Deck 5: Sensory Systems and Behavior

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT associated with the lateral line system in fish?

A) Cilia
B) Mechanoreceptors
C) Hydrodynamic information
D) Neuromasts
E) Chemoreceptors

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Which of the following best describes the general concept of umwelt?

A) Animal can acquire more environmental information than humans
B) Humans cannot detect the Earth's magnetic field
C) Species acquire different kinds of environmental information
D) Evolution maximizes the acquisition of environmental information
E) The acquisition of information from the environment enhances individual fitness

Answer 2

C

Question 3

How does a neural signal travel from one neuron to another?

A) via direct contact
B) through the release of neurotransmitters into a synapse.
C) via an electrical impulse that travels across a synapse
D) via reversed polarity
E) via the "umwelt" mechanism

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What is the major difference between an odorant and a chemical pheromone?

A) odorants are larger molecules than pheromones
B) pheromones degrade more rapidly odorants
C) only odorants are volatile than pheromones
D) only pheromones are species-specific.
E) only pheromones can travel through water

Question 5

Changes in the rates of all of the following are often used to determine when a particular chemical odorant has been detected by an individual EXCEPT ___________.

A) Licking
B) Sniffing
C) Tongue flicking
D) Water ventilation
E) Overall activity

Question 6

Jean Boal her colleagues observed that cuttlefish are normally solitary but aggregate to spawn where females lay eggs in communal egg masses. What did they determine was the sensory mechanism for this reproductive behavior?

A) The females used color cues from males flashing mating displays.
B) The females used odor cues to find their natal stream to lay eggs in.
C) The females used odor cues to detect freshly laid eggs ()
D) The females used mechanoreceptor cues to determine where other conspecifics were grouping together.

Question 7

Many birds appear monomorphic to humans: both sexes have the same plumage. In what way do many birds vary across the sexes in plumage color that humans cannot perceive?

A) The sexes vary in ultraviolet coloration.
B) The sexes vary in infrared coloration.
C) The sexes vary in photoreceptors
D) The sexes vary in the number of photoreceptors.
E) The sexes vary in the strength of their photoreceptors.

Question 8

How do ultrasounds and infrasounds differ?

A) Humans can hear ultrasounds but not infrasounds.
B) Humans can hear infrasounds but not ultrasounds.
C) Infrasounds attenuate more slowly.
D) Ultrasounds are not used in communication.
E) Only infrasounds are used to find prey.

Question 9

The lateral line system in fish is contained which of the following?

A) Chemoreceptors
B) Photoreceptors
C) Mechanoreceptors
D) Odorant receptors
E) Electroreceptors

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT true about the Earth's magnetic field?

A) It has polarity
B) It can only be detected by birds and turtles
C) Its angle of inclination varies with latitude
D) Its strength varies with latitude
E) It flows from south to north

Question 11

Many vertebrates that can detect magnetic fields have cells that contain magnetite. These cells are typically found in what part of the body?

A) The forelimbs
B) The hindlimbs
C) The core of the body
D) The head
E) The tail

Question 12

Insect tympanal organs contain which of the following?

A) Chemoreceptors
B) Mechanoreceptors
C) Photoreceptors
D) Odorant receptors
E) Electroreceptors

Question 13

Insect tympanal organs allow individuals to detect which of the following?

A) Food
B) Magnetic fields
C) Chemicals
D) Light
E) Predators

Question 14

Some noxious moths produce ultrasonic clicks that their bat predators can detect. Bats quickly learn to avoid such moths. This phenomenon is known as what?

A) Acoustic aposematism
B) Coevolution
C) Substrate-borne vibration
D) Neuromast sensitivity
E) Umami perception

Question 15

Umami taste involves the perception of what?

A) Sweet
B) Bitter
C) Salt
D) Sour
E) Amino acids

Question 16

Which is the prediction for Fertin and Casas (2007) study of antlion larvae and their sandpits?

A) Antlions use mechanoreceptors on their head to detect prey
B) Antlions will toss sand in response to their vibrations
C) Antlions detect prey using electroreception
D) Antlions detect prey using olfaction

Question 17

Explain the three sources of directional information the Earth's magnetic field provides to individuals that can detect it.

Question 18

Explain why and how tongue flicks in snakes and sniffing in mammals are similar with respect to sensory system function.

Question 19

Describe the experiment used by Fertin and Casas (2007) to conclude that antlion larvae can detect substrate-born vibration made by their ant prey.

Question 20

Tan Lu and colleagues showed that mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide exhaled by vertebrates to find a blood meal. If you wore a mask that prevented carbon dioxide from being exhaled into the air, would a mosquito be attracted to you?

Question 21

Based on the work of Tan Lu and colleagues, explain why mosquitoes are more attracted to you when you exercise compared to when you are standing still.