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Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology

Hydric Physiology Of Lizards, Savannah Weaver Jun 2023

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 …


Expression Of Claudins In Gill And Opercular Membranes In Relation To Osmoregulation In Euryhaline Atlantic Killifish, Fundulus Heteroclitus, Allison Mcfarland Aug 2022

Expression Of Claudins In Gill And Opercular Membranes In Relation To Osmoregulation In Euryhaline Atlantic Killifish, Fundulus Heteroclitus, Allison Mcfarland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) are euryhaline teleosts, which means they can thrive in environments with varying salinities, ranging from concentrated seawater (SW) to dilute fresh water (FW) and thus survive in estuaries. To be able to maintain ionic and osmotic homeostasis in these diverse salinities, osmoregulatory organs like gill and opercular membrane must be able to adjust the permeability and transport of water and ions. The surface epithelia in these organs need to prevent the passive flux of ions and water in a drastically changing environment, while being able to switch between active ion secretion or uptake dependent upon environmental …


Salinity Preference Of Alaskan Threespine Stickleback: Test For Divergence In Halotaxis Between Ancestral And Landlocked Populations, David Fryxell, Eric T. Schultz Jan 2012

Salinity Preference Of Alaskan Threespine Stickleback: Test For Divergence In Halotaxis Between Ancestral And Landlocked Populations, David Fryxell, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Glacial retreat during the Pleistocene caused landlocking of anadromous Alaskan threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, furnishing a natural ‘experiment’ in osmoregulatory divergence. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of individual acclimation and population divergence on salinity preference. Full-sibling families of marine, anadromous, and freshwater-landlocked populations of stickleback were reared in common environments until 3 weeks post-hatch, then were split and acclimated to low or high salinity. At 6 to 8 weeks of age the six experimental groups were tested for salinity preference in a tank that offers fish a choice of compartments with different salinities arranged …