Bonine and Swenson, Vertebrate Physiology, ECOL 437, Fall 2004
EXAM FORMAT AND SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW (EXAM THREE: 23 November 2004)
* This list of questions is not exhaustive, but should give you an idea as to the range of material and types
of questions we are likely to present on the exam. Please refer to your syllabus, text, readings, and lecture
and discussion notes for information relevant to the third exam. The exam will cover Chapters 12-14, as
well as readings and material from related discussion sessions.
Likely Exam Format:
True or false and matching (~10 points)
Really Short Answer (one word or sentence) (~30 pts)
Short Answer (a couple of sentences) (~45 pts)
Longer Answer (a paragraph or more) (~15 pts)
Circulation:
1. Why are organs arranged in parallel as opposed to being in series?
2. What is different about the circulatory system of a mammalian fetus as compared to an adult?
3. Define MABP and CO.
4. How do viscosity and vessel radius affect flow rate?
5. How are compliance and elasticity different? Where in the circulatory system does each of these play
an important role?
6. What do the chordae tendinae prevent?
7. Define hematocrit.
8. Why is the circulatory system of most fish simpler than that of terrestrial vertebrates?
9. In addition to propulsion from the heart, how else is blood moved through the circulatory system?
10. Describe three unique features of the frog circulatory system.
11. How might you refute the assertion that the reptilian three-chambered heart is ‘primitive’?
12. Describe a situation in which an ectotherm’s circulatory system might exhibit Right-to-Left Shunting.
13. By what mechanisms does the autonomic nervous system influence heart rate?
14. What allows cells of the AV or SA node to be autorhythmic? How can the rate be altered?
15. What roles do the AV node and the Bundle of His play in distributing excitation around the heart?
16. Differentiate between the terms ‘ectopic pacemaker’ and ‘latent pacemaker’?
17. What is responsible for the plateau phase of the cardiac muscle-cell action potential?
18. In the electrocardiogram trace, what does the QRS complex correspond to in the heart?
19. Draw and explain the Frank-Starling curve with appropriately labeled axes.
20. Where do valves open and close on the Wigger’s Diagram?
21. Where in the circulatory system are pressures highest?
22. For laminar flow in a vessel, where is flow the fastest? Slowest?
23. Why does the anatomy of a giraffe represent a problem from the perspective of a circulatory system?
24. Why is it important that pressure in the pulmonary circuit is much lower than pressure in the systemic
circulation?
25. What the heck is the lymph system all about?
26. What are three things that contribute to increased flow to a capillary bed via local control?
27. How do baroreceptors and chemoreceptors function to maintain appropriate blood pressure and blood
gas chemistry?
28. What is the response of arteriolar smooth muscle in most peripheral tissue beds when subjected to low
levels of circulating catecholamines? Which receptors are involved?
29. How is the response of arteriolar smooth muscle to changing O2 levels in lung tissue different than the
response in other tissue beds in the body?
30. By what mechanism does Viagra work?
Gas Exchange and Acid-Base Balance:
31. Is oxygen more soluble than carbon dioxide in water?
32. What effect does temperature have on oxygen solubility in liquid?
33. In respiration, going from the environment to the mitochondria, which epithelia does O2 have to cross?
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What two ways is oxygen carried in the blood?
What is the structure of hemoglobin?
Why is carbon monoxide dangerous?
Draw the oxygen dissociation curve and explain the significance of the shape of the curve.
How are the shapes of the myoglobin and hemoglobin dissociation curves different?
How does hemoglobin structure/affinity change with binding of oxygen?
Why can antarctic fish survive without having respiratory pigments?
Describe factors that increase or decrease the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen. Include discussion of
the Bohr effect.
How is carbon dioxide transported in the blood? Be sure to include discussion of carbonic acid,
bicarbonate ion, carbonic anhydrase, and differences between red blood cells and plasma.
What is the Haldane Effect?
What is the chloride shift in the context of CO2 transport?
What are primary contributors to the acid load in the body?
How are acid levels in the blood controlled?
How does bicarbonate buffer blood pH?
Why does water flow across the gills tend to be unidirectional, as opposed to bidirectional air flow in
the lungs?
How do cilia (which are killed off by cigarette smoking) function with mucus to keep foreign matter
out of the lungs?
What is the effect of an unusual increase in pulmonary blood pressure?
How do dogs pant without hyperventilating?
Describe the mechanisms, including structures and relative pressures, that facilitate mammalian lung
ventilation.
How is lung ventilation in a mammal different than that in a frog?
How does lung ventilation in a bird take place during both inhalation and exhalation?
Describe the role of pulmonary surfactant.
In the gill, how does countercurrent exchange allow for higher blood PO2 as compared to concurrent
exchange?
What is the Hering-Breuer reflex?
How do central chemoreceptors in the brain influence the medullary respiratory center?
Describe short term and longer term adjustments of mammalian physiology to hypoxic conditions (e.g.,
at high altitude).
Describe four physiological changes observed in diving mammals that facilitate prolonged submersion.
Ionic and Osmotic Balance (Osmoregulation):
61. Are marine vertebrates hyperosmotic to their surroundings?
62. What ways are water and salts ‘gained’ by a vertebrate, and what ways are water and salts lost?
63. How do the problems of ionic and osmotic balance differ for freshwater vertebrates and for marine
vertebrates?
64. How do these same problems differ for vertebrates that breathe water versus those that breathe air?
65. How are aquaporins in the pelvic patch of frogs regulated hormonally?
66. List two reasons why small endotherms have a difficult time maintaining appropriate water balance.
67. Describe how water loss during respiration can be minimized.
68. Discuss similarities and differences in body temperature regulation of desert-dwelling camels and
antelope ground squirrels.
69. How are glucose and Na+ reabsorbed in the proximal tubule of the kidney?
70. How are protons excreted into the lumen of the tubule in the kidney?
71. How are salts secreted from the salt gland?
72. Describe the functional unit of the kidney.
73. What pressures are involved in the bulk flow of fluid across the glomerulus into the Bowman’s
capsule?
74. Why did Dr. Eldon Braun argue that birds need to be better adapted to arid conditions than small
rodents?
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In birds and ectothermic vertebrates, what do the ureters empty in to?
Why is avian ureteral urine dilute?
Describe avian urine spheres and their role in osmoregulation and metabolism.
Why is there a large amount of protein in bird ureteral urine?
What is a cecum generally used for? What role does the cecum play in bird osmoregulation?
Why are hummingbirds relatively "protein stressed"? How do they reduce loss of nitrogen?
Describe the three processes that contribute to the final urine composition in a mammal.
Describe two mechanisms by which filtration rate is regulated in mammalian kidneys.
What is the general composition of filtrate in the mammalian Bowman’s capsule?
What are the mechanisms behind the opposite effects of starvation and kidney stones on urine volume?
What role do macula densa cells and granular (a.k.a. juxtaglomerular) cells play in osmoregulation?
Describe the activity of renin released from the granular cells of the juxtaglomerular apparatus.
What evidence indicates that glucose is reabsorbed from the tubule into the body via carrier-mediated
transport?
In the nephron, where does most reabsorption take place and what is reabsorbed?
How are the descending and ascending limbs of the loops of Henle functionally different?
Describe the role of aldosterone.
Why do you think angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) acts primarily in the lung to facilitate release
of hormones (aldosterone and antidiuretic hormone) that act primarily in the kidney?
How is the concentration gradient in the mammalian kidney generated, thereby allowing for excretion
of urine more concentrated than blood plasma?
Why is it important that organic ions can be secreted from the blood into the proximal tubule of the
nephron?
What is an A-type cell? What does it do and where does it operate?
How is carbonic anhydrase involved in acid secretion in the body?
Why is it important that the vasa recta capillary structure is organized in a countercurrent fashion?
Can humans excrete urine that is hypoosmotic relative to blood plasma?
Describe one physiological effect of drinking alcohol.
What is relevant to this course about the poor guy in the life raft from figure 14-8 in your text?
What role do chloride cells play in anadromous fishes, and how does this role shift between their
freshwater and marine life stages?
Describe the different ways that vertebrates dispose of nitrogenous wastes.
How is ammonia toxic to most vertebrates?
What does temporary anhomeostasis mean in the context of desert tortoise osmoregulation?
Don't forget to review information from your lab readings, discussions, and activities.
Good luck!