BIO120H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Homeostasis, Thought Experiment
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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Lecture 15: physiological ecology of animals: heat balance. One limiting factor (selected from several possibilties): heat exchange. Size matters to heat balance (and other balances of gains and losses) Larger sphere: more heat contain if it is loosing heat it has more heat to loose ( in a cold environment) Put a pressure in big animals and small animas. >bergmanns rule: homeotherms tend to be larger at higher latitudes ( colder). An exception: elephants largest land animals and do not come from cold places they used to live in cold, wintery environment ( mammoth) Shape matters: sphere has least sa:v, so why shouldn"t homeotherms be spheres in cold climates, sometimes sa is needed for function, sometimes particular shapes are needed for function, tradeoffs and adaptive compromises, thought experiment: imagine the extremes. Makes it living by climbing trees, and jumping off.
