CHAPTER Physiology History of Animal Physiology

1 “The study of how animals work” Hippocrates (460–circa 377 B.C.)

Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (1915–2007) §  Father of medicine
Introduction to
Physiological §  Careful observation
Principles Structure and function of various parts Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)
§  How these parts work together §  Father of natural history
Diversity of animals §  Relationship between structure and function
§  More than 1 million species live on Earth Claudius Galenus, “Galen” (129–circa 199)
Unifying themes §  First experimental physiologist
PowerPoint® Lecture Slides prepared by
Stephen Gehnrich, Salisbury University
§  Apply to all physiological processes

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

History of Animal Physiology History of Animal Physiology History of Animal Physiology

Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288) Herman Boerhaave and Albrecht von Haller (1700s) Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann (1838)
§  Anatomy of heart and lungs §  Bodily functions are a combination of chemical and §  “Cell theory”
Jean-Francois Fernal (1497–1558) physical processes Claude Bernard (1813–1878)
§  Outlined current knowledge of human health and §  Prior to this all physiologists were either §  Milieu interieur (internal environment)
disease §  Latrochemists (body functions involved only chemical §  Internal environment distinct from external
reactions) environment
Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564)
§  Latrophysicists (body functions involved only physical
§  First modern anatomy textbook processes)
Walter Cannon (1871–1945)
William Harvey (1578–1657) §  “Homeostasis”
§  Circulation of blood through the body by
contractions of the heart
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

1
 History of Animal Physiology History of Animal Physiology Physiological Subdisciplines

Per Scholander (1905–1980) George Bartholomew (1923–2006) Based on

§  Comparative physiology §  Ecological physiology §  Biological level of organization
C. Ladd Prosser (1907–2002) Peter Hochachka (1937–2002) and George Somero §  Process that causes physiological variation
§  Central pattern generators (1941– ) §  Ultimate goals of the research
Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (1915–2007) §  Biochemical adaptations §  Many physiological questions encompass elements
§  Animals in harsh and unusual environments from each subdiscipline

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Biological Level of Organization Biological Level of Organization Biological Level of Organization

§  Cell and molecular physiology Physiologists often study processes at more than one
§  Genetics, metabolism, organelles level
§  Systems physiology §  Reductionism – understand a system by studying
§  Function of organs the function of its parts
§  Organismal physiology §  Emergence – the whole is more than the sum of its
§  Whole animal parts
§  Ecological physiology
§  Animal and its environment
§  Integrative physiology
§  Multiple levels of organization

Figure 1.2
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

2
 Process that Causes Physiological Variation Ultimate Goals of the Research Unifying Themes in Physiology

§  Developmental physiology §  Pure physiology §  Physiological processes obey physical and
§  Change as animal grows §  No specific goal, other than knowledge chemical laws
§  Environmental physiology §  Applied physiology §  Physiological processes are usually regulated
§  Change in response to environment §  Medical physiology §  Homeostasis – maintenance of internal constancy
§  Evolutionary physiology §  Comparative physiology §  Physiological phenotype is a product of genotype
§  Change due to natural selection §  August Krogh principle – “For every biological and environment
system there is an organism on which it can be most §  Genotype – genetic makeup
conveniently studied” §  Phenotype – morphology, physiology, and behavior
§  Genotype is the product of evolution

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Unifying Themes in Physiology Physics and Chemistry Physics and Chemistry

§  Physical properties of cells and tissue are linked to

structure and function
§  Molecular interactions are governed by chemical
laws
§  Thermodynamics and kinetics
§  Electrical laws describe membrane function;
especially excitable cells
§  Nerves and muscles
§  Body size influences physiological patterns
§  Allometric scaling

Table 1.1 Figure 1.3

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

3
 Physiological Regulation Homeostasis Homeostasis

Strategies for coping with changing conditions Maintenance of internal conditions in the face of
§  Conformers – allow internal conditions to change environmental perturbations
with external conditions Controlled by feedback loops or reflex control
§  Regulators – maintain relatively constant internal pathways
conditions regardless of external conditions §  Negative feedback loops
§  Positive feedback loops

Figure 1.4
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Phenotype, Genotype, and the Environment Factors Influencing Phenotype Phenotype, Genotype, and the Environment

Phenotype is a product of genotype and its

interaction with the environment
§  Genotype – genetic makeup
§  Phenotype – morphology, physiology, and behavior
§  Phenotypic plasticity – single genotype generates
more than one phenotype depending on
environmental conditions

Figure 1.1 Figure 1.5

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

4
 Phenotypic Plasticity Physiology and Evolution Adaptation

Can be irreversible or reversible Diversity of anatomic and physiologic strategies Two distinct meanings
§  Irreversible animals use to cope with their environment §  Change in a population over evolutionary time
§  Polyphenism – developmental plasticity Two types of questions (i.e., many generations)
§  Reversible §  Proximate cause §  Most common usage
§  Acclimation – under laboratory conditions §  How did these develop? §  Definition used in this book
§  Acclimatization – natural environment §  Ultimate cause §  Synonym for acclimation
§  Why are these changes helpful? §  Many argue this is an incorrect usage

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Basis for Evolution and Natural Selection Not All Differences are Adaptations Evolutionary Relationships

§  Variation among individuals for specific traits Genetic drift §  Despite the diversity in animal form and function,
§  Traits must be heritable §  Random changes in the frequency of genotypes there are many similarities
§  Traits must increase fitness over time §  Common evolutionary ancestors
§  That is, must increase reproductive success §  Independent of adaptive evolution §  Closely related species share more features than
§  Relative fitness of different genotypes depends on §  Most common in small populations distantly related species
the environment §  For example, forest fire resulting in founder effect §  Understanding evolution is necessary to
§  If the environment changes, the trait may no longer be understanding physiological diversity
beneficial

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings