VCU Acceleration Biology – Lecture 1 (Summer 2025)

15 question-and-answer flashcards covering course logistics, assessment structure, core biology characteristics, and the plainfin midshipman case study presented in Lecture 1.

Name the six shared characteristics of living things highlighted in lecture.

Organization, energy acquisition/use, growth & development, response to environment, reproduction, adaptation through evolution.

Which marine fish species was presented as an example of extreme sexual dimorphism?

The plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus).

Describe the courtship behavior of Type I male plainfin midshipman fish.

They migrate to intertidal nests in summer and produce long‐duration “hums” at night to attract females.

How do Type II male midshipman fish obtain fertilizations?

They perform “sneak” spawning to steal fertilizations instead of acoustic courtship.

Type II males are more similar to which sex in morphology, hormones, and biochemistry?

Females.

What are the three vocalizations in the Type I male vocal repertoire?

Advertisement hum, agonistic growl, and grunt train.

What muscular adaptation is found in Type I male vocal muscle fibers?

Enlarged peripheral and central sarcoplasmic zones densely packed with mitochondria.

How do vocal motor neurons differ between Type I males and the other two sex morphs?

Type I males have larger vocal motor neurons with higher electrical discharge rates.

In neuron anatomy, what structure transmits impulses away from the cell body?

The axon.