The group of scientists decided to focus on the effect of parasites on animals. They choose wolves in Yellowstone National Park as their subject. The parasite chosen for the study was the mange. Mange causes hair loss to the infected animals. The focus of the study is on the effect of the hair loss that are often caused by mange on the wolves.
The wolves that they studied were captured and had a GPS collar attached to them and some of them were shaved at places where hair loss due mange was common such as their leg. The experiment observed four group of wolves. Healthy, little hair loss, moderate hair loss, and severe hair loss. Their energy loss was measured during a winter month. The effect was measured by the energy lost because parasites by definition causes energy loss for the infected. In order to measure this energy loss, they used infrared thermography and GPS collar. The infrared thermography measures the heat loss by comparing the temperature of the wolves and the temperature of the environment. The GPS collar keeps track of the movement of the animals. Wolves that loss some energy due to the …show more content…
The more severe the hair loss is, the less the wolves would move and the larger heat loss will happen. After doing their experiment for a time, they took pictures and kept their GPS data and found some data that supports their hypothesis.
They found that the wolves with hair loss traveled shorter distances per day. Wolves with severe hair loss traveled 6.5 km less than the healthy (no hair loss) wolves. Not only they traveled shorter distances, they also traveled more during the day. Wolves normally travel during the night time but the scientists predicted that the infected wolves traveled during the day because it was warmer. They also saw larger heat loss from the more severe hair loss wolves. This supports their
The wolves that they studied were captured and had a GPS collar attached to them and some of them were shaved at places where hair loss due mange was common such as their leg. The experiment observed four group of wolves. Healthy, little hair loss, moderate hair loss, and severe hair loss. Their energy loss was measured during a winter month. The effect was measured by the energy lost because parasites by definition causes energy loss for the infected. In order to measure this energy loss, they used infrared thermography and GPS collar. The infrared thermography measures the heat loss by comparing the temperature of the wolves and the temperature of the environment. The GPS collar keeps track of the movement of the animals. Wolves that loss some energy due to the …show more content…
The more severe the hair loss is, the less the wolves would move and the larger heat loss will happen. After doing their experiment for a time, they took pictures and kept their GPS data and found some data that supports their hypothesis.
They found that the wolves with hair loss traveled shorter distances per day. Wolves with severe hair loss traveled 6.5 km less than the healthy (no hair loss) wolves. Not only they traveled shorter distances, they also traveled more during the day. Wolves normally travel during the night time but the scientists predicted that the infected wolves traveled during the day because it was warmer. They also saw larger heat loss from the more severe hair loss wolves. This supports their