Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology Commons^™

Osmoregulation And Appetite Regulation In A Basal Vertebrate, The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Jessica Norstog

Doctoral Dissertations

Lamprey (Petromyontiformes) are the oldest extant family in the vertebrate lineage, providing a unique phylogenetic position for studies on vertebrate evolution. As a basal vertebrate, sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is an important species to understand evolution and comparative physiological mechanisms, including osmoregulation and appetite regulation. Sea lamprey has anadromous (native to the Atlantic Ocean) and landlocked (invasive in the Laurentian Great Lakes in North America) populations. In both populations of sea lamprey, the blind filter-feeding freshwater (FW) larvae burrow in stream sediments for until undergoing a hormonal-driven metamorphosis. During this phase, sea lamprey do not feed as major …

Predicting Marine Teleost Responses To Ocean Warming And Pollution, Akila Harishchandra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ocean warming and pollution are two detrimental anthropogenic factors causing rapid marine ecosystem degradation recorded in the past decades. These factors alter the marine environment intolerable for many marine species, forcing them to either adapt or shift their contemporary habitat ranges to reduce the extinction risk embedded with environmental degradation. Estimating marine species’ habitat range shifts, and their potential for developing adaptive mechanisms are critical for ecosystem conservation and management, human health risk assessment, and climate change vulnerability assessments. Given that, for the first chapter of this thesis, we focused on developing a species distribution model (SDM) integrating marine species …

The Effect Of Dietary Thiaminase On Cardiac Function And Morphology In Lake Trout (Salvelinus Namaycush), Peter Baker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thiamine deficiency from the consumption of invasive, high-thiaminase prey fishes is considered to be a major barrier for lake trout restoration in the Great Lakes. In fishes, an understudied aspect of thiamine deficiency is its effect on cardiac function. I examined the effects of dietary thiaminase on cardiac function and morphology in lake trout, specifically as they relate to thermal tolerance. Two hatchery strains of lake trout (Seneca and Slate) were raised on a control or thiaminase diet for nine months. The thiaminase diet was associated with significant ventricle enlargement, impaired cardiac function, and reduced thermal tolerance; these effects were …

Hydric Physiology Of Lizards, Savannah Weaver

Master's Theses

Chapter 1: Animals can respond to extreme climate by behaviorally avoiding it, or by physiologically coping with it. We understand behavioral thermoregulation and physiological thermal tolerances, but water balance has largely been neglected. Climate change includes both global warming and changes in precipitation regimes, so improving our understanding of organismal water balance is increasingly urgent. We assessed the hydric physiology of endangered Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizards (Gambelia sila) by measuring cutaneous evaporative water loss (CEWL), plasma osmolality, body mass, and body condition throughout their active season. On average, G. sila had low CEWL that is likely desert-adaptive, and high …

Comparative Energetics Of Mammalian Thermoregulatory Physiology, Ana M. Breit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Endothermy allows species to decouple body temperature from environmental
temperatures but does not equate to endothermic species maintaining those constant temperatures. Instead, heterothermy fluctuating body temperatures, both in and outside of torpor is common and allows endotherms to expand the limits of thermoneutrality. Thermolability is likely to be more common in the tropics and subtropics, where species live within or above their thermoneutral zone. My dissertation research focused on the heterothermic-homeothermic continuum, specifically quantifying where on the continuum different species fall at certain times and why those species have evolved to be at those points. I quantified the thermal profile …

Osteological Identification And Morphological Comparison Of Extant Sciurids, Amber Kalinowski, Mateusz Wosik

Student Research Poster Presentations 2023

Bone elements can reveal varying characteristics for each rodent, so it is best to analyze overlapping elements between and among taxa when drawing comparative conclusions.

Fossorial animals present robust skeletons, strong scapular girdles, short fore- and hind limbs, and prominent attachment sites for muscles. In an animal that is primarily cursorial it is expected to see a slimmer forelimb because the need for strong limbs to deal with biochemical strains is not present.

Using a sample of Marmota monax (groundhog) and Tamias striatus (chipmunk), two common taxa found in northeastern Pennsylvania, we can examine the locomotory modes of these closely …

Rhythmic Behaviors: Understanding Neuromodulation At The Neuromuscular Level, Kenneth Garcia

Honors Projects

Neuromodulation allows for the flexibility of neural circuit dynamics and the outputs they produce. Studies of the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) have expanded our knowledge on the actions of neuromodulators, small molecules that most often activate G-protein coupled receptors and reconfigure circuit activity and composition. In these systems, modulation has been found to occur at every level, from sensory-motor coupling to neuromuscular transmission (Harris-Warrick and Marder 1991). Neuromodulators have complex effects on motor output; they can alter the firing of individual neurons while also modulating muscle properties, neuromuscular transmission, and sensory neuron response to muscle activity (Fort et al. 2004). …

Umfc 140 A Comprehensive Case Report, Daniel D. Warila

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

UMFC 140 Is a teaching specimen from purchased from China assigned To Daniel Warila B.A. for the purpose of a Forensic case study. This case study covers a wide variety of forensic procedures that can be applied to these remains. The forensic procedures used consist of past as well as current procedures were applied to the remains with the resulting findings discussed and analyzed. This case study was focused on finding as many forensic answers as possible on the remains in their current condition.

Effect Of Temperature On Morphology Of The Cardiorespiratory System Of Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis), Alley E. Permenter

Honors College Theses

Climate change and temperature are two very important topics for the coming future. As climate change projections estimate a 2-3°C increase in water temperatures by the end of the century, the habitats of many aquatic organisms will be affected in more ways than one. Temperature has proven to be an integral part of the driving force that causes physiological, behavioral, and ecological patterns in aquatic organisms. Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and their responses to changes in water temperature have been a topic of interest due to the fact that the southern populations do not follow their northern counterparts …

Use Of Hematological Markers To Assess Physiological Condition And Health Status In Free-Ranging Sand Tiger Sharks (Carcharius Taurus), Chestina N. Craig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The contents of blood can provide information about the physiological condition and health of vertebrates. This study seeks to better understand the stress physiology and blood bacteria presence of the sand tiger shark (Carcharius taurus), as sharks are known to have unique physiology and immune systems. In this study the blood metabolites glucose, lactate, and ketones (3-hydroxybuteric acid and acetoacetate), were used to understand how biotic and abiotic factors affect the acute stress response to capture and handling. Metabolite concentrations from blood plasma were analyzed using colorimetric assays. Glucose and ketones showed no significant responses to capture and …