solutes (particularly glycerol)
Countercurrent Heat Exchange
An anatomical and physiological arrangement by which heat exchange takes place between outgoing warm arterial blood and cool venous blood returning to the body core; important in maintaining temperature homeostasis in many vertebrates
Habitat
Place where a plant or animal lives
Habitat Selection
Behavioral responses of individuals of a species involving certain environmental cues used to choose a potentially suitable environment
