Animal Physiology

INTRODUCTION

Introduction Physiology

Functions

Mechanisms that operate in the organisms at all levels

Physiological control systems and the preservation of the constancy of the

internal environment

Normal functioning of human tissues and organs and their regulation by

the nervous and endocrine systems

Understand how animals and plants work

Detailed knowledge on the molecular interactions that underlie cellular

processes

COORDINATION/REGULATION

Physiology

Integrative

science

Ex. Maintenance of temperature

Involves the temperature-control system of the brain so that it

can regulate

Heat load and heat sink by the external environment

Rate of heat production by metabolically active tissues

Transport of heat by blood flow between the body core and its
periphery

Evaporative cooling

Insulating efficiency of the fur

Others

Subdisciplines of Animal Physiology

1.

Comparative Physiology- animals are compared

to be able to understand their physiological &
evolutionary patterns

Use of variety of animals

Use of analytical & statistical techniques to

make a carefully structural comparisons

2. Environmental Physiology

Examines animals in relation to its environment

Focuses on the evolutionary adaptations

the thick fur of Arctic animals

the high blood volume of diving seals

waterproof cuticle of cockroaches

*enable students to understand how animals able to function

in environment that can range from benign to hostile

3. Evolutionary physiology

Uses the techniques of evolutionary biology and

systematics

Ex. Construction of taxonomic family trees or

cladograms

4. Developmental Physiology
* Discusses how physiological processes unfolds,
unravels during the course of development from
embryo through larva or fetus to adulthood

5. Cell Physiology
* Provides vital information on the physiology of the
cells themselves which will lead us to understand
the physiological responses of tissues, organs &
organ systems

History of Animal Physiology

384 322 B.C. - Socrates, Aristotle & Galileo

304 250 B.C. Ancient Greek Erasistratus Father of

physiology apply physical laws to the study of human function.

1578 1657 William Harvey examined the human body

* led to the rapid development of animal physiology as a discipline
of the natural sciences.
* here, physiology becomes fully an experimental science with the
evolutionary work
* he demonstrated the function of the heart and proved the
circulation of the blood

1628 -1694 Marcello Malpighi explained many tissue functions

Contn

1743 1794 - Antoine Lavoisier, European

chemist explained the metabolism of animals &
plants
* able to understand oxygen-consuming & oxygen
producing reactions

1813 1878 Claude Bernard, a French regarded

as the father of Modern Physiology who observed
the milieu interieur (internal environment) remain
remarkably constant despite changing conditions in
the external environment

Contn

1871 1945 Walter Cannon, who coined the

term Homeostasis to describe the internal
constancy.

Cannon further suggested that the many

mechanisms of physiological regulation have one
purpose the maintenance of internal
constancy

The concept of homeostasis is immensely

important in the study of physiology. Why?

1. it allows us to understand the diverse regulating mechanisms

occurring in our body

2. it provides a major foundation for medical diagnostic procedure

Normal Ranges
Measurements

Normal Range

Arterial pH

7.35 7.45

Bicarbonates

24 28 mEq/ L

Sodium

135 -145 mEq /L

Calcium

4.5 5.5 mEq / L

Oxygen content

17.2 22 mL /100 mL

Urea

12 35 mg / 100 mL

Amino acids

3.3 5.1 mg / 100mL

Protein

6.5 8.0 g / 100 mL

Total lipids

400 800 mg /100 mL

Glucose

75 -110 mg/ 100mL

Why study animal physiology?

1. Scientific curiosity
- Curiosity about animals work
2. Commercial & agricultural applications
- veterinary care
- improve yield and quality
- improved breeding techniques
- Genetic engineering
3. Insights to human physiology
- human species shares a lot of things with other animal species

Examples

Beating of human heart is fundamentally no different from heart

function in fishes, frogs and birds

Molecular events that an electrical nerve impulse in human brain

are fundamentally the same as those that produce impulse in the
nerve of a squid, rat & free-swimming larva of a sea squirt

Animal physiology cornerstone of medical practice

- able to understand sound treatment for human diseases ex.

Diabetic mice, congenitally fat rats, zebrafish embryos with heart
defect

Central Themes in Animal Physiology

Goal: explore physiological processes that are basic to all animal

groups and to show how they have been shaped by natural
selection
1.

Structure / Functions Relationships

There is a strong relationship between function and structure

that occurs at all levels of biological organizations

Is clearly evident at the molecular level in the muscle tissue

Dependence of function on structure at the molecular and

biochemical level contractile machinery of the skeletal musclemost extensively studied

2. Adaption, Acclimatization & Acclimation

Adaptation evolution through natural selection leading to an
organism whose physiology, anatomy and behavior are
matched to the demands of its environment
Acclimatization is a physiological, biochemical or anatomical
change within an individual animal during its life that results
from the animals chronic exposure in its native habitat to new,
naturally occurring environmental conditions.

Acclimation is the same process as acclimatization when the

changes are induced in the laboratory or in the wild
experimentally
Adaptation is a central concept in animal physiology

connotes adaptive value

a physiological process is adaptive if is present at high frequency

in a population because it results in a higher probability of survival
& reproduction

Physiological & anatomical adaptations are genetically based,

passed on from one generation to another generation, &
constantly being shaped & maintained by natural selection.

Animal inherits DNA

Spontaneous alterations can occur mutation; causes changes in

the properties of encoded RNA or proteins responsible for new
traits

If mutations in the germ line DNA enhance animals survival- their

frequency of occurrence increases over time

Mutations that render animals less well adapted

to their environment will lessens their chances
of reproduction

If deleterious enough, such mutations are

generally eliminated over time

From biological standpoint, the major goal in an

animals life is to propagate its DNA & all
behaviors, physiological processes & anatomical
structures are ultimately subsequent to the
survival of the germ line

3. Homeostasis

Tendency of organism to regulate & maintain internal stability or

constancy despite varying changes or fluctuations in the external
environment

Claude Bernard noted the ability of mammals to regulate conditions

within their internal environment within narrow limits (normal threshold
levels)

Body temperature

Glucose concentration

pH

Osmotic pressure

Oxygen level

Ion concentration

etc.

4. Feedback control System

Intermediate metabolism

Control of ionic balance

Endocrine control

Neural control of muscles

Circulatory and respiratory control

Contn

1. Negative feedback a response mechanism by which

effectors are activated by changes in the internal environment,
and the inhibitory actions of the effectors serve to counteract
these changes and maintain a state of balance

Regulation of the Male Reproductive Function

ex of negative feedback inhibition

2. Positive feedback a response mechanism

that results in the amplification of an initial
change.

Results in avalanche-like effects

Formation of blood clot

Production of oxytocin

5. Conformity & Regulation

Conformers are organisms with internal body changes that

simply parallel the external conditions.

Ex. Echinoderms such as Asterias are osmoconformers whose

internal body fluids quickly come to equilibrium with the seawater
that surrounds them.

Annelid worms are oxyconformers

Regulators involves the use of biochemical, physiological,

behavioural & other mechanisms to regulate their internal
environment over a broad range of external changes they
maintain homeostasis
Ex. Oxyregulators crayfish, most molluscs & almost all vertebrates,
maintain their oxygen consumption at nearly steady levels as
environmental oxygen availability falls.

Reference

Randall, D., Burggren, W., and French, K. (2003).

Eckert Animal Physiology: Mechanisms and
Adaptations. 5th Ed. New York: W.H. Freeman and
Company.