Metabolic Rate, Dormancy, and Body Temperature

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to metabolic rate, dormancy, and body temperature regulation in animals.

Fick Equation

A model to show the flow of oxygen around the body.

Power Equation

An equation with a power exponent, used instead of a normal linear straight line equation.

Endothermic Hibernators

Mostly mammals, with variation across phylogenetic groups; birds tend to favor torpor.

Migration

Avoiding a stressful environment by moving to a more favorable one.

Regulation

Spending energy to maintain a stable internal environment (e.g., body temperature).

Conforming

Accepting the external environmental conditions without expending energy to regulate internal conditions; typical of ectotherms.

Regional Heterothermy (Partial Heterothermy)

Allowing only part of the body to have a different temperature than normal.

Temporal or Seasonal Heterothermy

Allowing the whole body temperature to vary over time or seasonally.

Q10 Idea

Changing temperature by 10 degrees C can drop core metabolic rate by a factor of three.

Red Deer Temperature Regulation

Show a strong seasonal pattern of temperature change and regulation, including drops in subcutaneous temperature during winter.

Heterothermic Strategies

Used by reindeer in Svalbard involving dropping heart rate significantly during the winter.

Willow Tit (Paris Montanus) Hypothermia

Goes through mild hypothermia from day to day depending on exposure to cold temperatures.

Bronze Mannequin

A tropical species that will also go through nighttime mild hypothermia.

Tarsia vs. Tree Shrew

Nocturnal tarsia maintains a low body temperature, while the diurnal tree shrew shows a significant shift in body temperature.

Endothermic Fish

Species of fish (sharks and tuna) that raise their body temperature and trap heat in their bodies; convergent evolution.

Red Muscle Tissue in Endothermic Fish

Highly vascularized, oxidative, and designed for aerobic locomotion; located in the core of the animal under white muscle.

White Muscle in Endothermic Fish

Sprint muscle, not typically used for gentle swimming.

Bergmann's Rule

Cold-adapted animals tend to be larger.

Allen's Rule

Cold-adapted animals tend to have smaller extremities.

Torpor

Reduced body temperature and metabolic rate on a daily basis.

Hibernation

Prolonged state of dormancy with significant reduction in body temperature and metabolic rate.

Lower Critical Temperature (LCT)

The temperature below which an endotherm must increase its metabolic rate to maintain body temperature.

Pocket Mouse Torpor

Doesn't have a lower defense but still goes into torpor; relies on environmental warming to arouse below 14 degrees C.

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)

The metabolic rate in a defined state of normothermy; BMR does not change with heterothermy.