AECL 365: Vertebrate Biology: Exam 3: Iowa State University: Fall 2018: Dr. Dean Adams

True or False: The home ranges of individuals within a population can overlap with one another.

True

Patchy, but locally abundant resources have what effect on home ranges?

They tend to increase home range size.

A defended area of space that confers exclusive occupancy of it's resident is called what?

Territory

True or False: Territory size will continue to increase as resources increase.

False

The benefits of seasonal migration include which of the following?

Options: Exposure to extreme climactic events, avoid harsh climates, all of these statements are true, increased predation.
ANSWER: Avoid harsh climates.

Species that are born in fresh water spend their adult lives in the sea, and return to fresh water to reproduce are called _____.

anadromous

True or False: Some birds, such as the arctic tern, migrate for up to 6 months of the year.

True

All of the following describe dispersal EXCEPT _____.

Options: movement to identify new favorable habitats, movement of animals to reduce inbreeding, movement from one's natal area to decrease overcrowding, seasonal movement of animals from one region to another.
ANSWER: seasonal movement of animals from one region to another.

Which of the following are utilized by vertebrates to navigate?

Options: all but electrical signals, all of these are utilized by vertebrates, chemical cues, electrical signals, magnetic fields, visual landmarks, all but chemical cues.
ANSWER: All of these are utilized by animals.

Which of the following are NOT a prediction of the many wrongs hypothesis.

Options: Navigational error increases with the distance to the goal, all of these are predictions of the many wrongs hypothesis, smaller groups have less navigational error because there are fewer individuals communicating, navigational error negatively correlates with group size.
ANSWER: Smaller groups have less navigational error because there are fewer individuals communicating.

_____ are pigments that some amphibians and fish synthesize, and produce red and yellow coloration.

Pteridines

Some vertebrates are capable of rearranging the pigments with their _____.

chromataphores

A type of cryptic coloration in which the most conspicuous portion of the body is blended in with the surrounding tissue via similar coloration is called _____.

cover eye coloration.

_____ mimicry describes a set of species with very similar coloration, where the model has an unpleasant attribute but the mimic does not.

Batesian

The level of specificity of communication signals in vertebrates may be _____.

Options: anonymous, sex-specific, individual-specific, species-specific, all choices are correct.
ANSWER: All choices are correct.

True or False: Visual signals in vertebrates are frequently simplified, exaggerated and stereotyped so as to maximize effectiveness and minimize confusion to the receiver.

True

By altering the pitch, intensity, frequency, and timing of acoustic calls, birds can convey all of the following EXCEPT _____.

Options: estrous, individual identity, predatory alarm, all can be conveyed, species identity.
ANSWER: Estrous

Marking one's territory using _____ is an effective means of communication both day and night, but is a localized and short-lived communication mechanism.

pheromones

Species that reproduce at specific times of the year exhibit a(n) _____ reproductive strategy.

obligate

Temperate passerine species have higher levels of adult mortality, shorter incubation periods, and larger clutch sizes as compared to phylogenetically-related tropical species. As such, temperate passerines are said to display what type of life history strategy?

Fast

True or False: The life history strategies of vertebrates typically fall along a slow to fast continuum; where slow life histories are characterized by slow growth, fewer offspring, early maturation of offspring, and low mortality rates, while fast life histories are the converse.

False

True or False: Predation on juveniles exerts selection pressures for the evolution of faster life histories.

False

Which of the following are represented by 'assimilation' in the balanced growth equation?

Options: respiration, all of these, none of these, somatic growth, reproduction, both somatic growth and reproduction.
ANSWER: all of these.

The minimum metabolic rate under a specific thermal condition is called the _____.

standard metabolic rate

Across a wide range of organisms, which of the following best describes the power relationship between mass-specific metabolic rate (MSMR) and body size?

MSMR = a*Mass^-1/4

Small mammals like mice utilize _____ energy per unit time than an equal mass of large mammals like moose.

more

True or False: Temperature-dependent sex determination can evolve when the environment is predictable, and thus the fitness outcomes are known.

False

True or False: In some species, populations in one environment display temperature-dependent sex determination while populations in another environment have sex determined genetically.

True

Organisms that regulate their body temperature at relatively constant values despite changes in the ambient environmental temperature are called _____.

homeotherms

In endotherms, why does metabolic rate continue to rise as ambient temperature increases above the upper critical temperature?

Options: there are metabolic costs to sweating, all are reasons, there are metabolic costs to panting, there are metabolic costs to escape activities.
ANSWER: all are reasons

Some cold-weather vertebrates have arteries and veins adjacent to one another in their extremities, allowing their periphery to cool while not affecting their core body temperature. This is an example of a _____ heat exchange.

counter current

Some mammal species use the follwoing as a means of dissipating excess heat EXCEPT:

Counter current heat exchange between arteries and veins in their limbs.

_____ is a behavioral adaptation seen in some small mammals and birds where an organism's body temperature and oxygen consumption are reduced
diurnally.

Daily torpor

True or False: In vertebrates, only mammals hibernate.

False

Which of the following taxonomic groups DO NOT have species that estivate in response to extreme heat or drought?

Options: amphibians, all have species that estivate in response to extreme heat or drought, mammals, birds, fish.
ANSWER: Birds.

True or False: Ectotherms do not regulate body temperature during torpor and cannot arouse during seasonal torpor.

True

Many amphibians and some reptiles have a _____ tongue which they can protrude from their mouths for the acquisition of prey.

projectile

True or False: Mammals and fish display heterodont dentition, in which different tooth types are present for different feeding purposes.

False

Behaviors that influence what an animal eats and how it obtains it's food are called _____.

foraging behaviors

Which of the following are NOT predictions of optimal foraging theory?

Options: animals should be less opportunistic when profitable food items are scarce, animals should be risk prone when food deprivation is increased, animals should feed more selectively when profitable food items are abundant, all of these.
ANSWER: animals should be less opportunistic when profitable foo items are scarce.

The entrance into hibernation involves several major physiological changes. Name them.

See lecture slides

Name 3 major ways of reducing heat loss in vertebrates.

See lecture slides

Know the Scholander curve

See lecture slides

Know marginal value theorem graph.

See lecture slides

Describe the two extremes of the slow-fast continuum of life history strategies by including at least 2 different life-history traits. Provide an example of a fast-lived and slow-lived mammal.

Fast-lived: early maturation, large number of offspring, short lifespan, many (not all) are precocial. Example: Mice.
Short-lived: prolonged juvenile period, longer lifespan, often altricial. Example: elephants.