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Bonine and Pasch, Vertebrate Physiology, ECOL 437, Fall 2003
SAMPLE QUESTIONS/TOPICS FOR FOURTH PORTION OF COURSE
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday 16 December 2003, 8am – 10am, HAURY 129 (normal lecture room).
Please bring a calculator.
Please refer to your syllabus, text, readings, and lecture and discussion notes for information relevant to the
last section of the course. The exam will cover Chapters 15-17 in detail, as well as readings and
material from related discussion sessions. Don’t forget about the recent oral presentations!
The Final Exam will be cumulative (likely 60-70% of the questions will pull from the entire semester and
the other 30-40% will focus on the last fourth of the course). For this cumulative material, we suggest you
refer primarily to your previous exams and review sheets, as well as other course-related materials.
Exam format will be similar to the first three exams, but perhaps slightly longer.
Feeding, Digestion, and Metabolism (Energy Acquisition):
1. Describe how form and function are matched with respect to feeding in mammals, birds.
2. Distinguish between a digestive system that is a continuous-flow reactor and one that is a plug-flow
reactor. Can both types be found in the same organsim?
3. Discuss three variables that affect transit time of ingested food through the digestive system
4. What purpose does the crop serve those organisms that are lucky enough to have one
5. How does a monogastric stomach work? What are some of the important physiological processes that
occur therein?
6. Where does fermentation take place in a ruminant’s digastric stomach?
7. Describe several important physiological features of the duodenum
8. Discuss the importance of digestive symbionts for vertebrates.
9. Describe midgut anatomy, especially with regards to the epithelial surface and attendant villi.
10. Define chyme.
11. Describe how cecotrophy is a plausible digestive solution for rabbits
12. What is meant by gut plasticity and how are snakes a relevant, useful model for study?
13. How is gut motility regulated by the nervous system
14. If you were to name a music band, why would you choose, or not choose, ‘Los Secretions’
15. Why do many digestive enzymes go through a proenzyme phase during their production?
16. What is the main function of liver bile? Where is it stored? Where is it added to the gastrointestinal
(GI) tract?
17. What hormone(s) stimulates pepsinogen secretion in the stomach?
18. Describe three ways the duodenum can have feedback effects on stomach activity
19. Define succus entericus.
20. What role does cholecystokinin (CCK) play in digestion?
21. How are the following absorbed into the blood from the lumen of the intestine: fat-soluble substances,
monosaccharides, amino acids, lipids?
22. What occurs in the tips of the villi to promote water reabsorption?
23. What happened to Joe Slowinski in 2001?
24. Describe the general function of pit organs found on the face of some snakes.
25. Describe a neat adaptation found in some species of salamanders for projectile foraging.
Body Size, Locomotion, (and Reproduction; Energy Expenditure):
26. Define positive nitrogen balance.
27. What is the most common byproduct of all chemical reactions?
28. At the level of whole organisms, describe four biologically interesting things that people study by
examining metabolism.
29. Distinguish between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and field metabolic rate (FMR).
30. What is a common way that each of the above is studied by biologists/physiologists?
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What are the main energy consuming activities in the body that contribute to BMR?
What is specific dynamic action (SDA)?
Compare and contrast calorimetry and respirometry.
What is the respiratory quotient (RQ) and how can it help us understand the source of metabolic energy
(often meaning the recent diet) of an organism?
How are aerobic and anaerobic scope similar or different for mammals and lizards?
What is oxygen debt? When is oxygen debt incurred?
Define allometry.
In general, how does the daily FMR for a 300g mammal compare to that of a 300g lizard? What about
as compared to a mammal that only weighs 100g?
What does a power function allow us to say about changes in aspects of physiology and morphology as
body size changes.
Why do we often take the log of both sides of the power function?
How does metabolic rate scale with body mass?
Describe two reasons why the linear increase in cost of locomotion is steeper for smaller animals?
How do inertia and momentum affect different sized vertebrates?
What contributes to drag?
Define Reynold’s Number.
How does the Reynold's Number tend to change as you move from water to air?
In what size animals is the Reynold’s Number roughly proportional to mass?
How and why are aquatic and aerial vertebrates shaped the same or different?
Why is terrestrial locomotion more expensive than flying or swimming?
Why is intermittent locomotion commonly observed in vertebrates?
Would you expect to see more pronounced circadian rhythms in small or large mammals?
Why might the daily fluctuations in ectotherm body temperature not be considered true circadian
rhythms?
What are two ends of the spectrum with respect to energy investment in individual offspring?
What does the doubly-labelled water technique allow scientists to measure?
Energy and the Environment, Temperature Effects:
55. What is a normal value for the Q10 effect relevant to a physiological process?
56. When measured at 15C, how does metabolic rate tend to differ in animals acclimated to 5C versus
those acclimated to 25C?
57. Describe the effects of temperature acclimatization on lipid viscosity and carbon tail saturation.
58. Describe an exception to the ‘rule’ that ectotherms rely solely on environmental heat, as opposed to
metabolic heat, to raise body temperature.
59. Give an example of a regional heterotherm.
60. How can an individual regulate the amount of solar radiation it absorbs?
61. Define rete.
62. How does convection impact organisms that respire water through gills?
63. Describe the trade-off involved in heat and water balance for inhabitants of hot, dry habitats.
64. Other than obvious behavioral regulation, describe ways that a mammal or a bird can control changes
in body temperature on the order of minutes or hours, on the order of months or seasons, on the order
of individual ontogeny (lifetime from newborn to adult), on the order of changes across generations
(evolution by natural selection).
65. Are these changes usually the same or different for an ectotherm of similar size?
66. Distinguish between freeze tolerance and freeze avoidance.
67. What is dangerous about freezing at the cellular level?
68. Define supercool (hint: not a rock band like Los Secretions).
69. How do organisms lower their freezing point?
70. Compare and contrast ectothermy and endothermy with respect to water balance, metabolic rate,
energy requirements, resource allocation to growth and reproduction, biomass in an ecosystem.
71. What is the thermal neutral zone?
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Describe the subcellular mechanisms of non-shivering thermogenesis.
Define heat window and provide two examples.
How is the hypothalamus like a thermostat?
What are the primary determinants of body heat and temperature as discussed in lecture (Bret's) and
your text?
What lesson might we learn about the importance of body size, temperature, and natural selection from
the marine iguana example discussed in lecture.
Good luck!