UCONN animal development

What is the mating season called?  How often does it occur for elephants?

estrus; occurs every four months.

How long are they fertile during this time?

two to three days

 How does a female elephant find a mate?

When a female is fertile, she calls for a mate. The strongest males respond, fighting off its competitors, and then they mate for over 5 days.

 How can an animal’s immune system keep her from getting pregnant?

An animal’s immune system may mistake the sperm as a foreign invader and destroy some of them.

How long does an elephant’s sperm take to reach the egg?

12 hours

 What type of macromolecule burns through the protective layer of the egg?

proteins, specifically hydrolytic enzymes released from acrosomes in the sperm

What does progesterone do?

prevents further esters cycles and pulls it closer to the uterus

What is the organ that locks into the blood supply of the mother and provides nutrients to the baby?

placenta

 How long is the gestation period of an elephant?

 22 months

What is the gestation period of a dog?

 63 days

How many eggs does a female dog release at one time?

 10-12 eggs at one time

 Why do dogs face away from each other doing the tie stage?

 in order to protect themselves from attacks and dangers

 How long can a dog’s sperm survive in a female dog’s uterus

5-7 days

How can puppies of the same litter have different fathers?

because the dog’s sperm survives more than a day and the female releases a lot of eggs at once when ovulating; so from this, she can mate more than once with different male dogs.

What does the “organizer” do during gastrulation?

The organizer gives the fertilized eggs instructions on what to develop into.

What is pseudopregnancy?  Why would a dog experience this?

Pseudopregnancy is when a dog who doesn’t have an embryo is experiencing pregnant symptoms. They experience this because all of the females meet for a period of time and unmated females experience pregnancy symptoms from the mated females.

 What is the bulge at the point where the umbilical cord attaches to the puppy? Why?

The bulge at the point where the umbilical cord attaches to the puppy is called the umbilical hernia. This is because it is where the umbilical cord was attached in the womb, but wasn’t properly detached during birth, allowing abdominal contents to push through and create a visible bulge.

What is the olfactory bulb?

 a large bundle of nerve cells which process the smell signals picked up by the scent receptor cells within the nose

Where are a dog’s sweat glands?

in a dog’s paw pads. however, to cool off they usually open their mouths and pant.

Why does the mother lick the pup clean and then eat the placenta?

b/c it needs to tear the sac for the pup to breathe. It then eats the placenta in order to send chemicals that stimulate the flow of milk for breastfeeding.

 True or False  An elephant has more muscles in its trunk than humans do in our whole bodies.

true

What was the trunk used for in ancestral elephants?

The trunk was used as a snorkel for ancestral elephants because it could have been aquatic in the past.

How many times a year can a female dolphin ovulate?

every day

What happens to the limb buds in dolphins?  Why?

The limb buds in dolphins will grow for a little bit and then retract back. This is because the dolphins used to be able to live on land, but then adapted to the ocean water where they didn’t require legs.

Why is a dolphin’s breathing so unique?  What does this mean for sleeping?

b/c they only need to breathe 2-3 times per minute through their blowhole. They have to make a conscious decision to breathe unlike humans who unconsciously breathe. For sleeping, this means that they must always be conscious in order to breathe, so they never truly sleep.

How long is the gestation period of a dolphin?

12 months

How does an elephant’s feet act as ears?

An elephant’s feet act as ears by sensing vibrations in the ground through their footpads that carry through the bones to the elephant’s ears and converting that vibration into information for the elephant.

What is the vomeronasal organ?

it’s what helps elephants in detecting pheromone and other chemical signals for social or reproductive behavior. This organ is located in the roof of the mouth, but elephants pick up the scent through their trunk.

Why is an elephant’s skin so wrinkly?

b/c when they spray water on their back, some of it is trapped in their skin folds and crevices. As the water evaporates, they lower in body temperature and can lose as much as 75% of their body heat.