Question

1) A xenophyophore is a single, large, polynucleate cell about the size of your hand, with no organ systems. Based on this, you which aspects of its physiology are inevitable?

a) It has a convoluted body shape to maximize its surface for gas exchange and removal of metabolic wastes

b) It has a high metabolic rate and is an active organism

c) It is unlikely a lineage like this could survive long-it is an evolutionary experiment “gone wrong”

d) it lacks most metabolic processes

e) it will evolve multicellularity to adapt and survive

2) A creature is collected from the microbenthos, about 1 m deep, off the coast of a Pacific Atoll. Which would you expect about its body plan?

a) Sophisticated gills or gas exchange structures

b) Large body size

c) Long, thin, body and a lack of specialized structures for gas exchange and removal of nitrogenous wastes

d) Endothermy

e) A sophisticated system for removing metabolic wastes

3) The magnolia warbler breeds in the Canadian taiga, and overwinters in the tropics. Given the costs of migration, why does it not just stay and breed in the tropics?

a) The tropics are too hot in the summer

b) This warbler is part of nature's plan, and it must migrate to balance the Canadian ecosystems.

c) Competition with other birds in the tropics would likely keep it from amassing the resources it needs to reproduce

d) Migration, a behavior, is of no relevance to physiology, and this question is irrelevant to the subject matter of an animal physiology class.

e) The nesting materials warblers use (andesite, cobalt, and palmetto sticks) are only found in Canada.

Answer 1

1. a) It has a convoluted body shape to maximize its surface for gas exchange and removal of metabolic wastes,

b) It has a high metabolic rate and is an active organism

d) it lacks most metabolic processes

2. c) Long, thin, body, and a lack of specialized structures for gas exchange and removal of nitrogenous wastes.

3. a) The tropics are too hot in the summer,

c) Competition with other birds in the tropics would likely keep it from amassing the resources it needs to reproduce,