Final Exam Flashcards
(313 cards)
What is the major function of the renal system?
To filter blood plasma and remove animal body waste and unnecessary molecules.
What are the unnecessary molecules being filtered out by the renal system under normal conditions?
Urea/uric acid, creatinine, and other environmental toxins
What molecules filtered through the renal system reflect animal physiology? provide examples.
Endocrine and metabolic activities. ex) hormones and hormone metabolites, blood glucose, and creatinine
Besides filtering waste, what are the other major functions of the renal system?
Maintain physiological levels of solutes and pH, and maintain physiological levels of water, blood volumes, and blood pressure.
What are the non-major functions of the renal system?
Secretion of erythropoietin to increase red blood cell numbers, convert vitamin D into the active form for calcium absorption in gut, and excretion of pheromones.
What are kidneys?
Organs important for blood plasma filtration, secretion and reabsorption, and urine formation.
What are ureters?
Tubes (1per kidney) that transport urine to the bladder.
What animals are ureters found in?
Fish, amphibians, and mammals.
Where do ureters transport urine in most birds, reptiles, and amphibians?
To the hindgut where it is excreted out the cloaca.
What is the bladder?
The organ in mammals that hold urine.
What is the urethra?
The tube that transports urine from the bladder for excretion.
What is the renal cortex?
The outer most region of the kidney. The location of plasma filtration
What is the renal medulla?
The inner region of the kidney. Has osmotic potential.
What is the renal pelvis?
The area of the kidney in which urine is collected before entering the ureter.
What is the nephron?
The small, microscopic tubule system responsible for blood plasma filtration, secretion, reabsorption, and urine formation. Millions in each kidney.
Where does the nephron tubule system begin and end?
Begins in the cortex and a portion extends into the medulla.
What qualities of kidneys depends on species?
Shape, prevalence of renal lobes, renal pyramids, and true renal pelvis.
In the cortex, what does each kidney include?
A Bowman’s capsule
What is the function of the Bowman’s capsule?
Filtering plasma into the nephron tubule system through the glomerulus.
What is the glomerulus?
A collection of special capillaries found in the Bowman’s capsule that filter plasma into the tubular component.
Nearly all plasma contents except large proteins are filtered into ________.
Tubules
What do some capillaries outside the Bowman’s capsule do?
Secrete molecules into the tubule system.
What happens to important molecules needed by the animal?
They are reabsorbed back out of the tubule and into the capillaries.
The tubule is long, convoluted, and lined with ________ ____ that help reabsorb molecules through _______ and _______.
epithelial cells, channels, carriers