Mammalogy

Front 1

How do we study mammals?

Back 1

catch/trap, hunter harvest, observation (visual), and fecal sampling

Front 2

7 characteristics of all mammals

Back 2

produce milk/mammary glands, live birth, some sort of hair/fur, endothermic, internal fertilization, teeth (with some exceptions), invest time in offspring/parental care.

Front 3

What is hair composed of?

Back 3

dead epidermal cells and keratin (protein)

Front 4

Term for an animal's coat

Back 4

pelage

Front 5

List the 2 types of hair/fur.

Back 5

guard hair- top coat (long, silky, keep water off skin).

underfur - fuzzy (like downy feathers on birds).

Front 6

Define endothermy in mammals.

Back 6

Maintain stable body temperature through metabolic activity, fat storage, brown adipose tissue, and behaviors (shivering, huddling, nesting).

Front 7

Explain the mammalian respiratory system.

Back 7

large lungs, many alveoli for greater gas transfer. Air moves into lungs through diaphragm expansion (unique to mammals) and expansion of intercostal muscles around the ribs.

Front 8

Vivipary

Back 8

'live birth' fetus develops in utero

Front 9

Define precocial young

Back 9

more developed, fully furred, open eyes, can walk in a day

Front 10

Define altricial young

Back 10

less developed, naked, closed eyes, crawl around

Front 11

Sensory organs in mammals (4) to help with navigating in the dark

Back 11

smell (vomeronasal organ) Flehmen-moose/elk

hearing (pinna, middle & inner ear) - Fennec fox (enlarged pinna)

tactile (vibrissae)- whiskers -rat

vision (tapetum lucidum) - eyes shine at night, reflect light = see better in the dark.

Front 12

Homologous structures

Back 12

same thing, but different species; evolved over time. Similar by phylogenetic origins/ decent

Front 13

Analogous structures

Back 13

similar by function alone (wing of bat and bird).

Front 14

Define evolution

Back 14

change in genetic structure of a population through time.

Front 15

Define allele

Back 15

version of a gene (trait)

Front 16

Define gene

Back 16

alleles in a gene pool of a population

Front 17

What are the mechanisms of evolution? (4)

Back 17

mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, natural selection.

Front 18

Define mutation

Back 18

Changes in DNA that affect phenotype; must occur in gametes to affect offspring.

Front 19

Define genetic drift

Back 19

random, chance events that result in differential survival of variants in the population.

Front 20

Define gene flow

Back 20

movement of individuals into or out of a population.

Front 21

Define natural selection

Back 21

differential survival & reproduction based on adaptations to particular environments.

Front 22

Natural selection can only occur if there is...

Back 22

genetic variation, differential reproduction, and heredity.

Front 23

Define fitness

Back 23

relative genetic contribution an individual makes to future generations compared with other members of a population.

Front 24

Define reproductive success

Back 24

number of offspring an individual has that survive to reproduce.

Front 25

What happened in the Devonian period?

Back 25

tetrapods 'arrive'

Front 26

What happened in the Mississippian period?

Back 26

Amniotes came into play. Produce cleidoic eggs.

Front 27

What happened in the Pennsylvania period?

Back 27

split between Squropsida (turtles, lizards, snakes, dinosaurs, and birds) and Synapsida (mammals).

Front 28

What are the three main groups of amniotes?

Back 28

anapsid (gave rise to turtles)

synapsid (mammals)

diapsid (birds)

Front 29

What happened in the Mesozoic Era? (Triassic and Jurassic)

Back 29

Synapsids are vastly reduced as dinosaurs expanded. Few lineages of advanced synapsids (therapsids) survived. Cynodonts evolved from therapsids in the last Triassic period.

Front 30

What happened in the Tertiary period? (Cretaceous)

Back 30

(early mammals) Dino extinction and adaptive radiation of mammals occured.

Front 31

What are the 6 faunal regions?

Back 31

Nearctic (N. America), Neotropical (S. America), Etheopian (Africa), Australasian (Australia), and Palearctic (Asia).

Front 32

Define fenestration

Back 32

hole & surface area in nasal structures that aid in blood flow.

Front 33

Types of teeth (4)

Back 33

incisors, canines, premolars, molars.

Front 34

Define heterodont

Back 34

different kinds of teeth, not all uniform

Front 35

Define diphyodont

Back 35

get more than one set in lifetime

Front 36

What is enamel?

Back 36

outside of tooth; hardest structure mammals make

Front 37

What is dentine?

Back 37

central to tooth; darker than enamel

Front 38

Brachydont

Back 38

(low crown height) carnivores; slice & tear rather than grinding.

Front 39

Hypsodont

Back 39

(high crown height) allow for more wear on teeth; grinding food.

Front 40

Occlusal cusp shapes (4)

Back 40

bundont (omnivores), selenodont (undulates, cervids), lophodont (herbivores; rabbits), secodont (carnivores)

Front 41

carnassial pair

Back 41

last upper pre-molar & 1st lower molar. used to tear/slice through food.

Front 42

Population abundance assumptions (4)

Back 42

population is closed during sampling periods, all individuals are equally likely to be caught and recaptured, random mixing must occur between sampling periods, and animals don't lose their marks.

Front 43

monotreme

Back 43

egg-laying mammal

Front 44

Define HSI

Back 44

habitat suitability index

Front 45

What are the 6 types of questions about behavior?

Back 45

what (specific behavior), when (temporal), how (physiological/ anatomical adaptations), where (spatial), who (demographic), and why (motivation/ adaptation)

Front 46

How many extant species of bears are there in the world?

Back 46

8

Front 47

Know the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear

Back 47

hump, claw length, ear shape, face profile, foot/track characteristics, how long each keeps their cubs (2 v 3 yrs).

Front 48

List some benefits of endothermy

Back 48

don't rely on outside temperature to regulate heat, able to sustain activity through range of temperatures, smaller body size allowed mammals to take advantage of new niches

Front 49

Costs of endothermy

Back 49

high energetic cost to maintain constant internal temperature (5-10x more than reptile of the same size).

Front 50

TNZ

Back 50

Thermal neutral zone (not a lot of work to maintain temperature)

Front 51

BMR

Back 51

basal metabolic rate (amount of O2 consumed per unit time at STP).

Front 52

Male reproductive system components

Back 52

testes (scrotum), paired accessory glands contribute to seminal fluid, duct system, and copulatory organ (penis).

Front 53

Female reproductive system components

Back 53

ovaries (2), oviducts (Fallopian tubes), uterus (1 or 2), cervix, and vagina.

Front 54

Polygny

Back 54

male invests little and mates with many females. (resource defense, harems, leks).

Front 55

Polyandry

Back 55

female with many males. Can be biological (litter with many fathers) or social (litter left with father while she goes off and has another litter with another male)

Front 56

Monogamy

Back 56

one mate for a duration of time (could be for one or more breeding cycles). sexual (1 partner to mate and raise young with) or social (male and female take care of offspring; may not be his)

Front 57

What is the function of the placenta?

Back 57

anchor fetus to uterus, transport nutrients from maternal bloodstream, excrete fetal waste products, and produce regulatory hormones to maintain pregnancy.

Front 58

4 types of placentas

Back 58

diffuse, cotyledonary, zonary, discoidal.

Front 59

kin groups

Back 59

group members related to one another (muskrat, beaver, meerkat)

Front 60

mating groups

Back 60

formed as a function of reproductive activities (pairs, harems, leks, spawning groups)

Front 61

Eusocial groups

Back 61

highly structured groups of individuals living in colonies that demonstrate overlapping generations, reproductive division of labor, and cooperative care of young. (naked mole rat)

Front 62

Costs of social living

Back 62

conspicuousness, disease, competition, submissiveness, reproductive interference.

Front 63

Benefits of social living

Back 63

predator defense, disease assistance, improved foraging, subordinate protection, and reproductive interference.

Front 64

What are some common furbearer diseases in NY?

Back 64

rabies, canine distemper, squirrel fibroma, raccoon roundworm, heart-worm, warbles/bot fly, giant kidney worm, tularemia, Yersinia pseudo-tuberculosis, and abscesses.

Front 65

TSE

Back 65

transmissible spongiform encephalopathy

Front 66

Types of fitness

Back 66

direct, indirect, inclusive

Front 67

Reproductive suppression

Back 67

reduced probability that all members of a social group will reproduce.

Front 68

Reproductive skew

Back 68

differential reproduction in a group influences gene dynamic and effective population size.

Front 69

Saltatorial locomotion

Back 69

hopping; long, powerful hind limbs, stiff skeletal structure, long tails as counter balance, rapid acceleration and directional change

Front 70

Scansorial (claws) & Arboreal (grip) locomotion

Back 70

climbing; navigating 3-D environment, friction pads, claws, prehensile tails, opposable digits, advantage: escape from predators.

Front 71

Fossorial locomotion

Back 71

digging, burrowing

Front 72

Volant locomotion

Back 72

flying

Front 73

Swimming locomotion

Back 73

aquatic, semi-aquatic; modified flippers, webbing

Front 74

Cursorial locomotion

Back 74

running; adaptations for increased speed

Front 75

Factors that influence stride length (4)

Back 75

limbs positioned under body, distal elements lengthened, change in foot posture, and increased flexion in vertebral column.

Front 76

Factors that influence stride rate (3)

Back 76

re-positioned muscle mass, added joint to locomotor mechanism, and reduced digits.

Front 77

Paraxonic

Back 77

digits 3 & 4 (artio: even-toed)

Front 78

Mesaxonic

Back 78

digit 3 (pariso: odd-toed)

Front 79

Predation

Back 79

An interaction between 2 organisms where one uses the other for food.

Front 80

4 elements of predation

Back 80

detection, attack, capture, consumption (prey can escape during any phase)

Front 81

Anti-predator behaviors

Back 81

evolutionary adaptations that increase the likelihood for prey survival.

Front 82

How to avoid detection

Back 82

camouflage (deer fawn & ground squirrel)

Front 83

How to avoid attack

Back 83

warnings & repellents (alarm calls in ground squirrels and skunk repellent spray)

Front 84

How to avoid capture

Back 84

grouping behavior, defensive behavior, synchronized life history events (moose dropping calves at the same time; predator swamping).

Front 85

How to avoid consumption

Back 85

unpalatability (opossum plays dead and emits fowl smell; porcupine has quills)

Front 86

Landscape of fear

Back 86

relative levels of predation risk across a landscape that reflect the level of fear of predation prey experience in different parts of the environment.