Comparative and Environmental Animal Physiology
Code: 100808 ECTS Credits: 9| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2500004 Biology | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Nerea Roher Armentia
- Email:
- nerea.roher@uab.cat
Teachers
- Oriana Zerpa Rios
- Juan Carlos Balasch Alemany
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
The knowledge areas involved in this subject are Physiology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Immunology and Zoology. It is convenient for the student to have a basic knowledge and competences on the structure, organization and function of organisms, as well as general concepts of ecology and evolution.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The learning of Comparative Animal Physiology is necessarily systemic. The study of complex physiological processes, such as acclimatation to extreme environments or the acquisition of new behavioral patterns in response to selective pressures, should be evaluated through the interaction between different levels of organization: from the phenotypic expression of the genome to the functional responses of populations in a changing ecological context. This integrative approach is achieved through the exercise of biological analysis, once the student has assimilated the essential concepts for the evaluation of the organisms physiology The subject Compared and Environmental Animal Physiology is programmed during the fourth year of the degree in Biology and increases the knowledge of the functioning of the organisms in relation to the environment, the direction of adaptations and the natural selection.
The acquisition of the basic competences of this subject will complete the view that the student has of the animal physiology throughout the previous courses in spite of giving a global and integrated vision respect to the environment, by means of the understanding and the study of the mechanisms that have been chosen evolutionarily in the different animal groups to have a good adaptation.
The general training objectives of the subject are:
To acquire a comprehensive and integrated view of the interrelations of the different physiological systems of the organism respect to the environment in which they live.
To integrate the knowledge of Physiology with those acquired in other basic subjects, which deal with the structure and the cellular and molecular aspects of the organism, in order to achieve a global vision of the functioning of the animal body and the mechanisms that allow the colonization of different niches.
To apply all the physiology knowledge in deducing the consequences of pathological alterations of the organism, and of the changes in the ecosystems and the consequences that they may have in the life cycle of the organisms living there.
Acquire the practical skills needed to carry out functional studies.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Analyse and interpret the development, growth and biological cycles of living beings.
- Analyse and interpret the origin, evolution, diversity and behaviour of living beings.
- Be able to analyse and synthesise
- Be able to organise and plan.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Understand the processes that determine the functioning of living beings in each of their levels of organisation.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Be able to analyse and synthesise.
- Be able to organise and plan.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Identify, enumerate, describe, interpret, explain and summarise evolutionary functional animals.
- Identify, enumerate, describe, interpret, explain and summarise the indicators and the meaning of animals' biological cycles.
- Identify, enumerate, describe, interpret, explain and summarise the physiological bases of adaptation to the environment.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Content
Master classes of FACA
1.- Evolution of Physiological Integration: Neurobiology, Endocrine Control and Immunity.
Physiology of nervous and endocrine control. Nervous system: strategies in the perception, integration and response to the stimulus. Locomotor systems and locomotor bases driving behavior. Migration. Animal navigation. Ecolocation, electrolocation and magnetolocation. Endocrine system: glands, hormones and target cells. Pheromones and kairomones. Reproduction. Metamorphosis. Biological clocks
2.-Comparative ecophysiology: Respiration/Circulation. Thermoregulation. Metabolic management (Digestion, Osmoregulation and Excretion). Seasonal and reproductive patterns.
Respiratory ecosystems. Aquatic and terrestrial respiration. External and internal respiratory surfaces. Chemical properties and distribution of respiratory pigments. Circulation: open and closed systems. Implication of cardio-respiratory physiology in the flight of birds. Cardio-respiratory physiology during immersion.
Food, energy and temperatura. Food, digestion and absorption strategies. Adaptive solutions to environmental conditions. Nutrition physiology during development. Nutrition physiology and biological clocks. Energetic metabolism. Body temperature, poikilothermia (ectothermy) and homeothermia (endotherm). Thermolegulation and endothermy in invertebrates and vertebrates. Controlled hypothermia in birds and mammals. Adaptations to life in extreme climates.
Management of water and waste: Mechanisms for the exchange of salts and water. Excretion and water relations. Osmoconformists and osmoregulators. The freshwater environment, the marine environment and the terrestrial environment, control of the hydrosaline balance. The life in the deserts, special adaptations.
Reproductive systems and specific adaptations to extreme ecosystems: Seasonality and reproductive patterns.
Active learning:
Different active learning activities will be carried out in the context of Problem Base Learning (PBLs) and in supervised activities of ApS.
Lab course
1.- Thermoregulation: Influence of temperature in the physiology of fish
2.- Guidelines for behavior in fish: Exploratory activity and personality
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Laboratory course | 12 | 0.48 | 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 |
| Master classes | 58 | 2.32 | 5, 6, 7 |
| Workshops | 40 | 1.6 | 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Supervised activities | 46 | 1.84 | 2, 5, 6, 7 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous activities | 60 | 2.4 | 2, 3 |
The methodology used in this subject to achieve the learning process is based on the work of the student based on the information that is make available to him. The teacher's task is to give him the information or tell him where he can get it and help him in the learning process. In order to achieve the objective, teaching is based on the following activities:
Master classes:
With these classes the student acquires the basic theoretical knowledge of the subject that he / she will have to complement with the individual study of the explained subjects
Practical classes:
Practices are reinforced, through experimentation in the laboratory, those aspects that in theoretical classes usually have a special difficulty. On the other hand, in practice, the student's critical spirit, his ability to observe and the skills of analysis and evaluation of problems in the experimentation in comparative physiology are stimulated.
Active learning has the following objectives:
(1) to transfer, compare and contrast the acquired knowledge when studying the concepts and processes of physiology based on murine / human / clinical models to the rest of animals present in the natural environment;
(2) to discriminate and critically select the information obtained from primary sources (articles, monographs ...) and secondary (articles of generalist journals, dissemination blogs, audiovisuals ...), for the purpose of
(3) to integrate the genomic, phenotypic, ecological and evolutionary information in the different levels of physiological analysis that facilitate the global understanding of physiological processes, close (current interactions between different organisms) and last ones (evolutionary conditioning and emergence of adaptations specific in the different lineages), finally,
(4) to be able to communicate effectively the results of the learning, in a formal and non-formal field, identifying the quality criteria of the information that is provided.
Supervised activities will be carried out in which the student must apply the knowledge and reasoning studied from the theoretical classes, solving a specific problem or explaining the results of their analysis and finding information in the class a specific physiological topic.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lab course | 10% | 1 | 0.04 | 3, 4, 7, 13 |
| PBL | 40% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 12 |
| Problem base learning | 50% | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
Assessment of the theoretical part, theoretical examinations: a partial exam will be carried out in which the knowledge acquired by the student in the corresponding part of the subject will be assessed individually, the students who do not pass the partial exam can recover it in the final exam. This evaluation has a global weight of 50% of the final mark, the minimum mark to pass it 5. To participate in the recovery, the students must have previously been evaluated in a set of activities the weight of the which is equivalent to a minimum of two thirds of the total grade of the subject or module. Therefore, students will obtain the "Non-Valuable" qualification when the assessment activities carried out have a weighting of less than 67% in the final grade.
Evaluation of the lab course: the lab course is mandatory and will be evaluated by submitting a group report once the course has been completed. This evaluation has a weight of 10% of the final mark
Evaluation of active learning: work, exhibitions and problem solving will be evaluated. This evaluation has a weight of 40% of the final mark
The lab course and the active learning activities can not be recovered.
Not submitted: it will be considered that a student will obtain the qualification of not presented if at least 50% of the assessment activities are not presented.
Final assestment: in the case of those students who request a single assessment: the lab course is mandatory (delivery of a practice report) and accounts for 10% of the final mark, the theoretical exam will account for 50% of the final mark and the delivery of works/activities related to PBLs will account for 40% of the final mark. The same recovery system will be applied as for the continuous assessment. The review of the final qualification follows the same procedure as for the continuous assessment.
Bibliography
Fox, S.I. Fisiología humana. Mcgraw-hill interamericana (2013).
Hill, R.W. i Wyse, G.A. Animal Physiology. 4a ed. Sinauer (2016).
Jenkins, G.W. Anatomy and physiology: from science to life, 3rd ed. John Wiley (2013).
Willmer, P., Stone,G, i Johnston,I. Environmental physiology of animals. Blackwell (2000, 2004).
Complementary references
Alcock, J. Animal behavior: an evolutionary approach. Sinauer (2009)
Carroll, Sean B. Endless forms most beautiful: the new science of evo devo and the making of the animal kingdom, London (2007).
Carlson, Neil A. Fisiologia de la conducta, 11 ed., (2014)
Guyton, A.C. Hall,J.E.. Tratado de Fisiología Médica. 11a ed. Elsevier (2011)
Hickman, C.P. et al. Principios integrales de zoologia, 14 ed. McGraw-Hill (2009).
Kandel, E.R. et al. Principles of neural science. McGraw-Hill (2012).
Moyes, C.D., i Schulte, P.M. Principios de fisiología animal. Pearson educación (2007).
Murphy, K. , Weaver, C. Janeway's Immunobiology, 2ed. Garland Science (2016).
Vila i Santasusana, M., Castellà JM., i Casas M. Secretos para hablar bien en público. Plataforma editorial (2016).
Hofmann A.H. Scientific writing and communication. Papers, Proposals and Presentations. 3rd Edition Oxford University Press (2017).
Heard S.B. The scientist’s guide to writing. Princeton University Press (2016).
Electronic journals:
American Journal of Physiology- Endocrinology and Metabolism
Annual review of Physiology
BMCBiology
BMC Evolutionary Biology
BMCGenomics
Cell
Cell Metabolism
Clinical Endocrinology
Current Biology
Endocrine Reveiws
Endocrinology
European Journal of Endocrinology
Evolutionary Biology
Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology
Frontiers in Immunology
Frontiers in Microbiology
General and Comparative Endocrinology
Genome Biology
International Journal of Dev. Biology
Journal of Endocrinology
Journal of Endocrinology investigation
Journal of Experimental Biology
Journal of Immunology
Journal of Neuroendocrinology
Molecular Genetics and Metabolism
Molecular Metabolism
Nature
Nature Communications
Nature Immunology
Nature Genetics
Nature Reviews series
Neuroendicrinology
Plos Biology
PlosOne
PNAS
Proceedings of the Royal Society Edinburgh B
Science
Scientific Reports
Trends in Cell Biology
Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism
Web pages:
Trobador biblioteques UAB http://sfx.cbuc.cat/uab/az
Scopus https://www.scopus.com/search/form.uri?display=basic
The National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
ENSEMBL genome browser: https://www.ensembl.org/index.html
The Bioinformatics Resource Portal https://www.expasy.org/
The Uniprot database of protein sequence and functional information http://www.uniprot.org/
The Protein Data Bank https://www.rcsb.org/
Journal of Visualized Experiments https://www.jove.com/
Portal to Cell and Molecular Animation https://clarafi.com/
Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/
AK Lectures https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFJyaHVyWKb2y-HkIAEPIdA
Biology online dictionary https://www.biology‐online.org/dictionary/Main_Page
Biology online dictionary https://biologydictionary.net/
Centre de terminologia especialitzada en català http://www.termcat.cat/
TED TAlks: https://www.ted.com/talks
Google scholar: http://scholar.google.es/
Web per fer estadística: https://stattrek.com
Web per fer estadística: https://www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/
Software
No specific software packages
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 141 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | afternoon |
| (SEM) Seminars | 141 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 14 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |