Animal Physiology
Comparative animal physiology at third-year depth, from insects and squid to fish, birds and mammals: homeostasis and feedback control, metabolic rate, respirometry and allometric scaling, thermoregulation, freeze tolerance, torpor and hibernation, the ionic basis of the action potential and conduction, synapses, integration and sensory transduction, muscle mechanics and fiber types, hormones and metamorphosis, circulation and capillary exchange, gas exchange in gills, lungs and tracheae, oxygen transport, diving and high altitude, osmoregulation, nitrogen excretion and the kidney, and a capstone on digestion, locomotor energetics, thermal limits and climate change, with the Animal Welfare Act, PHS Policy and IACUC framework for animal research.
BIOL-350 Year 3 3 credits 12 lessons · 6 h 14 min
Offered by HSM University · Biology
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain homeostasis in terms of control systems, distinguish regulators from conformers, and analyze negative feedback, gain, feedforward control, positive feedback and moving set points.
- Measure and interpret metabolic rate by respirometry, apply allometric scaling such as Kleiber's law and Q₁₀, and explain how body size and endothermy shape energy needs.
- Analyze heat balance and the thermoneutral zone, explain heat production, conservation and loss, and describe freeze avoidance, freeze tolerance, torpor and hibernation.
- Use the Nernst and Goldman equations, explain the ionic basis of the action potential with the Hodgkin–Huxley model, and relate cable properties and myelination to conduction velocity.
- Describe electrical and chemical synaptic transmission, quantal release, synaptic integration, the autonomic nervous system and the principles of sensory transduction and coding.
- Explain the structure and excitation–contraction coupling of skeletal muscle, interpret length–tension and force–velocity relationships, and compare fiber types, cardiac, smooth and specialized muscles.
- Classify hormones and explain their transport, receptors and clearance, analyze feedback in hypothalamic–pituitary axes and the stress response, and compare insect and amphibian metamorphosis.
- Compare open and closed circulations and vertebrate hearts, explain cardiac output and the Frank–Starling mechanism, and apply Poiseuille's law and Starling forces to blood flow and capillary exchange.
- Apply the gas laws and Fick's law to gas exchange, compare breathing in water and air, and explain countercurrent gills, tidal lungs, the unidirectional bird lung and insect tracheae.
- Explain oxygen transport by respiratory pigments, including cooperativity, the Bohr and Root effects and CO₂ transport, and analyze adaptations to high altitude and breath-hold diving.
- Explain osmoregulation in marine, freshwater and terrestrial animals, compare nitrogenous wastes, and describe kidney function including the countercurrent multiplier and hormonal control.
- Integrate digestion, locomotor energetics and thermal and oxygen limits to predict responses to environmental change, and describe the Three Rs and the oversight of animal research in Canada and the United States.
Course content
12 lessons · 6 h 14 min total · final exam
- 1 Homeostasis and control systems 32 min · quiz
- 2 Metabolism, body size and energetics 31 min · quiz
- 3 Thermoregulation, torpor and hibernation 33 min · quiz
- 4 Excitable membranes and the action potential 32 min · quiz
- 5 Synapses, integration and sensory transduction 30 min · quiz
- 6 Muscle and movement 30 min · quiz
- 7 Endocrine control 30 min · quiz
- 8 Circulation 30 min · quiz
- 9 Respiration and gas exchange 31 min · quiz
- 10 Oxygen transport, diving and high altitude 31 min · quiz
- 11 Osmoregulation and excretion 32 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: digestion, locomotion and physiology in a changing world 32 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Comparative animal physiology at third-year depth, from insects and squid to fish, birds and mammals: homeostasis and feedback control, metabolic rate, respirometry and allometric scaling, thermoregulation, freeze tolerance, torpor and hibernation, the ionic basis of the action potential and conduction, synapses, integration and sensory transduction, muscle mechanics and fiber types, hormones and metamorphosis, circulation and capillary exchange, gas exchange in gills, lungs and tracheae, oxygen transport, diving and high altitude, osmoregulation, nitrogen excretion and the kidney, and a capstone on digestion, locomotor energetics, thermal limits and climate change, with the Animal Welfare Act, PHS Policy and IACUC framework for animal research.
Part of the Science stream, typically taken in year 3.