Osmoregulation and Excretion

Flashcards covering key concepts related to osmoregulation and excretion in animals.

Osmoregulation

Regulates solute concentrations and balances the gain and loss of water.

Excretion

The process of getting rid of metabolic wastes.

Osmoconformers

Marine animals that are isoosmotic with their surroundings and do not regulate their osmolarity.

Osmoregulators

Animals that expend energy to control water uptake and loss.

Stenohaline

Animals that cannot tolerate substantial changes in external osmolarity.

Euryhaline

Animals that can survive large fluctuations in external osmolarity.

Hypoosmotic

Marine bony fishes that lose water by osmosis and gain salt.

Hyperosmotic

Freshwater fishes that take in water and lose salts.

Anhydrobiosis

The adaptation of some aquatic invertebrates to survive in a dormant state when losing almost all body water.

Transport Epithelia

Specialized cells that regulate solute movement, arranged into complex tubular networks.

Nitrogenous Wastes

Breakdown products of proteins and nucleic acids, such as ammonia, urea, and uric acid.

Ammonia

A toxic nitrogenous waste that requires large amounts of water for dilution.

Urea

A less toxic form of nitrogenous waste excreted by mammals and adult amphibians.

Uric Acid

A nitrogenous waste that is largely insoluble in water, secreted as a paste.

Filtration

The process in which water and solutes are forced across selectively permeable membranes into the excretory tubule.

Reabsorption

The process where substances are reclaimed from the filtrate and returned to body fluids.

Secretion

The process of extracting toxins and excess ions from body fluids and adding them to the excretory tubule.

Protonephridia

A network of dead-end tubules lacking internal openings, used for excretion in some invertebrates.

Metanephridia

Tubules that collect coelomic fluid and produce dilute urine in some invertebrates.

Malpighian Tubules

Excretory structures in terrestrial arthropods that remove nitrogenous wastes from hemolymph.

Nephron

The functional unit of the vertebrate kidney, involving a long tubule and a glomerulus.

Bowman's Capsule

A cup-shaped structure that encases the glomerulus in the nephron where filtration takes place.

Loop of Henle

The part of the nephron where the filtrate passes through to aid in concentration.

Afferent Arteriole

A small blood vessel that carries blood to the glomerulus in the nephron.

Efferent Arteriole

The vessel that carries blood away from the glomerulus.

Colloid Osmotic Pressure

The pressure exerted by plasma proteins in blood that draws water into the circulatory system.

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

A hormone that increases water reabsorption in the distal tubules and collecting ducts.

Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS)

A feedback circuit that functions in the homeostasis of blood pressure.

Kangaroo Rats

Land animals that recover 90% of water loss from metabolism and produce super concentrated urine.

Vampire Bat Excretory System

A unique system that excretes large amounts of dilute urine after a meal.

Collecting Duct

The part of the nephron that carries filtrate through the medulla and reabsorbs NaCl.

Hydrated Tardigrade

An example of an organism that can survive in a dormant state during anhydrobiosis.

Concentrated Urine

Urine that is much more concentrated than body fluids, conserving water.