BIOL 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Mangiafuoco, Taste Bud, Chemoreceptor
14 Feb 2017
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Biol 330 lecture 4 living in water: physiological adjustments. Freshwater is 0. 01% of water on earth, but 40% of fish species! Consequence: gravity has little effect; aquatic vertebrates can be larger. Viscosity: >55 time more viscous than air (water is thicker than air) higher viscosity = slower rate at which a fluid flows over a surface higher resistance when moving through water than air. Oxygen content: 1/20 to that of air (water holds less oxygen per unit) Consequence: tidal ventilation more difficult, so not utilized. Consequences: electricity can be used to detect/stun prey, evade predators (eg. electric eel) Heat capacity: 3500 times > air (takes 3500 times the energy to heat 1g of water 1c) Consequences: little temperature change over the day vs. most terrestrial habitats; temperatures largely invariant at any one depth. Challenges to avoiding extremely warm temperatures (terrestrial vertebrates have many temperatures to choose from).
