NBB 201 Lecture 17: Avoiding Predation
18 Nov 2017
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Document Summary
Predation occurred across the span of human evolution; hominins were hunted by large cats and birds. It remains an issue for humans in some regions of the world. In early 1900s, many indian fishermen were being killed by tigers: tigers are ambush predators, more likely to attack (cid:449)he(cid:374) p(cid:396)e(cid:455) is(cid:374)"t looki(cid:374)g, fishermen responded by wearing face masks on back of head. We (mammals) have physiological and neurobiological adaptations that have been shaped by natural selection to help us avoid predation; our stress physiology is well adapted for dealing with threat of predation and with acute physical emergencies. Two major arms of physiological stress response to emergencies: sympathetic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (hpa) axis, sympathetic nervous system (sns) Increased oxygen uptake: epinephrine and norepinephrine elevate oxygen level in blood by increasing respiration rate, you want oxygen in blood because if you metabolize glucose or fatty acids in presence of oxygen, you get more atp (energy)
