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Teaching GuideTerm Faculty of Science |
| Grao en Bioloxía |
 Subjects |
| Functional Adaptations of Animals in the Environment |
| Contents |
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| Identifying Data | 2020/21 | |||||||||||||
| Subject | Functional Adaptations of Animals in the Environment | Code | 610G02037 | |||||||||||
| Study programme |
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| Descriptors | Cycle | Period | Year | Type | Credits | |||||||||
| Graduate | 2nd four-month period |
Fourth | Obligatory | 6 | ||||||||||
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| Topic | Sub-topic |
| MARINE ENVIRONMENT. Units 1-7 | Unit 1.- The marine environment. Factors affecting the distribution of fauna. Biotic divisions of the marine environment. Unit 2.- The pelago: plankton and nekton. Plankton: generalities; spatial, temporal, vertical distribution and nictimeric migrations (significance). The nekton: concept and composition. Unit 3. Adaptations of plankton and nekton to pelagic life. Plankton: suspension, flotation and swimming. Nekton: flotation, locomotion. Unit 4. Respiratory and circulatory adaptations to diving: circulatory adjustments, metabolic changes, o2 deposits and hydrostatic pressure compensation. Unit 5. Soft coastal bottoms: sediment characteristics and influence of animal activity on sediment structure. Adaptations and classification of fauna: habitat, mobility, size and feeding. Excavators and interstitial organisms. Feeding and burial mechanisms. Unit 6.-. Life on hard coastal bottoms. Characteristics of the environment. Organisms and trophic adaptations to high temperatures and air exposure, waves and currents, maintenance of populations. Unit 7. From the continental shelf to deep waters. Environmental stability in deep waters. The physical environment: general characteristics. Types of organisms. Morphological and functional adaptations to scarcity of food, absence of light, pressure. Deep benthos. |
| TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS. Units 8-14 | Unit 8.- Introduction to terrestrial environments. Characteristics of terrestrial environments as habitat for animals, in relation to aquatic ones. Main constraints of terrestrial environments for animal life. Unit 9.- Aquatic origin of life. Origin and evolution of land animals. First land animals. Main routes for the colonization of the terrestrial environments. Evolution of terrestrial animals. Categories of terrestrial animals. Interstitial, cryptozoic, hygrophilous and xerophilous fauna. Unit 10.- Factors affecting animal life on land. Main factors affecting animal life on land: topographic, edaphic, climatic and biotic factors. The human impact: man's influence on land environments and terrestrial animals. Unit 11.- Morphological adaptations to terrestrial life. Locomotive and mechanical adaptations of animals to terrestrial life. Size, shape and physical architecture of the animals on land. Unit 12.- Physiological adaptations to terrestrial life. Main physiological adaptations of animals to life on land. Respiration, skin and cuticles. Water saving in the excretion. Unit 13.- Reproductive adaptations to terrestrial environments. Constraints of the terrestrial environments for reproduction of animals. Adaptations for protecting gametes in land. Using drops of sperm and spermatophores. Internal insemination. Reproductive adaptations to protect the offsprings. Cleidoic eggs. Oviparous and viviparous animals. Postnatal parental care. Unit 14.- Animal adaptations to different terrestrial environments. Adaptive models: island populations. Adaptations of open herbaceous environments. Adaptation to seasonality. Adaptations to cold in Arctic, Antarctic environments and high mountains. Adaptations to drought and heat in arid environments. Other adaptations to terrestrial environments. |
| FRESHWATERS. Units 15-21 | Unit 15.- Freshwaters. Typology of inland waters. Lotic and lentic environments: general characteristics. Groundwater and other special environments. Unit 16.- Factors affecting the distribution of fauna: chemical characteristics of inland waters. River morphology and dynamics. Galician river ecosystems. Types of communities of organisms in aquatic environments. Unit 17.- Benthos (I). Benthic macroinvertebrates. Reproductive adaptations and life cycles. Feeding adaptations. Unit 18.- Benthos (II). Osmoregulation. The importance of temperature and the freezing problem. Respiratory adaptations. Adaptations to life in running waters. Unit 19.- Drift. Composition of drift. Temporal and spatial variations. Functions of drift. Compensating mechanisms of drift. Unit 20.- The neuston. Special features of the water surface. Major groups of neuston. General adaptations. Unit 21.- The nekton. Composition. Way of life. Feeding strategies. Physiological and behavioural adaptations related to migration and reproduction. |
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