Deck 1: Animals and Environments: Function on the Ecological Stage

Question 1

Which statement about the discipline of physiology is false?

A) It is a key discipline for understanding how animals change over Earth's history.
B) It is a key discipline for understanding the fundamental biology of all animals.
C) It is a key discipline for understanding human health and disease.
D) It is a key discipline for understanding the health and disease of nonhuman animals.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which one of the following would be the most reasonable method of calculating how much energy a bird would require for a migration?

A) Tracking a bird for the duration of the migratory path and estimating its energy usage over that distance
B) Using a wind tunnel to measure metabolic rate at various flight speeds, then using that information to estimate energy usage during the migration
C) Measuring resting metabolic rate in a lab setting and calculating its exercise rate to estimate total usage during the migration
D) Measuring oxygen consumption with some sort of implanted device that the bird carries for the duration of the migration

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Why is studying salmon migration important to humans?

A) Studying salmon migration is important to salmon but not necessarily to humans.
B) Salmon and humans can harbor many of the same diseases.
C) Salmon are an important source of food for humans.
D) Salmon are an important food source for many local vertebrate species.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

To understand how a fish propels itself by applying forces to the water, physiologists would study its

A) biomechanics.
B) evolution.
C) ecology.
D) cell physiology.

Question 5

Refer to the figure shown.
The data in the graph would be relevant to which subdiscipline of physiology?

A) Evolution
B) Cell physiology
C) Morphology
D) Ecology

Question 6

In the study of physiology, the term "_______" refers to the components of living animals and the interactions among those components that enable animals to perform as they do.

A) feedback
B) regulation
C) natural selection
D) mechanism

Question 7

How is the light reaction in the firefly inhibited?

A) Mitochondria prevent oxygen from reacting with luciferyl-AMP.
B) Nitric oxide combines with oxygen to prevent reaction with luciferyl-AMP.
C) ATP is prevented from combining with luciferin.
D) Luciferase is prevented from catalyzing the reaction.

Question 8

Which of the following is not needed in the mechanism of light production in the firefly?

A) Oxygen
B) ATP
C) Light
D) Luciferin

Question 9

In the firefly, light is emitted when

A) ATP combines with luciferin, forming luciferyl-AMP.
B) released nitric oxide blocks the mitochondria's use of oxygen.
C) the electron-excited product of O₂ and luciferyl-AMP returns to its ground state.
D) luciferase is activated by oxygen.

Question 10

Which of the following is considered the "on" switch for the light-emitting reaction of the firefly?

A) Oxygen
B) Luciferase
C) Nitric oxide
D) ATP

Question 11

A physiological mechanism or other trait that is a product of evolution and is advantageous is called

A) an adaptation.
B) natural selection.
C) adaptive significance.
D) evolution.

Question 12

What is the adaptive significance of light emission in the firefly?

A) Female fireflies emit light in such a way that distinguishes their species.
B) All fireflies emit light to lure prey.
C) Male fireflies emit light to attract mates.
D) Male fireflies emit light to evade predators.

Question 13

Which of the following is a similarity between an octopus and a fish?

A) The evolutionary adaptation of excellent vision
B) The mechanism of vision
C) The processing of visual signals before reaching the optic nerve
D) The neuroanatomy of the eye

Question 14

Research in the field of _______ physiology emphasizes synthesis across levels of biological organization.

A) evolutionary
B) comparative
C) environmental
D) integrative

Question 15

Which statement regarding animals is true?

A) There is no distinction between an animal and its environment.
B) Once adults, animals are structurally static.
C) All animals require energy to maintain their organization.
D) Body size is significant in the lives of only small animals.

Question 16

Most cells of an animal

A) are exposed to the external environment.
B) are exposed to the internal environment.
C) fluctuate between exposure to the external environment and the internal environment.
D) turn over while being exposed to the internal environment.

Question 17

Refer to the figure shown.
Which graph refers to a physiological trait that is regulated by an organism?

A) I
B) II
C) III
D) IV

Question 18

Refer to the figure shown.
A migrating salmon regulates its internal Cl^- concentration, shown in graph _______, while conforming to water temperature, shown in graph _______.

A) I; II
B) II; I
C) II; IV
D) I; III

Question 19

Refer to the figure shown.
Graph _______ shows an animal's regulation of its body temperature as the external temperature increases. Graph _______ shows no regulation of its body temperature as external temperature increases.

A) I; II
B) II; I
C) II; IV
D) II; III

Question 20

Which statement regarding physiological conformity and regulation is true?

A) All animals will eventually conform.
B) Animals are either regulators or conformers.
C) An animal cannot be both an ion regulator and a temperature conformer.
D) Conforming is more metabolically expensive than regulating.

Question 21

The functioning of regulatory mechanisms that automatically make adjustments to maintain internal constancy is called

A) conformity.
B) feedback.
C) homeostasis.
D) regulation.

Question 22

Physiological changes that occur by alteration of gene frequencies over the course of many generations are referred to as _______ changes.

A) acute
B) chronic
C) evolutionary
D) developmental

Question 23

_______ is an example of "abandoning constancy" during thermoregulation.

A) Sweating
B) Shivering
C) Hibernating
D) Huddling

Question 24

What is the principal advantage of conformity?

A) The process requires a large amount of energy.
B) It allows cells to maintain a steady state.
C) Very little energy is used by this process.
D) Cells are subject to changes in their conditions.

Question 25

Sweating in response to heat is an example of a(n)

A) acute change.
B) chronic change.
C) evolutionary change.
D) developmental change.

Question 26

Refer to the figure shown.
What type of physiological response does the figure refer to?

A) Chronic response
B) Acute response
C) Evolutionary response
D) Developmental response

Question 27

Refer to the figure shown.
If the heat exposure were removed, the line in the diagram would

A) continue to show a plateau.
B) drop sharply.
C) gradually drop to its initial starting point.
D) drop but be maintained somewhere at the middle level.

Question 28

Which response is the longest lasting?

A) Acute response
B) Chronic response
C) Evolutionary response
D) Developmental response

Question 29

Which statement regarding the Antarctic fish species rock cod is false?

A) Some species have no hemoglobin.
B) The fish metabolically synthesize antifreeze to keep from freezing.
C) The fish live their entire lives at body temperatures near -1.6°C.
D) If acclimated slowly enough, the fish can survive in tropical waters.

Question 30

Rainbow trout captured and brought into a lab aquarium undergo a chronic adjustment to the conditions in the lab. This process is called

A) phenotypic plasticity.
B) feedback inhibition.
C) acclimatization.
D) acclimation.

Question 31

During childbirth, muscular contractions acting to expel the fetus from the uterus induce hormonal signals that induce even more intense contractions. This is an example of

A) homeostasis.
B) negative feedback.
C) a set point.
D) positive feedback.

Question 32

Refer to the figure shown.
What statistical method was used to draw the trend line in the figure?

A) Phylogenetically independent contrasts
B) Ordinary least squares regression
C) Weight-specific mean
D) Logarithmic scaling

Question 33

Refer to the figure shown.
According to the figure, what is the expected gestation period of a warthog?

A) 20 weeks
B) 24 weeks
C) 30 weeks
D) 55 weeks

Question 34

Refer to the figure shown.
Which species in the figure shows an actual gestation period that is furthest from its expected gestation period?

A) Bushbuck
B) Dikdik
C) Warthog
D) Mountain zebra

Question 35

_______ can tolerate a body temperature of _______, one of the highest body temperatures recorded for any vertebrate animal.

A) Humans; 50°C
B) Thermophilic archaea; 100°C
C) The desert iguana; 48.5°C
D) Sea stars; 45.5°C

Question 36

Refer to the figure shown.
This figure shows that

A) the number of butterfly species increases as one moves toward the equator.
B) butterfly populations are larger near the equator than at any other latitude.
C) the number of butterfly species increases as latitude increases.
D) the butterfly population increases as latitude increases.

Question 37

Refer to the figure shown.
The environmental factor that is most responsible for the data shown in the figure is

A) sunlight.
B) food.
C) temperature.
D) water.

Question 38

In which habitat would O₂ concentration most likely be the lowest?

A) A subnivean air space
B) An open meadow at 4000 m elevation
C) The bottom of a waterfall
D) Pond water with a lot of algae

Question 39

At altitudes above _______ m, people often find simply walking uphill to be a significant challenge.

A) 5000
B) 6500
C) 9000
D) 10,000

Question 40

In order to obtain O₂, water-breathers face a substantially greater challenge compared to air-breathers. Which of the following is not a reason for this difference?

A) Water contains less O₂ per liter than air does.
B) Water is denser than air.
C) Water can become anoxic more readily than air can.
D) Oxygen diffuses more slowly across respiratory surfaces in water than in air.

Question 41

Most invertebrates that live in the ocean, such as sea stars and corals,

A) tend to lose water via osmosis.
B) must drink water.
C) must actively excrete water.
D) do not gain or lose much water.

Question 42

Which animal osmotically gains the most water per gram on a daily basis?

A) Sea star
B) Goldfish
C) Coral
D) Reef fish

Question 43

Certain _______ can tolerate almost complete desiccation.

A) toads
B) tardigrades
C) marine bony fish
D) goldfish

Question 44

The subnivean air space is an example of a(n)

A) microenvironment.
B) desert burrow.
C) hibernating area.
D) anoxic environment.

Question 45

Choose the best example of an animal changing its environment at the global scale.

A) a squirrel using a hole in a tree as a burrow
B) locusts decimating an agricultural crop in the Midwest U.S.
C) the invasive species altering Florida's community structure
D) the use of fossil fuels

Question 46

The shift in gene frequencies in smaller populations because of random deaths is referred to as

A) evolution.
B) nonadaptive evolution.
C) genetic drift.
D) pleiotropy.

Question 47

Because of _______, populations of the mosquito Culex pipiens are experiencing increased resistance to organophosphates and _______ in areas where organophosphates are sprayed.

A) pleiotropy; reduced cold tolerance
B) maladaptation; all other insecticides
C) nonadaptive evolution; accelerated larval developmental stages
D) natural selection; altered sex ratios

Question 48

Which process most likely leads to adaptive evolution?

A) Natural selection
B) Genetic drift
C) Bottlenecks
D) Pleiotropy

Question 49

Which observation best demonstrates the process of evolution?

A) The increased presence of a trait favored by natural selection
B) A change of gene frequencies over time
C) The shifting of gene frequencies in a population because of random events
D) The change in an animal's phenotype in response to environmental change

Question 50

Which conclusion was not made from the seminal 1979 paper by Gould and Lewontin?

A) Natural selection in the present environment is just one of several processes by which a species may come to exhibit a trait.
B) When physiologists refer to a trait as an adaptation, they are making a hypothesis that natural selection has occurred.
C) Data must be gathered in order to assess whether adaptation is likely to have occurred.
D) Indirect evidence cannot be used to support the hypothesis of adaptation.

Question 51

The raw material(s) for evolution is(are)

A) trait variation.
B) natural selection.
C) clines.
D) alleles.

Question 52

Which method is based on the premise that although we cannot see evolution that occurred in the past, the many kinds of animals alive today provide us with many examples of outcomes of evolution, and patterns we identify in these outcomes may provide insights into processes that occurred long ago?

A) Studies of laboratory populations over many generations
B) The adaptation method
C) Phylogenetic reconstruction
D) The comparative method

Question 53

Refer to the figure shown.
Which technique for the study of adaptation was used to generate the data shown in the figure?

A) Studies of laboratory populations over many generations
B) Single-generation studies of individual variation
C) Creation of variation for study
D) Studies of genetic structures of natural populations

Question 54

Refer to the figure shown.
What is the best caption for this figure?

A) Variation in O₂ consumption.
B) Individual variation in maximum rate of O₂ consumption.
C) Mean maximum rate of O₂ consumption.
D) Range of maximum rate of O₂ consumption.

Question 55

Refer to the figure shown.
Assuming the trait measured in this figure is heritable,

A) there can be no basis for natural selection to act on this trait.
B) there is no variation from which natural selection can act on this trait.
C) natural selection acts on the individuals with extreme trait measurements.
D) the variation provides the raw material for natural selection.

Question 56

Refer to the figure shown.
Statistically speaking, an elite weight lifter would be likely to have a maximum rate of O₂ consumption

A) mostly at the extreme low end of the distribution.
B) mostly at the extreme high end of the distribution.
C) in the average range to the lower end of the distribution.
D) in the average range to the higher end of the distribution.

Question 57

Using the firefly as an example, explain physiology's two central questions-mechanism and origin.

Question 58

Compare and contrast adaptation and natural selection.

Question 59

Describe three of the subdisciplines of animal physiology.

Question 60

Compare and contrast conformity and regulation, including the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Question 61

Which of the five timeframes in which physiology changes is represented by phenotypic plasticity? Give an example.

Question 62

What is the importance of body size in the study of animal physiology?

Question 63

A water temperature of 6°C can be lethal for both tropical fish and Antarctic fish-explain.

Question 64

Describe how the density layering of water can create anoxic zones.

Question 65

Explain how adaptive and nonadaptive processes can contribute to evolution.

Question 66

Explain the statement: "A trait is not an adaptation merely because it exists."