Podcast
Questions and Answers
How does the activity of lactic dehydrogenase from a lungfish change as the temperature increases from 25°C to 35°C?
How does the activity of lactic dehydrogenase from a lungfish change as the temperature increases from 25°C to 35°C?
The activity of lactic dehydrogenase increases slowly from 25°C to 35°C with a Q10 of about 1.2.
How do roadrunners use solar energy to conserve energy?
How do roadrunners use solar energy to conserve energy?
Roadrunners bask in the sun, raising their feathers to expose black skin, which allows them to conserve energy by using solar energy instead of metabolism to raise their body temperature.
What is an exception to the general pattern of ectothermy in snakes?
What is an exception to the general pattern of ectothermy in snakes?
Female pythons are able to produce heat by contracting their trunk muscles to incubate their eggs, which is an exception to the general pattern of ectothermy in snakes.
At what temperature can a female Indian python maintain her eggs using heat production?
At what temperature can a female Indian python maintain her eggs using heat production?
How does the energy expenditure of a female python change when she is brooding compared to normal conditions?
How does the energy expenditure of a female python change when she is brooding compared to normal conditions?
What is the unique arrangement of retia found in tunas that helps retain heat?
What is the unique arrangement of retia found in tunas that helps retain heat?
What is the importance of studying the actual mechanisms of body temperature regulation in vertebrates?
What is the importance of studying the actual mechanisms of body temperature regulation in vertebrates?
What is the temperature range of water in which tunas can maintain a muscle temperature of around 30°C?
What is the temperature range of water in which tunas can maintain a muscle temperature of around 30°C?
In addition to the swimming muscles, which organs are also warmed in tunas and sharks?
In addition to the swimming muscles, which organs are also warmed in tunas and sharks?
What is the source of heat in the brains and eyes of billfishes?
What is the source of heat in the brains and eyes of billfishes?
What adaptation do semiaquatic mammals have to keep their coats water-repellent?
What adaptation do semiaquatic mammals have to keep their coats water-repellent?
How do cetaceans and pinnipeds keep themselves insulated?
How do cetaceans and pinnipeds keep themselves insulated?
What is the unique feature of the superior rectus eye muscle in billfishes?
What is the unique feature of the superior rectus eye muscle in billfishes?
Which other scombroid has a thermogenic organ similar to billfishes?
Which other scombroid has a thermogenic organ similar to billfishes?
What system do aquatic mammals have in their flippers to regulate heat?
What system do aquatic mammals have in their flippers to regulate heat?
What happens to the venous blood returning from the flippers?
What happens to the venous blood returning from the flippers?
How do marine mammals retain heat in their bodies?
How do marine mammals retain heat in their bodies?
What is the result of the countercurrent exchange system in marine mammals?
What is the result of the countercurrent exchange system in marine mammals?
What adaptation do some animals use to cool down when their body temperature rises after rapid swimming?
What adaptation do some animals use to cool down when their body temperature rises after rapid swimming?
Why is body size an important factor in the exchange between an organism and its environment?
Why is body size an important factor in the exchange between an organism and its environment?
What happens to the surface area and volume of a cube if its linear dimensions are increased?
What happens to the surface area and volume of a cube if its linear dimensions are increased?
How does the total surface area of a cube change as the length of its side increases?
How does the total surface area of a cube change as the length of its side increases?
What is the surface-to-volume ratio of a cube that is 1 cm on each side?
What is the surface-to-volume ratio of a cube that is 1 cm on each side?
What happens to the surface/volume ratio of a cube as its size increases?
What happens to the surface/volume ratio of a cube as its size increases?
Why is the surface-to-volume ratio important for understanding organism-environment interactions?
Why is the surface-to-volume ratio important for understanding organism-environment interactions?
What would be the surface area and volume of a cube if its side length is increased from 1 cm to 5 cm?
What would be the surface area and volume of a cube if its side length is increased from 1 cm to 5 cm?
How does the rate of exchange with the environment change as an object becomes larger?
How does the rate of exchange with the environment change as an object becomes larger?
What is the functional implication of a decreasing surface/volume ratio in larger objects?
What is the functional implication of a decreasing surface/volume ratio in larger objects?
Why does a smaller cube cool faster than a larger cube when heated to the same temperature?
Why does a smaller cube cool faster than a larger cube when heated to the same temperature?
What is the relationship between the length of a cube's side and its volume?
What is the relationship between the length of a cube's side and its volume?
Most vertebrates eliminate nitrogenous wastes as ______, as urea, or as uric acid.
Most vertebrates eliminate nitrogenous wastes as ______, as urea, or as uric acid.
Excreting nitrogenous wastes primarily as ______ is called ammonotelism.
Excreting nitrogenous wastes primarily as ______ is called ammonotelism.
Mammals are primarily ______, although they excrete some nitrogenous wastes as ammonia and uric acid.
Mammals are primarily ______, although they excrete some nitrogenous wastes as ammonia and uric acid.
Urea is synthesized from ______ in a cellular enzymatic process called the urea cycle.
Urea is synthesized from ______ in a cellular enzymatic process called the urea cycle.
Because ______ is not very toxic, it can be concentrated in urine, thus conserving water.
Because ______ is not very toxic, it can be concentrated in urine, thus conserving water.
Bony fishes are primarily ______ and excrete ammonia through the skin and gills as well as in urine.
Bony fishes are primarily ______ and excrete ammonia through the skin and gills as well as in urine.
Regional heterothermy is a general term used to refer to different temperatures in different parts of an ______'s body.
Regional heterothermy is a general term used to refer to different temperatures in different parts of an ______'s body.
Some fishes maintain some parts of their bodies at temperatures 15°C warmer than the ______ in which they are swimming.
Some fishes maintain some parts of their bodies at temperatures 15°C warmer than the ______ in which they are swimming.
To raise its body temperature by using endothermal heat production, a fish must limit the loss of heat to the ______ via the gills.
To raise its body temperature by using endothermal heat production, a fish must limit the loss of heat to the ______ via the gills.
The mechanism used to retain heat is a countercurrent system of ______ flow in retia mirabilia.
The mechanism used to retain heat is a countercurrent system of ______ flow in retia mirabilia.
Scombroid fishes, a group of teleosts that includes the mackerels, tunas, and billfishes, have also evolved ______ heat production.
Scombroid fishes, a group of teleosts that includes the mackerels, tunas, and billfishes, have also evolved ______ heat production.
These retia retain the heat produced by activity of the ______ muscles, with the result that those muscles are kept 5°C to 10°C warmer than water temperature.
These retia retain the heat produced by activity of the ______ muscles, with the result that those muscles are kept 5°C to 10°C warmer than water temperature.
Controlling ______ temperature is advantageous for any animal.
Controlling ______ temperature is advantageous for any animal.
Water has a high ______ capacity and conductivity, making it difficult for aquatic animals to maintain a temperature difference.
Water has a high ______ capacity and conductivity, making it difficult for aquatic animals to maintain a temperature difference.
Terrestrial vertebrates have body temperatures that are at least partly ______ of the air temperature.
Terrestrial vertebrates have body temperatures that are at least partly ______ of the air temperature.
Maintaining a temperature difference requires ______ mechanisms.
Maintaining a temperature difference requires ______ mechanisms.
Animals with variable body temperatures were formerly described as ______.
Animals with variable body temperatures were formerly described as ______.
Birds and mammals were formerly classified as ______ due to their stable body temperatures.
Birds and mammals were formerly classified as ______ due to their stable body temperatures.
The enormous ______ that lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods would have had very stable body temperatures just because they were so large.
The enormous ______ that lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods would have had very stable body temperatures just because they were so large.
Elephants are big enough to feel the consequences of surface/volume ratio in ______ regulation.
Elephants are big enough to feel the consequences of surface/volume ratio in ______ regulation.
Leatherbacks are the largest living ______, reaching adult body masses of 850 kilograms or more.
Leatherbacks are the largest living ______, reaching adult body masses of 850 kilograms or more.
Being big makes temperature regulation in ______ easier, as leatherback sea turtles dramatically illustrate.
Being big makes temperature regulation in ______ easier, as leatherback sea turtles dramatically illustrate.
It would take many days for a huge ______ to warm or cool as its environment changed temperature.
It would take many days for a huge ______ to warm or cool as its environment changed temperature.
When elephants overheat, they dump heat by sending large volumes of blood flowing through their ______ and waving them to promote cooling.
When elephants overheat, they dump heat by sending large volumes of blood flowing through their ______ and waving them to promote cooling.
As the ______ of the side of the cube is increased from 1 cm to 10 cm, the total surface area of the cube increases as the square of that length, whereas the volume of the cube increases as the cube of the length of a side.
As the ______ of the side of the cube is increased from 1 cm to 10 cm, the total surface area of the cube increases as the square of that length, whereas the volume of the cube increases as the cube of the length of a side.
Because volume increases more rapidly than ______ area, the surface/volume ratio of the cube decreases as the size of the cube increases.
Because volume increases more rapidly than ______ area, the surface/volume ratio of the cube decreases as the size of the cube increases.
Functionally this means that as an object becomes larger, it has less ______ area relative to its volume.
Functionally this means that as an object becomes larger, it has less ______ area relative to its volume.
The rate of exchange with the environment ______ as an object becomes larger.
The rate of exchange with the environment ______ as an object becomes larger.
For example, if you take two cubes—one that is 1 cm on a side and the other 10 cm on a side—and then heat them to the same temperature and put them side by side on a table, the small cube will cool to room temperature ______ than the large cube.
For example, if you take two cubes—one that is 1 cm on a side and the other 10 cm on a side—and then heat them to the same temperature and put them side by side on a table, the small cube will cool to room temperature ______ than the large cube.
Thus the rate of exchange with the environment ______ as an object becomes larger.
Thus the rate of exchange with the environment ______ as an object becomes larger.
