Herpetology 483/583



EXAM FORMAT AND SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW (EXAM TWO: 19 October 2006)

* This list of questions is not exhaustive, but should give you an idea as to the range of material and types of questions we are likely to present on the exam. Please refer to your syllabus, text, readings, and lecture and discussion notes for information relevant to the second exam. The exam will cover reading, lecture, and lab material related to the endocrine system, navigation, and muscle physiology.

Likely Exam Format:

True or false and matching (~10 points)

Really Short Answer (one word or sentence) (~30 pts)

Short Answer (a couple of sentences) (~45 pts)

Longer Answer (a paragraph or more) (~15 pts)

Questions/topics from each lecture/lab:

26 September

Endocrine:

1. How might abuse of exogenous testosterone influence sperm production? Why?

2. Distinguish between the terms autocrine and exocrine. How is a pheromone different?

1. How are release of hormones and neurotransmitters functionally similar?

2. What is one reason that hormones have been historically difficult to study?

3. Is testosterone an amine hormone or a steroid hormone? How are peptide hormones typically different?

4. What is a neurohormone?

5. What is the functional relationship between the hypothalamus and the pituitary?

6. Give an example of a hormone released from the anterior pituitary. From the posterior pituitary?

7. Describe the steps involved in the typical “stress” response.

8. How can ADH be considered an example of a group of highly conserved proteins?

9. Discuss the differences in mechanism of activity between lipid soluble and lipid insoluble hormones.

10. Is a goiter typically because of hypo- or hyper-thryroidism? Is this always the case?

11. Give an example of a negative feedback pathway acting in the endocrine system.

12. Discuss melatonin and related physiology.

13. What is a prohormone? Why do vertebrates have them?

14. Can you identify some common 2nd messengers? Can you describe two hormones for which cAMP serves as an intermediate molecule?

15. What is a “tropic” hormone?

16. How is the adrenal gland actually two glands? What are some of the hormones it releases?

17. Give examples of 1) a catecholamine, 2) a catecholamine receptor, and 3) a response to a catecholamine.

18. Briefly describe how insulin activity is altered in Type I and Type II Diabetes.

19. What is the role of glucagon?

20. How might you explain how the physiology of Andre the Giant differs from that of other, shorter humans?

21. What is the precursor of steroid hormones?

22. What do Leydig cells and Sertoli cells do?

23. What are the two phases of mammalian female reproductive cycle?

24. What roles do FSH and LH play in ovulation?

27 September (lab)

25. How is an increase in corticosterone levels of male side-blotched lizards (U. stansburiana) considered adaptive?

26. What happened to home range size of male lizards with corticosterone implants?

27. How do steroids affect protein synthesis in cells? How does this differ from the activity of most peptide hormones?

28. What is the mechanism for the activity of RU486 in humans? Is it an agonist? Why or why not?

28 September

29. Late in the luteal phase of most mammals, what helps maintain the corpus luteum in the event of egg fertilization?

30. What are the important steps and hormones in the luteul phase?

31. Explain the origin and role of chorionic gonadotropin. How do pregnancy tests work? What was a rabbit’s role historically in this process?

32. How do birth control pills work?

33. T or F?: Oxytocin and parturition are a fairly rare example of a positive feedback loop.

34. What is a joey?

Navigation:

35. Why are Clark’s Nutcrackers interesting to study?

36. In general, how are trail following and map & compass navigation different from both a physiological and a behavioral perspective?

37. What is dead reckoning? How did the mariner’s logbook get its name?

38. True or False, female sea turtles only feed in areas where other sea turtle from the same nesting beaches feed.

39. Why do animals migrate?

40. Provide an example of a local cue that is often reliable, even in a novel location.

41. What is a pineal organ or parietal eye?

42. How is polarized light a useful navigational tool for many taxa?

43. How are magnetite particles and Helmholtz coils related?

03 October

Muscle:

44. Why are striated and smooth muscle so named?

45. Is vertebrate skeletal muscle generally uninucleate? What are the implications of your answer?

46. Draw and label the components of the functional unit of muscle.

47. Why does the I band shorten but the A band does not when a sarcomere contracts?

48. How are Calcium and Troponin related in skeletal muscle?

49. Explain the sliding filament theory of muscle function.

50. Draw a typical length-tension curve for vertebrate muscle in the body.

51. Describe cross-bridge cycling, with special emphasis on the roles played by myosin heads and ATP. Why does the speed of cross-bridge cycling vary in different types of muscle fibers?

52. Explain why rigor mortis occurs after death.

53. Describe excitation-contraction coupling.

54. If you were to draw curves of 1) change in membrane potential, 2) change in intracellular free-calcium concentration, and 3) change in force production, all over time, what is the order in which those curves would appear? What are the implications of these differences?

55. What is calsequestrin?

56. How do vertebrates increase the force production of a given muscle?

57. How does an eccentric contraction differ from a concentric contraction?

04 October (lab)

58. What explains the trade-off in muscle composition across lizard species?

59. Why do muscle fiber-types vary across vertebrate muscles?

60. Why account for phylogeny when doing a comparative physiology study?

61. Is Lance Armstrong physiologically aberrant? Justify your response.

62. How and why did Lance Armstrong’s physiology change over time?

05 October

63. Draw and explain the force-velocity curve for skeletal muscle.

64. Using 3 or 4 characteristics, describe the difference between slow-oxidative (SO or type I) muscle and fast-glycolytic (FG or type IIx) muscle.

65. Why did we talk about electric eels during a lecture on muscle?

66. What is a motor unit? How many different fiber types tend to be found in one motor unit?

67. How does motor unit size relate to dexterity?

68. Explain twitch summation and tetanus in mechanistic terms.

69. What is recruitment? How is this different than increasing the force produced by one motor unit?

70. Contrast isotonic and isometric contractions.

71. Which kinds of fibers are typically recruited last?

72. Explain the difference between isometric and isotonic muscle contractions.

73. Where does the energy for muscle contractions come from?

74. How and why do skeletal muscles fatigue?

75. Why might muscle pain during exercise be considered adaptive? Is this the same as the activity of the golgi tendon body discussed in a later lecture?

76. Compare the biopsy technique with the magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique.

10 October

77. How does weight-lifting increase muscle mass?

78. What is the “default” fiber type? What does mild damage to the sarcolemma trigger? How do satellite cells play a role?

79. Contrast hypertrophy with hyperplasia. Which seems more common in adult humans?

80. What is “wrong” with a double-muscled cow?

81. Compare and contrast smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and skeletal muscle.

82. How is calcium regulation of contraction different in smooth vs. striated muscle?

83. Describe the utility of the latch state of smooth muscle.

84. Describe the patellar tendon reflex, including discussion of afferent and efferent innervation, antagonistic muscles, gamma neurons, and muscle spindles, etc.

85. What is a reflex arc?

86. How is a muscle spindle, comprising intrafusal fibers, related to reflex arcs?

87. What is a gamma neuron responsible for?

11 October (lab)

88. Describe a few explanations for the discrepancy in results found between whole-animal and isolated whole-muscle performance in Xenopus laevis.

89. What is the function of CPG’s? Please list 2 examples.

90. Explain energy recovery in the context of flying insects, hummingbirds, or bats.

91. How might species of snake differ in muscle anatomy and physiology across species? Why?

92. Of what use is a forked tongue?

93. What did you learn about physiology and anatomy from our lab dissections?

94. Why is an integrative view important when studying locomotion?

95. Why does roadkill smell so bad?

12 October

96. How are atrophy and hypertrophy related?

97. Explain sarcopenia and the issues it may cause in elderly humans.

98. Which two ATPases differ to help drive functional differences in fiber types?

99. Explain two mechanisms that may lead to muscular dystrophy.

100. What are the roles of MGF and VEGF? When are they stimulated?

101. What is the meaning of the “Law of Specific Nerve Energy”?

102. What is a fixed action pattern? Can you provide an example?

103. What is a central pattern generator? How does a CPG model of coordinated muscle activity still rely on peripheral information?

104. What is the role of the basal ganglia in coordinated motor function?

Essay Writing:

105. In general, how should you organize an essay?

106. Name three specific things you could improve in your essay writing.

19 October (Exam 2 in lecture). Suerte!

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