Course prerequisites: BISC 305

Course description:

This course will examine responses to challenging environments in a wide variety of animals with the goal of illustrating basic concepts and principles in physiology.  All levels of organization will be studied, from the molecular and biochemical to organ systems to whole-animal behaviour.  In addition to addressing mechanistic questions regarding how animals cope with extreme environments, this course will also cover evolutionary approaches that are used to test whether a given physiological difference between species actually represents an adaptation (i.e., response to selection) in a particular environment.

 

Outline:

1.      Introduction to basic concepts of environmental and evolutionary physiology.

2.      Oxygen adaptations, e.g., to high altitude, diving, anaerobiosis.

3.      Temperature adaptations, e.g., freezing resistance, hibernation.

4.      Water and ions, e.g., hyperosmotic and hypoosmotic regulation.

5.      Hydrostatic pressure and adaptations to the deep sea.

 

Textbooks (not required)

There are NO recommended or required textbooks for this course.  However, the course will draw heavily upon material from the following two texts:

Christopher D. Moyes and Patricia M. Schulte. 2006. Principles of Animal Physiology. San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings. ISBN 0805353518.

Willmer, P., Stone, G., & Johnston, I. 2005. Environmental Physiology of Animals.  Second Edition. Blackwell. ISBN 1405107243.

At least one copy of each of these texts will be placed on Reserve in the library.

 

Mark distribution:

Final exam: 40%

2 x Midterm exams: 25% each

Tutorial presentation: 10%