Exam 1 Flashcards
what is animal physiology?
processes that happen in animals
examples of animal physiological processes
homeostasis, metabolism, respiration
comparative physiology
general functions of animals by comparison
physiological ecology
how animals function and respond to their environment
evolutionary physiology
understand why features arise due to natural selection
central dogma
replication, transcription, translation
features of the environment
nature, weather, where something lives, external stimulus, biotic vs abiotic
adaptation
a beneficial phenotype/trait that helps an animal survive, formed by natural selection
natural selection
a process by which favorable traits are passed down and bad traits die out
natural selection mnemonic
natural selection is very fine: inherited, variable, fitness
forces leading to the evolution
genetic drift, bottlenecking
comparing species
relatedness influences evolution
phylogenetic comparative analyses
allow for comparisons between species (parsimony)
phenotypic plasticity
individual’s ability to produce a different trait or trait value in response to their environment
acclimatization
plasticity at the physiological level in response to an environmental change. generally referring to processes restoring homeostasis
developmental phenotypic plasticity
ex: water fleas growing a head spine when exposed to predators. irreversible
acclimatization responses
any physiological response that is flexible, reversible, and critical to maintaining homeostasis. ex: hemoglobin response
what do animals do when confronted with a change in their environment
avoid, conform, regulate
avoid
“oh hell no,” burrowing, diapause, seek other microclimates
conform
go with the environment, ex, ectotherms
regulate
maintain constancy. ex: endotherms maintain their own temperature
hyperregulator
freshwater fish maintains higher salt in body than environment
hyporegulator
saltwater fish maintains lower salt in body than in environment
metabolism principles
energy needed for physiological processes. ATP
sodium-potassium pump
diffusion vs ATP used
catabolism
breakdown of carbon to make ATP. oxidation of carbon via aerobic or anaerobic processes.
glycolysis
take a 6C sugar, make some ATP + end product (2 pyruvate)
oxidative, aerobic metabolism with our two pyruvates
they go to the Krebs Cycle, which converts Pyruvate to Acetyl-CoA
metabolizing fat compared to other
gives more ATP, but oxygen is the limiting ingredient
evolution of mitochondria
endosymbiont theory
evidence for endosymbiont theory
mitochondrial double membrane, mitochondrial genome, and mitochondrial genes are more closely related to bacteria than eukarya
metabolic rate
total energy metabolized by an animal per unit of time
anabolism
building of complex biomolecules (proteins) using ATP. needs food and O2
how is metabolic rate measured
indirectly
ways to measure metabolic rate
energy rate of food-waste, amount of heat produced, amount of metabolic waste produced, amount of 02 consumed
O2 consumption is proportional to
aerobic metabolism
is metabolic rate temperature-dependent?
yes
as temp increases…metabolic rate
increases in ectotherms and stays the same in endotherms
metabolic scope
energy cost of activity relative to SMR or BMR
factorial aerobc scope
MMR/BMR
can BMR g above the MMR
no, you would die
what fuel do we get the most energy from
fat
respiratory quotient (rq)
CO2 formed/O2 used
what can the rq tell you
what kind of fuel your body is using
metabolic rate ___ with body size
increases
why does metabolic rate increase with body size
more animal to maintain
in endotherms, mass-specific metabolic rate ___ with size
decreases
if a structure and process grow 1:1
isometrically
if a structure and process does not grow 1:1
allometrically *most physiological processes
why do smaller animals have higher rates ( I don’t remember this)
small guys lose heat fast because they have more surface area/volume to lose heat faster
oxygen in respiration
ensures the flow of electrons through ETC and, thus, ATP production
what is the partial pressure of O2
% gas x total pressure
PO2 at sea level
2 atm, 160 Torr, 20.13 kPa
anoxic
no O2
hypoxic
low O2
what is diffusion
cutaneous exchange, simplest way to get O2 in wet environments
how do insects respire
tracheal systems with muscle-controlled spiracles
what are lungs
respiratory organs in which the body surface is invaginated
purpose of lungs
move the medium or move in the medium and requires a circulatory system. medium=air or water
how is the diaphragm involved in breathing
it expands and contracts to pull air in and push air out
why do we have so many small alveoli
it increases our surface area
how do frogs ventilate their lungs
buccal pumping
how do birds ventilate their lungs
unidirectional flow of air
what are gills
respiratory organs that are evaginated
tuft gills
raised skin or slightly elaborated surface structures
filament gills
gills with a more elaborated internal blood flow structure
fish gills
sit under the operculum, the mouth opening and closing makes suction to pull water in
hypoxic ventilatory response
hematopoietic response and the carotid body activating sns
hematopoietic response
make more red blood cells
respiratory pigments
pick up and bind oxygen in the blood
why do we have respiratory pigments?
they increase the rate of gas transport 2-60x
metal in Hb
iron
Hb is
tetrameric, derived from myoglobin (2 alpha, 2 beta chains)
myoglobin is
monomeric and stores O2 in muscles
how is Hb’s affinity for O2 affected by abundance of O2
cooperative binding - once 1 O2 is picked up, you’re primed to pick up more O2. because it’s an allosteric-natured protein, binding to it changes confirmation and property of the protein
oxygen equilibrium curve
amount of O2 bound to 1 mol pigment varies w PO2 in plasma Hb + O2<–>H6O2
affinity of Hb for O2 is ___ in metabolizing tissues
reduced
why is Hb affinity for O2 reduced in metabolizing tissues
pH is lower, so Hb lets go of O2 much faster
carbonic acid equation
CO2 + H2O<–>H2CO3<–>H + HCO3
left-shifted affinity curve
harder for Hb to give up O2
