Animal Physiology 2005
Exam III
Name ____________________________________
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
___________ (
___________ (
___________ (
___________ (
___________ ()
___________ (
Total
___________ (100)
Please read each question carefully. Make sure you completely answer each question. In
each section, you may be able to choose which questions you would like to answer.
Please clearly indicate which of these questions you have chosen. You are more than
welcome to use graphs, diagrams, illustrations to support your conclusions
This exam has seven pages including this title page.
Section I: Who or what am I?
A) I determined that substances gained weight when heated in air but not a vacuum and I
termed that substance termed substance oxygen. I also determined that animals take in
oxygen and give off CO2
B) I recently confirmed that the tactile cells on the wings of bats play an important role in
flight.
C) I postulated 20 reasons for animals to use bioluminescence
D) The reduction in oxygen affinity of hemoglobin caused by a decrease in pH
E) The predominant form of CO2 in the blood
F) The one group of terrestrial vertebrate that does not employ tidal breathing in its
ventilatory lungs
G) The muscles that control extension/ withdrawal of fur and/or feathers
Section II Name the animal
A) I was used as an example of a primarily terrestrial animal that uses gills for respiration
B) I live in the swamps of the SE USA. I come to the surface only once per hour to
breathe and therefore have evolved a tidal volume greater than 50% of my lung capacity
C) I sequester NH4+ to use as a floatation chamber
D) My ribs are fused and therefore I use my plastron to assist with respiration
E) I am the fish that possess antifreeze in my blood
Section III) The following animals/groups were discussed in the last several lectures.
Choose of them and discuss what physiological principle they were used as an example
AND what special adaptation or physiological system they posses
Example - Humming bird an example of heterothermy with the birds lowering their
body temperatures close to ambient during the night
A) Abalone
B) Black Turban Snail
C) Arctic fox
D) Chiton
E) Coelacanth
F) Echidna
G) Billfish (or billfin)
H) Testiconda
Section III
A) Name three different examples of physiological systems that employ countercurrent
B) An animation was shown in lecture of a vertical migrating squid. The squid used two
different colors of luminescence blue in deep water and green near the surface
1) What was the squid using the luminescence for (1 pts)?
2) What factor determined the color of luminescence (1 pts)
3) What was the functional significance of having two different colors of luminescence (2
pts)
C) The midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, synthesizes the enzyme luciferase for its
bioluminescence however it must acquire exogenous sources of luciferin to continue to retain its
luminescent ability.
1) What are the two possible sources of luciferin for this fish (2 pts)
2) What does it use its bioluminescence for ( 2 pts) ?
D) Unlike many of the fish that you are familiar with that have forward facing eyes,
many midwater fish have upward facing eyes. What is the functional advantage of
switching the visual axis for these fish.
Light fails to penetrate below 1000 m yet many of the animals that inhabit this
depth have eyes. What is the purpose of having eyes in a zone without celestrial
sources of light.
E) C) What two structures in the fetal mammalian heart will divert the blood from the
pulmonary to the systemic system (4 pts). What is the structure that accomplishes this same task
in the amphibian heart (2 pts).
F) 5) Botulinum (the toxin responsible for Botulinism) is a toxin that can cause death by
blocking the release of Ach at the neuromuscular junction. However, it is now being used by
plastic surgeons to treat wrinkles. These are called BO-TOX injections. Explain why normally
sane (however vain) people would have their doctor inject poison under their skin ie explain how
the toxin injection could prevent wrinkles ( a diagram of the synapse would be helpful) (5 pts)
Part V)
A) The following graphs show the depth distribution of a species of bioluminescent
dinoflagellates. The left graph shows the depth distribution of the species during a single day. 0
hours represent midnight and 12 hours represents noon. Sunrise was at hour 7 and sunset was at
hour 19. The depth of the water column was 100 m. The air temperature ranged from 10 to
25oC during the period and water temperature was a constant 17 oC. The moon was
approximately ¼ full and there was no cloud cover throughout the 24 hr period.
Vertical distribution of dinoflagellates during the 24 hr period
0
Depth distribution ( meters)
5
10
15
20
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
Time (hours)
The second graph (right) plots the depth distribution of the dinoflagellates over a two month
cycle. All samples were taken at midnight. Taking into account what you know about
luminescent organisms, come up with a hypothesis that could account for the vertical migration
of the dinoflagellates during this time period. Also, explain what may have produced the shallow
migrations on day 17 and 37. ( 5 pts)
Explain the functional significance of dinoflagellate bioluminescence using the burglar alarm
theory. (5 pts)
B) Compare and contrast the evolution of aquatic and terrestrial respiration systems in
vertebrates. Pay particular attention to the physical properties of oxygen and how that
influenced the disparate systems and what challenges the animals faced during the
transition from sea to land
C) Three major pathways have evolved for the excretion of nitrogenous waste. For each
pathway, indicate what form nitrogen is secreted and an example of an animal or group
that uses that strategy. Then rank the pathways in the order of water conservation, with
the #1 indicating this pathway uses the LEAST amount of water to excrete nitrogen and
#3 is the pathway that requires the MOST expenditure of water.
Pathway
Ammonotelic
Nitrogen form
Animal example
Rank (1,2 or 3)
Ureotelic
Uricotelic
D)Compare/contrast/describe the osmotic challenges facing fresh AND salt water fish.
For the next two figures explain what concept or physiological adaptation that the graph
is illustrating. (Do not just write the figure legend)
A) What
What structures are indicated by the following letters
A)
B)
C)
What type of swimbladder does the bottom figure (b) represent
There are three letters
on the diagram.
Please indicate what
substance is being
transported at each
arrow and if the
process is active or
passive.
A
A
B
C
C
B
For the following figure, please pick 3 animals and ID the type of animal, the blood
concentration relative to the environment and the urine concentration relative to the
blood.
For animal group G, what is its source of freshwater