Term | Definition |
Active transport | The movement of a substance across biological membrane against its concentration gradient, aided by specific transport proteins and requiring an input of energy (often as ATP) |
Ammonia | NH3; A small and very toxic nitrogenous waste produced by metabolism. |
Aorta | A large artery that conveys blood directly from the left ventricle of the heart to other arteries. Oxygenated blood from the heart to body tissues. |
Behavioral responses | Are used by endotherms and ectotherms. Animals response to changes in the environment by altering their behavior. (Move into sun or shade; migration; bathing) |
Bowman's capsule | A cup-shaped swelling at the receiving end of a nephron in the vertebrate kidney; collects the filtrate from the blood. |
Circulatory adaptations | can affect the amount of heat lost at the body surface through radiation. |
Collecting duct | A tube in the vertebrate kidney that concentrate urine while conveying it to the renal pelvis. |
Conduction | Heat exchange with the environment through direct contact. (Lizard laying on a warm rock) |
Convection | Heat exchange with the environment through movement of air or liquid. (A cool breeze or going for a swim) |
Countercurrent heat exchange | A circulatory adaptation in which parallel blood vessels convey warm and cold blood in opposite directions, maximizing heat transfer to the cold blood. |
Diffusion | The random movement of particles that results in the net movement of a substance down its concentration gradient from a region where it is more concentrated to a region where it is less concentrated. |
Ectotherms | Referring to organisms that do not produce enough metabolic heat to have much effect on body temperature. |
Endotherms | Referring to organisms that use heat generated by their own metabolism to maintain a warm, steady body temperature. |
Evaporation | Heat exchange with the environment through a loss of heat from the surface of a liquid that is losing some of its molecules as a gas. (Sweating) |
Evaporative cooling | The process in which the surface of an object becomes cooler during evaporation. Liquid water absorbs heart from a body surface as it turns to water vapor. (Sweating; Panting; Spreading saliva or water) |
Filtrate | Fluid extracted by the excretory system from the blood or body cavity. The excretory system produces urine from the _______ after removing valuable solutes from it and concentrating it. |
Glomerulus | n the vertebrate kidney, the part of a nephron consisting of the capillaries that are surrounded by Bowman's capsule; together, a __________ and Bowman's capsule produce the filtrate from the blood. |
Hypertonic | referring to a solution that, when surrounding a cell, will cause the cell to lose water. |
Hypotonic | Referring to a solution that, when surrounding a cell, will cause the cell to take up water. |
Inferior vena cava | Brings oxygen poor blood from the lower part of the body to the right atrium. |
Insulation | Reduces the radiation of heat. (Blubber. Can keep it in or out.) |
Kidney | Filters waste from the blood like urea, water, salt and proteins. |
Metabolic heat production | Adaptations that balance heat gain and loss. (Heat is a by-product of respiration; muscle contraction/shivering; clustering) |
Nephron | The tubular excretory unit and associated blood vessels of the vertebrate kidney; extracts filtrate from the blood and refines it into urine. The _______ is the functional unit of the urinary system. |
Osmoconformer | An organism whose body fluids have a solute concentration equal to that of its surroundings. _____________ do not gain or loss of water by osmosis. Examples include most marine invertebrates. |
Osmoregulation | The homeostatic maintenance of solute concentrations and water balance by a cell or organism. |
Osmoregulator | An organism whose body fluids have a solute concentration different from that of its environment and that must use every in controlling water loss or gain. Example include most land-dwelling and fresh water animals. |
Osmosis | The diffusion of free water across a selectively permeable membrane. |
Radiation | Heat exchange with the environment through emissions of electromagnetic waves. (sun light) |
Renal cortex | The outer portion of the vertebrate kidney, above the renal medulla. |
Renal medulla | The inner portion of the vertebrate kidney , beneath the renal cortex. |
Renal pelvis | A cone-shaped collecting area that connects the ureter and the kidney. |
Thermoregulation | The homeostatic maintenance of an organism's internal body temperature within a range that allows cells to function efficiently. |
Tubule | Sections of the kidney where the filtration of wastes, electrolytes, and water is controlled; where filtrate travels through. |
Urea | A soluble form of nitrogenous waste excreted by mammals and most adults amphibians. |
Ureter | A duct that conveys urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder. |
Urethra | A duct that conveys urine from the urinary bladder to the outside. In the male, the ______ also conveys semen out of the body during ejaculation. |
Uric acid | An insoluble precipitate of nitrogenous waste excreted by land snails, insects, birds, and some reptiles. |
Urinary bladder | The pouch where urine is stored prior to elimination. |
Urinary system | The organ system that forms and excretes urine while regulating the amount of water and ions in the body fluids. |
Urine | Concentrated filtrate produced by the kidneys and excreted by the bladder. |
Vasoconstriction | Reduces blood flow to surface. |
Vasodilation | Increases blood flow to surface. |