Gas exchange in air- and water-breathing animals. Adaptation of the circulatory and digestive systems in vertebrates. Kidney and extrarenal osmoregulatory organs in vertebrates. Adaptation of metabolism and thermoregulation in vertebrates.
Randall, Burggren, French, Eckert Animal Physiology. Mechanisms and Adaptations, W. H. Freeman and Company
Schmidt-Nielsen, Animal Physiology. Adaptation and Environment, Cambridge University Press
Hill, Wyse, Anderson, Animal Physiology, Sinauer Associates
Learning Objectives
Knolewdge acquired:
Adaptation of the physiological processes by individual species to the environment. Differences in the processes that regulate the functions of the vegetative and relational life in vertebrates.
Competence acquired:
Evaluation of the adaptative value of the physiological processes.
Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
Analysis and interpretation of the experimental data.
Prerequisites
Courses required: General Physiology
Courses recommended: Biochemistry, Physics
Teaching Methods
Lectures
Type of Assessment
Oral exam
Course program
Respiratory system. Chemo-physical properties of gases. Adaptation of vertebrates for breathing in air and in water, regulation of breathing, oxygen and carbon dioxide transport and transfer to and from the blood.
Circulation. Comparison between the circulatory system of vertebrates. Principles of hemodynamics, electrocardiogram, cardiac mechanics, events of the cardiac cycle, internal and reflex regulation of cardiac activity, arterial system, microcirculation and solutes exchange.
Body fluids and osmoregulation. Osmoregulatory mechanisms and excretion of nitrogenous wastes in aqueous and terrestrial environments. Anatomy and function of the mammalian kidney. Acid-base balance. Extrarenal osmoregulatory organs in vertebrates.
Digestive system. Feeding and nutrition. Motility of the alimentary canal, gastrointestinal secretions, digestion and absorption of nutrients. Comparison between the digestive system of vertebrates.
Metabolism. Metabolic rates and calorimetry. Aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Metabolic adaptation in marine mammalian.
Thermoregulation. Temperature transfer between animals and environment. Homeothermy and poikilothermy, endothermy and ectothermy. Responses to hot and cold environments. Thermoregulation and specialized metabolic states.