Question 1

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a life style as an ectotherm? Consider thermoregulation, metabolism, respiration, circulation, and any other physiological adaptations. In which type of environment would it be best to be an ectotherm? How have ectotherms in the arctic adapted to survive?

Question 2

Your best friend at SBCC is from the Andes mountains in Peru. She is 12th the generation Peruvian, and was born and lived her first 18 years of life in Cusco, Peru at 11,000 feet. You are 8 the generation Santa Barbarian and have lived here your whole life. You two run the SBCC track together every Tuesday and Thursday but you can never run as fast or as far. Compare your physiology to hers and explain why. What happens physically and physiologically to you when you go home with her for the summer?

Question 3

You lost your pet dog At Joshua Tree National Park on Father’s Day weekend (the desert with averagedaily temps of 120°F). What physiological struggles will your pet have? What might they do to cope? Consider its thermoregulation, metabolism, behavior, and other physiological effects.

Question 4

Honey, I shrunk the kids! Apart from the obvious challenges of vacuum cleaners and predatory house cats, consider the physiological changes that would occur, or that would be necessary for normal body function, if these children were miniaturized to about 1/100 original body size (in direct 1:1 proportion). Discuss in detail physiological changes or problems related to metabolic rate, scaling of physiological processes, temperature regulation, osmoregulation, energy intake, respiratory physiology, and/or any other area of environmental adaptation discussed this semester. You may assume that these children are in a comfortable home (about 75°F) and encounter periods of strenuous exertion when evading predators.

Question 5

Pretend we are friends at a cocktail party and I ask you about your semester. You are so excited about your animal physiology class and cannot wait to share three really interesting things you learned. Go for it! Tell me what this exciting new bit of knowledge is and explain it so your accounting major friend can understand. Please provide enough detail so I can learn something and understand.