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[1] BIOL 1902 V: Thursday January 5​th​ 2017 : Lecture #1: Introduction (Background) &
Staying Alive

Background
-​ ​Natural history is nature; living, breathing, dynamic ANIMALS

-​ ​E.g. bear, caribou, deer, raccoon, moose etc.

-​ ​Complex lives with lots of problems; e.g. surviving, reproduction, environmental

conditions
-​ ​Animal vs plant; birds, algae (freshwater sponge)

-​ ​Natural history also includes living, dynamic PLANTS

-​ ​Interactions between plants and animals is natural history and interaction btw animals

-​ ​Natural history is the real world

-​ ​Natural history is an observational science; observing something in living plans and

animals (flora and fauna) and their interactions

-​ ​Flora = plants, fauna = animals

-​ ​NATURALISTS (people who study natural history)

-​ ​Charles Darwin = Naturalist, Ernest Thompson Seton = Naturalist

-​ ​Linnaeus; taxonomic classification

-​ ​Robert Tory Peterson = field guides

-​ ​Naturalist definition: one who makes a special study of animals or plants

-​ ​Hepatology; frogs, snakes – mammalogy; mammals – botany; plants, entomology;

insects

Challenge #1: Staying Alive: Defenses Appearances - Camouflage

-​ ​Concealment (hiding)

-​ ​E.g. moose (not concealed – no camouflage)

-​ ​Most animals are hidden, using special colours

-​ ​E.g. animal on the rock; grasshopper

-​ ​E.g. animal in the shrub; camouflaged – concealment

-​ ​General principles; different areas have different features – e.g. grasslands – vertical

lines; vertical lines on animal to blend in; sparrow with vertical lines and become invisible
as long as they don’t move
-​ ​Sparrows – vertical lines to blend into surroundings; don’t move (fields)

-​ ​Cat tail; vertical lines as well; blend in nicely

-​ ​Background matching​ – blending into the pattern of the background (e.g. vertical

lines) – e.g. ​American Bittern​ (marshes)

-​ ​Instinct not intelligence

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Next Class… More Camouflage

[2] BIOL 1902 V: Tuesday January 10​th​ 2017 : Lecture #2: Staying Alive Continued:
Camouflage
Staying Alive: Defenses Appearances - Camouflage Continued
-​ ​E.g. crossed spider

-​ ​Animals often resemble background; background matching – e.g. A ​ merican bittern​**

-​ ​Vertical lines dominant in marshes and fields

-​ ​What about forests? E.g. ruffed grouse – high contrast pattern for forest floor (blend in

well)
-​ ​E.g. female spruce grouse – blending into the ground background

-​ ​E.g. faun (deer) – blend into background in forest setting

-​ ​Key: the background dictates what the animal needs to blend in to surroundings - e.g.

vertical lines for vertical background

-​ ​Animal must be stationary; cryptic to stay hidden

-​ ​Female grouse**

-​ ​Other parts of forest, animals could match; e.g. tree trunks – e.g. bird blended into tree

trunk – brown creeper

-​ ​E.g. gray tree frog – matches bark pattern *** ​mimicry​; mimics bark pattern around it –

gray tree frogs can change colour to match green lichens on trees (CHANGE COLOUR)
-​ ​MIMIC – bark mimic; background matching

-​ ​E.g. Eastern Screech-Owl – ​ bark mimicry

-​ ​Forest floor changes through the seasons; summer à winter – e.g. hares (snowshoe

hare, varying hare – changes colour from brown to white to match background in the
winter)
-​ ​Seasonal colour change

-​ ​Sometimes only certain parts of the animal are used for camouflage

-​ ​Song birds​ – eye lines, head markings – head markings, eye lines for concealment –

markings separate portions of the head into sections – d ​ isruptive patterns​ (e.g. song
birds – head patterns) – must be motionless
-​ ​Disruptive patterns break up for example the head into discrete patterns used for

concealment
-​ ​Killdeer – bands on breast; breast bands – disruptive pattern; breaks up form of animal

-​ ​E.g. Canada goose – chin strap breaks up form

-​ ​E.g. loon, “necklace” – disruptive pattern, breaks up shape

-​ ​E.g. leopard frog – background matching and disruptive pattern at legs; breaks up legs

from rest of the body

-​ ​Coincident disruptive colouration​; pattern matches up – legs on leopard frog

-​ ​Group coincident disruptive coloration – ​ milk snake vs moths (example in class) –

speculation

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 -​ Butterfly​; shape with something not fit for the environment (non-edible part of
​

environment) – e.g. butterfly, dead leaf

-​ ​Angled​-​winged butterfly​ – angled, resemble dead leaves – use shape of wing to hide

-​ ​Dead leaf mimic

-​ ​Mascaraed/ background mimicry – moths, curled up like dead leaf

-​ ​E.g. Katydid – live leaf mimic

-​ ​E.g. luna moth – long tail, live leaf mimic

-​ ​Other parts of the plant can be used as well for masquerade – t ​ wig mimicry (e.g.
inchworm)
-​ ​E.g. walking stick – just like a twig (motionless)

-​ ​Thorn mimicry​ as well – e.g. tree hopper; looks like a thorn – mascaraed

-​ ​With mascaraed; the animal resembles something non-edible – e.g. thorns, dead

leaves
-​ ​Some moths look like bird droppings; bird dropping mimic – pearly woof nymph

-​ ​Caterpillars resemble bird droppings as well – e.g. giant swallowtail (caterpillar) - B ​ IRD
DROPPING MIMIC
-​ ​Camouflaged Looper – a ​ dds camouflage to its body (looks like debris on a plant)
-​ ​Spittle bug –​ feeds on plant sap and b/c of feeding foam is released; hides them

-​ ​Woolly Aphids;​ white fluff like hairs all over body

-​ ​Whirligig beetles –​ 2 toned body; swirl around on surface of the water – different

colour viewed from the bottom and different colour on the top (white on bottom, black on
top) – ​BICOLOURATION
-​ ​Some species have the opposite – a dark underside and white upper surface (e.g. back

swimmer – swim upside down)

-​ ​E.g. white-tailed deer; bicoloured – countershading/self-shadow concealment – animal

creates shadow – light below, dark above – for animals out in the sunlight
-​ ​Camouflage isn’t full-proof – sphinx moth; 2 different technique

-​ ​E.g. ​underwing moth​; open wings, underwings are brightly coloured – S ​ TARTLE
PATTERN
-​ ​Fake eyes (eye spots) – e.g. Polyphemus – example of startle pattern; not always

visible until moth has to use them (e.g. scaring prey away)
-​ ​E.g. gray tree frog – startle; jumps and behind legs is yellow to startle prey

-​ ​Startle structures​ – osmetarium; pops up from caterpillars when prey (looks like

snake’s tongue)
-​ ​E.g. beavers – startle beaver; tail slap – tail slap is a startle sound

[3] BIOL 1902 V: Thursday January 12th 2017 : Lecture #3: Staying Alive Continued

- Evolution is key - how animals are today have taken years of improving - natural
selection; shapes animal over time - only the successful survive (e.g. beetles example in

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 class - offspring are all slightly different, the ones who survive pass on their successful
genes)
- Very slow process; natural selection never stops
- Variation of offspring is needed (evolution would not occur if all offspring were the same)
- Startle sound​ = beaver tail; starles prey
- E.g. partridge; ruffed grouse
- Eye spots​ - hidden and then revealed all of a sudden
- Startle patterns are hidden until needed
- Eyed Elater (Beetle) - huge eyes
- Tiger Swallowtail - huge eyes; make small caterpillar look larger
- Eye spots​ always displayed to make the animal look larger
- Never hidden compared to the startle patterns with eye spots
- Other examples: other caterpillars (hermit sphinx), Abbott’s Sphinx - don’t worry about
- Make animal look larger than life
- Dragonflies have it as well - fake eye
- Caterpillars, beetles, dragonflies
- Startle patterns can have a 2nd function - d ​ istraction patterns/deflection patterns -​
prey tries to attack coloured areas and b/c these areas are not on main, critical parts of
the body, if damaged the animal can still survive (e.g. moth missing part of hind wing) -
deflect attack to non-vital body part
- Some butterflies have tails - often resemble a fake antenna, and accompanied by fake
eye spots so it looks like head is at rear end of the organism - e.g. ​Hairstreak​ moths
(deflection/distraction pattern) - looks like antenna on head
- Many lose tails from attacks - help butterfly survive by deflecting attack to end of body
- Five-lined Skink​ - very long tail, bright blue tail - distraction coloration - as soon as tail is
touched it detaches from body and the nerves cause it to “jump around” - will grow a new
tail - ​autotomy ​(growing back new body part once lost)

Staying Alive: Physical Defense: Body Armou​r

- E.g. millipede (hard outer bodies, soft inner bodies - curl up when being attacked)
- E.g. snails - ​calcium ​shell, b
​ ivalves (e.g. clams​), turtles
- Turtles​ are very successful - around for millions of years, haven’t changed too much -
head and legs both tuck in
- Different species of turtles are different - e.g. blanding turtle - interesting shell, shell is
continuation of skeleton
- Most turtles pull in - blanding turtle, lower portion of shell can be closed up (i.e. trap
door)
- Some can close entire shell
- Can count age of turtle based on rings of shell
- Snapping turtles - bite in defense, cannot go inside shell - more defensive
- No defense is perfect

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 - Physical defense can also be soft structures - ​e.g.​ ​eastern tent caterpillar​ (creates silk
tents for protection during the day, leave during the night) - cooperatively create these
webs (bunch of caterpillars working together) - birds do not want to eat the webbing
- Hairy caterpillars are also a defence mechanism - some birds do not want to eat the
hairy caterpillar - physical defence can be s​ oft hairs (e.g. gypsy moth caterpillar)
- Fall webworm - also make silk tents; inclose leaves inside it, caterpillars feed on it
- Fall webworm vs eastern tent caterpillar; fall = food in webs, eastern = leave to feed
- Test Hint: examples in brackets are just examples - don’t worry about names
- Wooly bear caterpillar - hairs can be modified (stiff)
- Mammals can also use ​stiff​ hairs for defence - e ​ .g. porcupine (quills)​ - face attacker
backwards (up to 20,000 quills - tails main source of quills) - modified guard hairs = quills
- Quills have unique structure; similar to zip ties, can’t pull out easily from animal - greasy
coating on outside; antibiotics (learn lesson for prey?, impale themselves, heal?)
- Mammals have 2 types of hair; guard hair and hair close to the body
- Hairs & poison = ​poison spines -​ common in caterpillars

Staying Alive: Chemical Defence

- Poison spines - e.g. caterpillar
​ .g. Io Moth Caterpillar ​- not cryptic; armed
- Repelling predatory; inflict pain vs death - E
- Very obvious colours - great defence don’t need to be camouflaged
- General rule: poisonous caterpillars are usually brightly coloured - E.g. M​ ilkweed
Tussock caterpillars
- Not bright coloured (black): Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar - poisonous spines;
brightly coloured under attack (red underneath)
- E.g. yellowjacket - paper wasp -​ has poisonous stinger
- E.g. red eft salamander -​ poisonous skin
- E.g. milkweed beetle
- Milkweed - leading to poisonous
- Warning signs = brightly colour (i.e. poisonous)
- Warning colouration = common in chemical defence animals (​ APOSEMATIC
COLOURATION) ​- don’t touch
- E.g. striped skunk​ - spray out sulfur alcohol; no warning colouration
- Black and white colouration? Night active - strong contrast
- Black and white = aposematic for night time creatures (e.g. skunks and porcupines)
- Ladybugs ​- manufacture their toxins - brightly coloured; not safe to eat
- Other animals attain toxins from the plants they eat - e​ .g.​ ​monarch butterfly caterpillar
- Terpenoid plants - store poison inside of body (monarch butterfly caterpillars)
- Sequestering - monarch butterfly caterpillars​ ​sequester cardiac glycoside
(terpenoids)​ poison from ​milkweeds - gain from plants via eating it
- Milkweed Tussock Moths​ also sequester cardiac glycosides from milkweed (separate
position from rest of organic material)
- Black Swallowtail caterpillar sequesters toxins from water hemlock - osmeterium also
had (e.g. orange horns)

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 - Fireflies - different flash patterns depend on species of fireflies, males are the ones who
blink - showing off
- Female ​Photuris​ fireflies sequester​ steroidal toxins by eating m ​ ale ​Photinus
fireflies​ - FEMALES EAT MALES - different species } ​AGGRESSIVE MIMICRY
- Chemical defenses can be released from different parts of the body - e.g. sawfly larvae -
terpenoids (bitter tasting compounds, come out of mouth), some come out of legs (e.g.
blister beetles - plays dead, terpenoids comes out of legs - cantharidin)
- Blister beetles found around the world; some more than aggravating than others
- Yellow jackets have injector system - i.e the stinger; burning toxin released
- Warning signals - e.g. raise tail, stomp feet for skunks before they spray
- Bombardier beetle - hot quinone gas; puff of smoke; different chambers - spontaneous
reaction - chemicals combine } powerful defence
- Animals armed with chemical weapons = a ​ posematic colouration (e.g. black and
yellow for wasps)
- Different insects; similar colour patterns - e.g. honey bees, letter jackets; both have
stinger and similar colour pattern despite being different organisms
- Milkweed beetle vs milkweed bug - same black and red colour pattern, feed on same
plant
- When a group of unrelated animals are all defended and bear similar appearance =
MULLERIAN MIMICRY
- Different insects, same colour, similar chemical defence but SAME ADVERTISING
- Sharing the same defence and defence mechanisms - sharing the same colour
- Monarch butterflies = bright colouration and are poisonous
- E.g. Monarch vs Viceroy​ - same colours but monarch is poisonous and the viceroy is
not - uses this colouration to advantage to avoid prey
- Model vs mimic​ - Monarch (poisonous) - model and the Viceroy (non-poisonous, edible)
- mimic = ​Batesian Mimicry

[4] BIOL 1902 V: Tuesday January 17th 2017 : Lecture #4: Staying Alive Continued
- Caterpillar; giant swallowtail - looks like bird poop - osmeterium pops out when touched;
masquerade and osmeterium
- Review of defences - brought in animals
- Five-lined skink - generally hidden in day time; under rocks - blue tail comes into play
when running away
- Review: bees, wasps, bumble bees - chemical armed; look the same - mullerian mimicry
- Monarch vs Viceroy (MODEL / MIMIC) - viceroy resembles monarch but not poisonous
Batesian Mimicry​ Continued
- Monarchs vs Viceroys - some exceptions; some viceroys are more toxic - there are
overlap (but in most areas, monarchs are more toxic)
- Bright coloration; one with poison, the other with no poison
- E.g. Bumble bee (stings) - model, hoverfly (does not sting) - harmless, mimic

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 - Bald-faced hornet = stings, hoverfly = harmless (look the same)
- Many hoverflies follow Batesian mimicry
- Model vs mimic
- Wasps; very numerous, lots of mimics - some beetles, hoverfly, dragonflies, moth
(raspberry crown borer moth) - all mimic wasps
- But there are considerations; more models than mimics are successful for mimicry -
some are bad to eat (10), mimic = good to eat (3) probability that the prey is catching a
bad one is good which is why mimics are successful; less probability prey will try and eat
them (expect a bad one)
- Want the bad experience to outweigh the good ones
- Wasps colonies grow throughout the summer; very low #s in the spring but increase
throughout the year
- Models and mimics must occur at the same time of year
- Dr. Sherratt - expert on mimicry etc.
- Lady beetles armed and beautiful; cecropia (fake ladybugs on top?)
- American Toads have a toxin in their skin glands = B ​ ufotalin ​- 2nd defence as well; they
look larger than what they are - “puff up” ] ​behavioural defences
- Camouflage, chemical, behavioural defences

Staying Alive: Behavioural Defences

- Hognosed snake; look bigger than life - plan B; roles over and plays dead - tongue
hangs out, blood comes out - many predators look for movement, so may not attack if
playing dead, some animals also accidentally kill these snakes b/c of a defensive
reaction (e.g. Deer)
- Playing dead = thanatosis
- Blister beetle also play dead
- Possum plays dead as well - thanatosis; “playing possum” - e.g. Virginia opossum
Staying Alive: Group Behavioural Defence
- Sudden defence - based on #’s - “safety in numbers”
- Group of deer; odds are lower of being killed when there are more deer around you
- White-tailed deer - ​yard; yarding​ - place where deer have gathered in numbers
- Safety in numbers
- Flocking​ = bird group defence (e.g. Sandpipers); might serve too: visually confuse
predator, for each flock member the odds of being caught are smaller individually with
more around you
- Passive = flocking
- Aggressive groups defences: e.g. Yellowjackets - release pheromones (attack
pheromones) - summon the troops; wasps come swarming out to attack
- Birds can also have an aggressive defence; when birds attack they give out alarm calls
​ OBBING
to summon troops; others join in to join attack } M
- Alarm calls to attract other birds to attack = mobbing (small birds, black birds) - drive
bigger birds away from resting area
- Mob onto owls, hawks etc.

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 - Mobbing = pre-emptive defence -​ e.g. Mobbing owls; birds try to get it away during the
day as owls do not attack during the day (safer for the smaller bird - i.e. Chickadees) -
attacking before they are under attack
- Movie: blue jays vs owl (mobbing example)
- Some animals have body guards; pay bodyguards for services (e.g. Paying in food) -
symbiotic relationship
- E.g. Carpenter ants guarding aphids​ (plant sucking insects)
- Movie: ants guarding plant-sucking insects; which feed the ants for guarding
these small insects
- Golden aphids are toxic (milkweed) - don’t need ants for body guards
- Some behavioural defences are off: e.g. Cottontail rabbits - when they are alarmed they
run away and tail goes up - white tail is prominent (why? - also seen in deer; no longer
surprised when they run away, warning other members (deer), flag might advertise
awareness - aware that prey is there)
- Deer jump erratically; if prey focuses on the white tail they might lose focus on the rest of
the animal (i.e. Deer) - enhance ability to escape
- White tail deer and cottontail deer share same feature of white flag going up (i.e. Tail)
when under attack
- Vigilance​ = danger needs to be detected for behavioural defences to work (i.e. The
animal needs to be aware of what is happening around them)

[5] BIOL 1902 V: Thursday January 19th 2017 : Lecture #5: Staying Alive Continued

Stayin Alive: Behavioural Defences Continued

- Vigilance​ = danger needs to be detected for behavioural defences to work (i.e. The
animal needs to be aware of what is happening around them)
- Animal needs to be ALERT (VIGILANT)
- Smaller animals are faced with more danger therefore need to be extra alert/vigilant
- Scanning and on the lookout for danger
- Adaptations for scanning:
- Olfactory = nose; smelling
- Visual = eyes
- Auditory = hearing
- Hearing: large ears to magnify sounds (e.g. mule deer, whitetail deer) - external pinnae
(large ears to capture sound) - ears pivot around to scan in all directions
- Moose antlers used to hear better
- Beaver: no large ears b/c it affects abilities to swim (would cause resistance while
swimming)
- Insects can also hear - membrane on body that act like eardrums - detect sound
vibrations; bat calls, protection from bats (e.g. tiger moths, lacewings, praying
mantids- membrane for hearing) - insect hearing expert (Jayne Yack)

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 - Snakes - cannot hear; but can detect danger by feeling vibrations on the ground,
snakes have enhanced power of smell/taste - can smell with their tongues
(molecules of scent, the molecules reach roof of mouth; more molecules on one
side of tongue can tell direction of food/danger) - analyzing sent in the air using
the tongue
- Scents are analyzed in the J ​ acobson’s Organ​ - 2 chambers to analyse
scents
- Moose have something similar - analyze scents; excellent sense of smell;
in the snout (large snout) - lots of olfactory sensors (​Jacobson’s Organ​) -
during the mating season, females give off scents in heat; bull moose can
pick these scents up with their tongue - licking the air
- White tail deer stick tongue out as well
- Mammals expose their Jacobson’s organ by mechanism of f​ lemen ​; get
more air into the roof of mouth to detect scents
- Scanning visually:​ snowshoe hare - eyes on the side of the head, peripheral vision -
larger view of surroundings - NO BLIND SPOT
- Ducks also have eyes on the side; overlap - very good binocular vision (can see
behind and in front 3D; depth perception is great - 360 view
- Eyes on the side = wide view
- Eyes on the front help you hunt - hunters have eyes in front
- Eye placement is affected by other aspects of an animal’s natural history - e.g.
beavers - eyes, ears and nose all in straight line on top of the head (high) -
scanning on top of the water - all sensory organs on top of head
- The eyes of a Wilson’s snipe are on the upper rear of its head - why? - near the
top; when they feed they put their beaks down toward the ground, they can still
see above and behind them (protection)- danger from above; need to be able to
see it
- American bittern - near the base of the bill (beak) - when their head is in the air
they can still see - can see in front of itself - remember no adaptation is perfect;
cannot see behind its head; keeps turning its head - disadvantage: can’t see
behind head
- Nocturnal vision:
- Deer: big eyes - good night vision; large eyes gather more light
- Flying Squirrel: also large eyes; nocturnal animals d ​ isplay ​eye shine
- Adaptation for seeing at night = eye shine; cones = coloured, rods = black
and white - lots of rods for nocturnal animals - sensory cells at back of
eye (retina) - light hits reflective surface and bounces back (​tapetum
lucidum​ - special cells for seeing at night) the photons bounce off the
reflective surface and try and get a 2nd chance of being converted into an
image when there are very few waves of light coming into the eye
- tapetum lucidum = adaptation for seeing at night
- Some birds have similar mechanism (tapetum lucidum vs oil droplets?)
- E.g. whip-poor-wills also have very large eyes for seeing at night

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 - More animals together = increase vigilance (e.g. flock of birds or yard of deer) - more
eyes = more complete vigilance (another reason why deer yard in the winter)
- More eyes = better vigilance
- Single-species flock​ - of one species only flocking together (e.g. sandpipers, wax
wings) - food is plentiful in one area
- Mixed-species flocks​ - more than one type of bird in a flock (e.g. pine warbler -
warblers stick together despite the different species, 10-12 types of warblers in flock) -
food is more diverse over an area
- Why different flocks: examine feeding habits/food resources - warblers = insects
(different types of insects) - different species, different insects being eaten, less
competition for food; increased eyes - fruit is different; not competing for food, same
species in same area (more abundant)
- Birds that feed on one type of abundant food (e.g. apple) will flock together b/c food
supply for that species can be found in one place and is abundant vs a food supply such
as insects where there is a diverse amount of different insects in one area (not all group
together and accessible like apples) therefore there will be a joining of different species
(i.e. warblers) who feed on the different insect depending on the species - don’t need to
fight over the food
- More varieties of food

Plant Defenses
- Every leaf is food for something; plants can’t run away
- How do they defend themselves?
- Battle lost; heavily consumed - battle won when untouched by prey
- Physical defences and chemical defences
- Physical defences:
- Trees and other woody plant = external a ​ rmour​ (e.g. bark)
- Acorns are tough, coating around = armour around the seed
- Seeds can be protected inside by a hard coats - e.g. acorns
- Some plants have spines/spikes - e.g. thistles
- Spines = modified leaf (sprickly structure); spines can be found on leaves
- Stems also have defences - thorns, prickles (epidermal outgrowths like hair) -
e.g. rose stalk covered in prickles
- New rose buds resemble prickles - a ​ utomimicry ​(mimicry of own part of plant by
another part of plant)
- Hawthorn has another type of prickly defence - i.e. thorns - modified branches ;
designed for larger prey (mammals)
- Prickly ashes - thorns or prickles? (may have both) - deterrents against large
herbivores
- Thorns ​= modified branches
- Analogy between thorns on trees and quills of porcupines
- Defences work; designed for large mammals

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 - Plant hairs called Trichomes - e.g. ragweed - little hairs; prevent caterpillars -
stickiness prevents caterpillars from crawling up it - dense barrier can also be
formed which prevents small creatures from going through it
- Stinging nettles - covered in trichomes (some can sting, some can s\be sticky or
some be very dense) - small hairs meant to deter small animals
- Glandular trichomes = physical and chemical defence​ (e.g. stinging nettle) -
analogous to io moth caterpillar
- Water smartweed - grow in the water; no trichomes - if water dries up; they
develop trichomes on the shore (first appearance on land) - rare
- Not there initially but produced when needed =​ inducible offence -​
environmental conditions change to change defence structure as well
- Structural elements: Structure of the plant can also cause deterrence - structural
elements such as c ​ ellulose​, ​hemicellulose​ and p
​ ectin​ which can make plant
tissues hard to digest - some animals cannot break apart cellulose very well
- Lignin​ gives leaves stiffness - e.g. cherry pits = hard - also give nuts their
hardness
- Structural elements = digestibility reducers​ (hard to digest) - reduce
ability of animal to digest them fully (i.e. cellulose and ligin)
- Horsetails - silica​ is found in these - hard to digest
- Grasses a ​ re also high in silica
- Tannins ​- are astringent (drying effect) - other digestibility reducers are not
structural components - defensive structure to prevent being eaten by animals ;
secondary function - secondary secondary metabolites
- Calcium ​can also be used as a deterrent - makes water hard; if a plant uses
calcium it can make hard structure - e.g. ​Arum plants which have calcium
oxalate crystals​ in their leaves - e.g. skunk cabbage (not apart of plants
structure, but used as defence structure) - very hard to digest
- Jack-In-The-Pulpit = Arum; ahs calcium oxalate crystals which make it very hard
to digest
- Summary:​ some of these defences are directly apart of p ​ lant’s structure​, others
are produced as d ​ efensive structures​ - both have same effect and make it ahrd
for animals to digest the plant material

[6] BIOL 1902 V: Tuesday January 24th 2017 : Lecture #6: Staying Alive: Plant Defences
Continued

Review: Physical Structures

A) External armour (pickles, thorns, barks)
B) Internal - cell wall components - cellulose, pectin (glue like structure)
- LIGNIN - tough material, acorns
- Silica - tough to swallow

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 - Tannins - drying; digestibility reducers (not structural) - hard to digest
- Calcium oxalate crystals -e.g. jack in the pulpit

Staying Alive: Chemical Defences / Plant Defences Cont.

- Milkweed - cardiac glycosides; t​ erpenoids (​ many plants use terpenoids many types of
it)
- Terpenoids​ = group of plant chemical toxins; taste very bitter - repel animals (repulsive
taste of terpenoids) - terpenoids do not contain nitrogen; important
- New pine cones have ​resin​ - contain t​ erpenoids​ (oleoresins)
- Another plant has terpenoids; poison ivy - found in resin; contains resin (urushiol) -
contains terpenoids
- Alkaloids​ - contain nitrogen - e.g. tobacco
- Asters - well armed chemically; can tell by the plant being uneaten - full of alkaloids;
affect the digestive system (hard to digest plant) - digestive process
- Untouched leaves = chemical plants
- Growth of insect (hormones)​ - insect growth hormones - moulting hormone/ecdysone
(changing outer skin/shedding exoskeleton = moulting); juvenile hormone also involved
in growth (keeps in juvenile stage - not going from small caterpillar to butterfly without
first becoming a larger caterpillar)
- Growth stages: larva 1st stage (MH,JH both present) >>> larva 2nd stage (MH,JH both
present) >> Larva 3rd stage (MH only) >>> pupa (no juvenile, MH) >>> Adult (MH only,
no juvenile) - juvenile hormone only found during juvenile stages, MH throughout cycles
- Some plants (e.g. rock polypody) is filled with moulting hormones (MH) = causes animal
who consumes it to change more quickly (moults) >>> p ​ hytoecdysones (​ hormones
produced by plants - MH) - mature too quickly and die (smaller organisms)
- E.g. Ferns have many phytoecdysones (e.g. b ​ racken fern​ - loaded with
phyrocedysones - one of the top 10 plants in the world)
- E.g. Balsam Fir - contains phytojuvenile hormones (other growth hormone) - if organism
eats then it will not grow, does not get to adult stage (cannot reproduce) - NO
MATURITY (smaller animals)
- Reproductive Hormones:​ act on larger animals; go sterile, affect offspring etc.
Reproductive system is affected - p ​ hytoestrogens​ (affect female RPS)
- Phototoxins ​- nasty side effects - e.g. st. john's-wort; make sensitive to UV light
(phytophotodermatitis)
- Plants also advertise their chemical effects - m ​ ustards​ advertize their defence by colour
(e.g. yellow)
- Plants use ​aposematic​ colours too! E.g. blueberries (the white ones, sour or bitter
flavour - terpenoids filled) - when the berries change colour the terpenoids are
neutralized and sugars are added (making them sweet)
- Fruit contains seeds; can travel when eaten or removed from the branch/bush
- Plants have early warning signals when being “attacked” - alarm is sent to other plants -
how do they warn? Chemically - phytohormones; travel through the plant and initiate a

12
 biochemical response (e.g. jasmonic, ethylene) - other plants up their chemical defence
when warned
- Some are volatile (spread rapidly through the air); fairly quick response
- Chemical warning system
- Some plants have body guards as well - e.g. carpenter plants (protect for food source -
nectar) - extrafloral nectaries provide food for ants, ants protect (paid bodyguards)
- Some plants can call animals in to help - release chemicals in the air and tell certain
animals that caterpillars are on the plants - e.g. hornets respond to w ​ ound hormones​,
can attack the caterpillar (e.g. predatory wasps)
- Wound hormones ​- parasitoids can also be attracted; will lay eggs on caterpillar (not
attack it itself) and when the eggs hatch the offspring will bury themselves inside the
caterpillar and eat it from the inside out (similar to Alien); killing animal they are living
on/in

Challenge #2: Environmental Stress:

Temperature Extremes:
Sub-Zero Temperatures (COLD) - body water freezing
- Freezing occurs - ice; water freezes (all living things have water inside them)
- Endothermic (“inside”) and ectothermic (“outside”)
- Endotherms control their temperature internally (usually stable) - e.g. mammals
- Ectotherms; based on the environment for temp. (e.g. reptiles, insect)
- Water turns to ice (picture) - bubbles trapped in ice
- Water expands when freezing; with animals when water expands the cells would burst if
water froze within
- Ectotherms - reptiles, insects
- Endotherms - mammals (e.g. wolves)
- How do animals deal with the extreme cold?
- Animals stay active
- Mammals grow more hair (e.g. layers, fox) - guard hairs (outer coat, grow longer
and thicker for the winter) - moose is a good example, the underfur is dense and
fluffy (dense, next to the skin)
- Birds have more, bulkier features - contour features on the outside and down
features underneath - e.g. black-capped chickadee (very little body heat
escapes)
- Animals also have extra layers on the inside (layers of fats) - s ​ ubcutaneous fat
for insulation = warmth (white fat) - under the skin for insulation - ​internal brown
fat ​for burning fat for warmth (around organs) - brown fat is burning for warmth;
metabolized by body
- Birds also have subcutaneous fat for fuel (burn overnight via shivering, which is
very important for thermogenesis) - do not have brown fat - shiver to generate
heat
- Colour can provide warmth:

13
 - Many northern animals are white - pale colour retain heat better (e.g.
arctic fox)
- Pigmentation = vacuoles of air in the skin; heat cannot leave as easily
- Snowshoes hares gain 27% in the coats insulation value by being white -
white is better
- Pale, white colour = warmer for northern animals in the winter (black
absorbs more solar energy but there is a trade off based on the insulation
value of a white coat/features - warmer!)

[7] BIOL 1902 V: Thursday January 26th 2017 : Lecture #7: Environmental Stressors
Continued
- Review: ​freezing​ - problem b/c body is made up of water
- White fur is better (colour) - better against wind and wind-chill temperatures (over black)
- White colour helps benefit
- Arctic fox
- Gloger's Rule​ - the further north you get, the paler animal colour - the more tropical you
get is darker colours - e.g. arctic fox in the northern regions
- What about shape? - e.g. deer - not a good shape for winter conditions; really big ears;
large surface area - extremities get colder more quickly
- Caribou - smaller ears (most northern deer) - short extremities are better - A ​ llen’s Rules
- smaller extremities (long and thin - lose heat through)
- Low surface area: volume ratio - long and thin - low SA:volume ratio vs round (closely
contained) - large SA: volume ratio
- Low SA: VOLUME ratio = ​Bergmann’s Rule (​ more round shape as you move north,
smaller SA: VOLUME RATIO)
- Caribou vs deer - smaller extremities in caribou and smaller SA:volume ratio
- Arctic fox vs red fox
- Deer mouse - not good shape for winter - better shape = voles, lemmings
- Beavers - how do beavers, gulls, ducks can stand on ice? Without getting cold - inside
legs and feet they have internal features - deliberately makes feet colder, arteries/blood
vessels - blood is going up, warm blood going down - animals can divert blood through
network - activate in winter
- Countercurrent heat exchanger - network of blood vessels (counter current - one way vs
the other) arteries giving heat to cold veins - down to the foot
- Rete Mirabile - wonderful net - body conserves energy *** Review
- How does system work - want a low difference btw internal and external temperature so
all the heat is lot lost (i.e. from 32 degrees internally to -52 degrees externally - huge
difference) - lose more body heat if foot is very warm compared to the environment
- Beneficial to those swimming/standing in a cold environment - mammals do not have
- Behavioural adaptation: putting extremities under features
- Mammals breathe through nose in cold conditions - countercurrent heat exchanger in the
snout - warms air out before it gets into the body

14
- Where does animal sleep at night - e.g. choice of r​ oost site​ is important - coniferous
trees are often more warm; sheltered - even better if covered in snow, traps body heat,
buffered wind
- Woodpeckers spend nights inside a tree cavity as well as small owls, chickadees
- Huddling done by certain animals - get together sharing body heat - increase SA: volume
ratio
- Some animals build shelters - e.g. beavers, muskrat lodge (hole at the top of lodge; sign
of activity) - beavers make different lodges (use sticks)
- Build lodges with different material in the winter (i.e adds mud to the lodge)
- Some animals find warmth under the snow - tunnels under the snow (e.g. deer mouse) -
much warmer ​(subnivean space) - below the snow
- Others animals find warmth in the snow (not below) - buried in the snow (e.g. birds -
ruffed grouse snow bed - dive into snow in cold night and come out next morning)
- Entrance and exit holes - risks in snow beds - freezing rain (birds trapped in and die)
- On cold days animals can bask in the sun - absorb solar energy (e.g. grouse)
- Chickadees can lower their body core temperature by 12 degree - do this on cold nights;
helps them survive - not as much as difference btw inside and outside - less gradient,
less heat loss, conserve body energy - birds can shiver, can generate heat and bring up
the temperature - enter deep sleep -​ torpor = cold nights
- Shivering = thermogenesis
- For most animals, body temperature below zero is fatal - still need temp above temp
- Snakes (exotherms) survive by going below the frost line and becoming d ​ ormant​ - frost
line = the line below the ground where water freezes (below, water is liquid) - need to
stay in area above zero
- Dormancy = behavioural freeze avoidance
- Northern water snake is leaving its h ​ ibernaculum
- Turtles - most go dormant at the bottom of lake, sam with frogs
- Toads bury into the ground below frost line, same with salamanders
- Many insects survive winter above the frost line - some go dormant (uses antifreeze -
glycerol, water cannot freeze below zero - cryoprotectant) - ANTIFREEZE
- Sheltered sites as well for insects - all prey mantids die in fall when frost arrives - they
lay eggs over the winter (eggs survive the winter) - egg case = ootheca (praying mantid
egg case) - no water in egg or antifreeze is added - cannot freeze = cryoprotectants
- Walking sticks also lay eggs
- When no ice forms inside the body = supercooling (e.g. woolly bear caterpillar) - b/c of
antifreeze - glycerol
- Female wasps, bumble bees and mosquitoes survive the winter as adults - use
antifreeze, super coolants
- Angle-winged butterflies spend winter in their adult stage - antifreeze
- Some animals use special structures - galls on goldenrod - grubs inside (ice nucleating
sites btw the cells - antifreeze inside but ice btw the cells) - freeze tolerant; can control
where ice is formed

15
[8] BIOL 1902 V: Tuesday January 31st 2017 : Lecture #8: Environmental Stressors
(Sub-Zero Temperatures)

- Goldenrod fly grub - somewhat protected - some birds can peck through the galls
- Most reptiles - herps spend winters away but not all do - grey tree frog; stay near the
soils surface and freeze, the wood frogs, spring peepers, chorus frogs - also freeze
during the winter ​(freeze-tolerant) -​ smaller frogs
- Snapping turtles spend winters in bottom of lakes - where streams come in, more
oxygen where the stream comes in - breathe through skin (dormancy)
- Spend winter in dormancy at bottom of lake
- One exception - painted turtles - freeze tolerant as hatchlings (ice btw cells) - only
hatchlings
- Endotherms cannot freeze but some become ​dormant - e.g. racoons -​ undergo periods
of lethargy (become active during warm days in winter)
- Porcupine become lethargic as well - become active on warmer days
- Chipmunks - wake up every few days, low HR and temp but awaken every few days -
TORPOR
- Bats - higher HR and body temp decreased - very easily aroused (awoken) - light
hibernation
- Hibernation (0 HR and very low body temp) vs dormancy
- Black bears - low heart rate, very high temp - easily aroused (depend on fat to keep
warm, feeding on fat rich foods to prepare for winter - e.g. beech nuts)
- The tappen is a rectal plug that keeps them from fouling the winter den
- Not true hibernators
- Groundhogs = true hibernators - largest true hibernators - HR drops below 8
beats/minute - curl into a ball (i.e. bowling balls) - don’t wake up readily
- Humping mice are also true/deep hibernators - HR drops, body temp drops
- Subzero temperatures = 2nd problem for winter-active animals
- 2nd challenge = mobility

Mobility
- Physical adaptations for subzero temperatures:
- E.g. moose = very long legs for walking through high snow - legs are 2m high at
shoulder
- Special movement with shoulder movement and ability to move legs
- Snowshoe hares - large feet = large surface area (i.e. snow shoes) - hind feet appear in
front of front feet - based on how they jump
- Moose have big feet as well - large surface area (depend more on long legs)
- Birds - snow shoes (ruffed grouse) - grow little scales out, only there in the winter
(adapted for walking on snow) - wear down and replaced each year - “natural
snowshoes”

16
 - Behavioural adaptations for mobility:
- Squirrels: small animals travel through subnivean space, whitetail deer make own
pathway and walk single file, use same paths
- Wolves also have large feet - breaking a trail as well, similar to deer
- E.g. river otter, small legs - swimmers - but travel over land, how? - long narrow body
and - use their body’s as sleds to slide across the snow (called tobogganing)
- Mink can also use their bodies as toboggans
- But many leave for the winter and do not face the winter challenges
Migration:
- Escaping the sub-zero temperatures by leaving area for the winter (i.e. heading down
south)
- Not a one way route - also a return trip
- Lose food source in the winter - have to leave to get food source
- E.g. sandpipers - invertebrates and worms - probes in the mud, locked in ice during the
winter

[9] BIOL 1902 V: Thursday 2nd February 2017 : Lecture #9: Environmental Stressors -
Migration Cont.
- Monarchs migrate (not just birds) - head down to mexico
- Dragonflies migrate - common green darner (fake eye structure)
- Some bats also migrate (e.g. red bats)
- The majority of birds migrate - during the cold weather (e.g. scarlet tanager - brazil)
- Arctic tern - migrate 20,000km
- Red knots - travel even further (27,000km)
- Migration driven by food - winter does not produce food source >>> must move
- Semipalmated sandpipers - double body weight in 10 days - based on fat enriched foods
- Hyperphagia - put on fat, before migration
- Songbirds migrate only at night - less predation, less wind, air is cooler at night - cool off
flight muscles (calmer, cooler, safer)
- Some birds also only fly at daytime - e.g. bluejays - why? More economically, reduce
less energy - e.g. eagles and hawks (special type of movement - s ​ oaring​ (no flapping,
less energy)
- Use lift to get them up - soar up via t​ hermals​ of air - e.g. rise on thermals, then glide
down to the next thermal and then soap up on it ] t​ hermal hopping ​(thermal to thermal)
- Using natural air currents to move
- Slotted wing feathers are used for extra lift - swallows migrate in the daytime
- Hummingbirds also migrate in the daytime - “eat on the fly”
- Sandpipers migrate day and by night - double body weight for prolonged flight
- SONGBIRDS = NIGHT
- Navigation:
- Daytime migrants use the sun, landforms, and other VISUAL cues

17
- Nighttime migrants use the moon, constellation (i.e. north star) - what about cloud cover?
built in compass - ​earth’s magnetic field (both daytime and nighttime migrants use)
- Rhodopsin is a retinal photopigment - reacts with light, maybe key to navigation
(magnetic field)
- V formation - e.g. canada geese - air vortexes - free lift going on; birds behind (20% free
lift) - CONSERVE ENERGY
- Banding - first major way identify where birds are going - reveals migration secrets
- Songbirds are caught in very fine nets - m​ ist nets
- Geolocators​ - little microchips placed in the bird; send info to satellites (track birds at
different times of day; latitudes and longitudes) - EVEN better techniques - light/dark
ratios
- Motus​ - radio antennas - give location (can track the birds, transmitters = nano tags -
glued to back of birds)
- Migration is a very complex adaptation
- Problems: many of the bids do not come back (die - e.g. hit windows)
- Habitat loss is also a problem
- Only half the birds that migrate return
- Plants also face sub zero temp problems:
- Ice inside the plant cells kills them
- Many of the plants go dormant in the soil under the snow
- Cold hardy - can survive cold temperatures
- Lose excess water - dry out before cold comes in, membrane becomes more fluid for
cold temperatures
- More solute concentration inside the cell - as water leaves the cell, adds protein to it -
lowers the freezing temp.
- Protective proteins inside
- Ice forms btw the cells but not inside the cell - membrane not being penetrated (e.g. very
flexible - add special proteins)
- Take water out, more solutes inside the cell, membrane more flexible
- No antifreeze
- Cold hardiness is analogous to freeze tolerant
- Accumulation: 1st stage = change in photoperiod (more darkness in winter)​ -
phytochromes = light -sensitive pigments - cause cells to go dormant, make plant for
responsive to lower temperatures
- 2nd stage: triggered by the cold (not-sub zero)
- Some trees are cold hardy to -80
- Coniferous trees keep needles = problem for plants; enable chlorophyll to use sun's
energy to create heat, not photosynthesize - HEAT, not biosynthesis
- Skunk cabbage - create own heat (i.e. furnace)
- In northern areas plants MUST be cold hardy
- Desiccation is another problem - more drying out - how to avoid? - conifers have small
surface area (leaves - needles) - there are also pores (stomata) - close to keep water
inside, thick cuticles

18
 - Some plants have hairs on undersides - conserve water
- Some leaves curl up on plants, reduce SA - keep water
- Deciduous tree have large leaves (large SA) - drop their leaves in the winter - avoid
desiccation
- The fall colours - lose chlorophyll in the fall reveal colour - extract nutrients before leaves
fall
- Leaf loss also prevents the weight of snow - can be damaging
- Shape of coniferous tree = sheds snow (north coniferous trees) - spire shaped trees
- SPIRE - great for shedding snow - FIR
- SPINDLY - also a great shape - SPRUCE
- Too much heat is also a problem - desiccation
- Leaves can be curled on hot days
- Animals seek shady sites, go in the water etc​.
- Heat can be shunted to body where there is a bigger surface area
- Dragonflies can also reduce their surface area - change posture - can cast shade on
body
- Obelisk posture
- Tiger beetles live in hot places - walk on sand; raise their hips, above sand - further
away from sand = less hot - ​STILTING​ (beetles, elevate bodies above ground)
- Shunt heat - away from extremities to area with larger area
- The rete mirabile is bypassed and more blood shunted to the extremities - opposite in
the cold temp
- Pump more blood, bypass the net - more body heat is bypassed - lose heat to the water
- Honeybees are social insect - work together to cool the hive; work cooperatively to cool
hive - sue their wings to create air current (cool)
- Many animals pant - lose body heat - evaporating water cools down the body -
EVAPORATIVE COOLING
- Birds don’t sweat, can also pant
- Bees also use evaporative cooling
- Turkey cultures also use evaporative cooling - defecate on legs to cool down -
evaporates and cool down
- Doves - rise internal body temp to 45 degrees - heat is lost to the environment b/c
gradient is less on outside, heat is lost - HYPERTHERMIA
CHALLENGE #3

[10] BIOL 1902 V: Tuesday February 7th 2017 : Lecture #10: Challenge #3: Nutition
- Nutrition
- Plants have advantage - they make their own food (need the raw ingredients from
environment)
- Animals need to find own food as they cannot make it - 2 solutions: 1) eat plants, 2) eat
other animals
- Eating plants = herbivory; herbivores

19
- Some animals eat the leaves, some eat the fruits of plants, some eat the seeds - many
of the parts of plant ARE food
- Nectar is also food for some
- Some animals eat dead material - scavenger - d ​ ead plant materials: tritovore
- There are many strategies for animals to eat plants - e.g. moving water; food delivered to
them (e.g. clams; filter feeders - organic material filtered out of water)
- Some animals - e.g. blackflies - babies in the water; dangle in the current - filter feed,
extract food from moving water - open mouth, water flows through
- Some ducks are also filter feeders - dabblers or puddle ducks - put heads in the water
and grab mouthful of material from bottom; come up and they have large filters on the
side of the mouth which filter out the organic material used by the duck/swan (​lamellae =
filter)
- E.g. Northern shoveler (massive bill for filtering)
- Tongues also used to filter food - lots of bristles - very unusual tongue (helps filter feed)
- All plant foods require feeding adaptations:
- Some animals feed on liquid parts of plants - nectar requires a l​ ong proboscis (i.e.
tongue - e.g. moths, butterflies)
- Long proboscis used to suck up nectar - feeding apparatus
- Hummingbird also have a long, thin beak/bill to get nectar from flowers
- Hummingbirds also gave interesting tongues - long tongues, can be extended (it can
form a little cup to collect nectar, little canals - can extend tongues by the HYOID
horns/hyoid apparatus)
- Other birds have extendable tongues - e.g. woodpeckers
- Extendible tongue due to hyoid process -​ can start from the skull and can extend very
long to access nectar deep in plant
- Stylets​ - used to penetrate plant to access sap (little narrow injection apparatus) - e.g.
aphids are sucking bugs that feed on sap
- There are some animals that eat the plant tissues
- E.g. moose eating balsam fir
- Problems: ​digestion - tough structural components
- Ingestion is the first part - how to get plant tissue inside body:
- E.g. slugs and snails break off plant tissues with​ a radula ​- analogy: chainsaw,
converyorbelt
- Caterpillars have modified mandibles - devour plants - bite off chunks of leaves
- Some caterpillars eat leaves from the INSIDE - eating inside out, devouring the
chlorophylls - e.g. leaf blotch miner - eat btw the membranes (blotched on the leaf)
- Mammals use modified teeth:
- Incisors - never stop growing b/c the teeth are worn down by eating plant material - e.g.
rodents
- Moose have only lower incisors so they can rip off plant tissues - no teeth on upper part -
why? Hard plate on top, they don’t bite off plant material, they rip it off - l​ arge cheek
teeth​ as well to grind up food

20
- Lots of energy required - lots of muscles; large muscle attachments - cheek teeth grind
the food are powered by masseters - grind up into smaller components
- Purpose: break up plant material so digestion can occur - different apparatus’ but similar
functions for all of them - different structures, same function = ​ANALOGOUS
STRUCTURES
- Some birds = plant tissues as well - grouse eat lots of plant material (e.g. spruce
needles)
- Ruffed grouse have no teeth - eating buds, use bill to nip off buds
- Gizzard ​- muscular structure used by birds to break down plant material (no teeth, need
this structure) - analogous to other structures above - very powerful
- 2nd part: DIGESTION
- Breaking down food internally
- Most herbivores do not have enzymes - slugs and snails can however produce digestive
enzymes
- Caterpillars = no enzymes; lots of waste produced - consume a lot (eat about 10x
bodyweight) - therefore wastes a lot
- Larger mammals have bacteria in the gut - break down into smaller components
- Food is processed twice - symbiotic relationship btw bacteria and moose - moose = food
processed and bacteria have safe environment to survive
- Rumination - chew cud - after its been processed once
- Caecum (caeca) - in intestines; bacteria in here - process food - e.g. rodents, hares - eat
their droppings (eat twice)
- Animal who eats its droppings- c ​ oprophagy
- E.g. goose - have caeca filled with bacteria
- E.g. porcupines don’t eat their droppings - they have a very long digestive tract
- Many animals eat fruit but do not eat fruit only, not main source of food - generalized
- There are a few types of birds whose ONLY source of food is fruit - specific (e..g
waxwings)
- Waxwings have very large mouth to swallow food whole - LARGE GAPE
- Large gaps for fast external processing, short intestines for fast internal processing
- Small gizzard also had
- Animals that eat fruit and pass out the seeds are .... s​ eed dispersers​ (do the seeds a
favour by dispersing the seed so they can grow elsewhere)
- Many animals do not release seeds - spit out soft parts (e.g. chickadees) - ​seed
predators
- American goldfinches - pulls off thistles and eats the seed
- Grosbeak - can opener to break down seeds
- Specialized seed eaters
- E.g. ​crossbill​ -eat specific seeds, specific beak structure to eat specific seeds - open
cones to eat seeds underneath scales of coniferous trees
- Red squirrels bite off cone scales to access seeds on the inside
- E.g. mallards eating acorns - how can they digest? Use gizzard to break down
- Chickadees - crack open seed coats to access seeds

21
22
Plants become cold hardy through ACCLIMATION.

- A two-staged period:
o The first stage is triggered by a change in the photoperiod.
ß Pytochromes are light-sensitive photopigments
o Second stage is triggered by colder temperatures (0-10ºc).
ß Some trees are cold hardy to -80ºC!
ß Ice forms in between the cells (not inside them)
- Keeping needles (and leaves) on trees creates new problems.
o Solution: XANTHOPHYLL pigments
ß Protects the internal integrity of the cells
- Skunk cabbage produces its own heat (as if it’s its own thermostat)
- Next problem: Desiccation (drying up)
o Worse on a sunny, calm day during the winter.
o Conifers retain their leaves so size and shape is very important.
ß Their leaves’ surface area is small
ß Closed stomata (water is retained)
ß Thicker cuticles (waxy covering)
o Hairy underside of leaves
ß Heath plants have hairy undersides to their leaves. It helps them trap moisture,
and to improve circulation.
o Ferns curl up to reduce surface area.
o Deciduous trees have large leaves with a large surface area.
ß They drop their leaves to prevent them from freezing.
∑ The colours they turn (yellow, brown, red, etc.) are mostly already
inside the leaves, hidden by the green chlorophyll, until the tree pulls
out the nutrients.
∑ Red colouration in the leaves is not already in the leaves. This pigment is
produced in the tree to help extend the leaf’s lifetime, and thus the
time that the tree has to pull out the nutrients (Red Maples, for
example).
o Red Maples have two separate genders. The male trees turn red,
and the female trees turn yellow.
∑ Red is not present – Leaves produce anthocyanins.
ß Leaf loss solves a second problem associated with sub-zero temperatures.
∑ Less leaves = less surface area on tree = less area for snow to grab onto
= less weight on the tree’s branches.
ß Conifers retain their leaves so shape is important.
∑ A Balsam Fir’s (like spruce tree) shape helps reduce the amount of
snow that stays on the tree.
o They have a SPIRE shape.
∑ Black Spruce are SPINDLY. [find picture]
 o But no solution is perfect. (ie. Humans and Christmas trees)
- Not only cold is a danger to trees.
o Extreme heat can be dangerous to a tree.
o In extreme heat, plants reduce leaf surface area by curling their leaves.
o ABSCISIC acid (ABA) induces dormancy in plants. Used in times of drought, etc.

- On hot days, many animals seek shady sites. Others go were it’s cool,
o Dragonflies reduce their surface area facing the sun by assuming a position called
OBELISK.
ß They use their tails as an umbrella, shading their important parts from the heat.
o Tiger Beetles move their bodies away from the sun by STILTING. They essentially raise
their bodies by making their legs extend as if they are stilts, elevating them away from
the hot sand that they usually live on.
o Heat can be “shunted” to body parts with greater surface area, such as the abdomen to
lose heat, by pushing their blood to their extremities.
ß The Rete Mirabile (in ducks) can be bypassed and more blood can be shunted to
the extremities
o Honeybees are social insects that work together to air cool their hive.
ß They have a group by the hive entrance, and one by the hive exit.
∑ They essentially create a fan to force airflow through their hive.
ß PANTING is a form of evaporative cooling
∑ The tongue and mouth lining is full of warm blood, and the forced
breathing helps draw heat away from them.
∑ Mammals pant
∑ Birds also pant, allowing more air to pass over the respiratory surfaces.
ß An Owl’s throat starts vibrating, called Gulor Fluttering.
ß Bees also have evaporative cooling. They will wipe water (derived from nectar)
to cool themselves off, by putting it on their bodies)
ß Vultures have a very unusual way of cooling off through EVAPORATIVE COOLING
by peeing on their legs.
ß Mourning Doves employ the dangerous strategy of hyperthermia (NOT
hypothermia).
∑ They raise their internal temperature to 45ºC (+1ºC, and they would die)
to reduce the temperature gradient.
CHALLENGE # 3 – NUTRIENTS
GETTING WHAT YOU NEED TO STAY ALIVE

Plants make their own food.

- They are AUTOTROPHIC (making their own food).

o They need raw ingredients to do this.

Animals cannot make their own food

- Some eat plants

- Some eat other animals

- EATING PLANTS:
o HERBIVORY
ß Most herbivores are small. Moose are an example
o They can be eaten by their tissues (i.e. leaves), by their seeds, their sap
ß Every part of a plant is preyed on by animals and eaten
o Maple Spindle Gall Mites eat plants from the insides
o DETRITOVORE
ß Some animals eat dead plant material
ß Millipedes eat dead plant matter.
o Some animals have their food delivered to them.
ß Black Flies larvae filter feed with labaral brushes.
o Other larger animals also filter feed.
ß Puddle Ducks and Dabblers filter feed with the LAMMELLAE structure in their
bills (beak).
ß The whole tongue on a Northern Shoveler (Puddle Duck) are full of tiny filters
along their whole length.
o All plant foods require adaptations, both internally and externally.
ß To eat the nectar of a plant, it requires a long proboscis (tongue). Some animals
can retract or roll up their proboscis.
ß Hummingbirds have a long beak, AND an extensible tongue.
∑ The HYOID PROCESS is a part that wraps the tongue around the skull,
and can extend it out.
Freshwater Sponges are found in Dow’s lake and are animals that filter feed.

- Bugs have probing mouthparts called STYLETS

o They help the animal feed on sap
o Some Aphids are sucking bugs (sucking on plants to get the sap)
- Plant tissues are another major source of food
- BUT plant tissues are hard to eat because of tough structural components.
o Challenge 1: Dealing with the plant tissues outside of the body: INGESTING
ß Slugs and snails break off plant tissues with a RADULA, which is a very tiny
“chainsaw-like” part of the mouth that helps cut up plant parts
ß Caterpillars have modified MANDIBLES. They are like little garden cutters.
ß Some caterpillars actually eat leaves from the inside!
∑ Leaf Blotch Miners
ß Mammals use modified teeth. They use their incisors.
∑ Their teeth never stop growing, and they self-sharpen.
∑ The outer layers of the teeth have enamel, and it gets its orange colour
from the high level of iron on it.
∑ Cheek teeth grind the food and are powered by large masseters.
∑ Most animals have upper and lower sets of incisors. Moose and Deer
only have a lower set of incisors. They grab the food and rip them off of
their source (i.e. trees).-
ß Mandibles, radula, and check teeth all perform the same function, but arise
from different origins
∑ ANALOGOUS STRUCTURES (different structures, but are different types.
(i.e. car and bicycle – they get you to the same place but are different
machines)).
ß Ruffed Grouse eat a lot of buds. Spruce Grouse eat conifer needles off of Spruce
trees.
∑ But birds have no teeth! How do they chew up their food?
o Analagous to teeth, etc. is the GIZZARD in the bird’s stomach.
The gizzard’s lining tear apart the food in the bird’s stomach.
o Birds swallow stones sometimes to help them grind up some
food.
o Challenge 2: The process of breaking down the food: Digestion
ß They use DIGESTIVE ENZYMES to break down the food, but not all animals can
produce these enzymes themselves.
∑ Slugs and snails make their own enzymes.
∑ Caterpillars don’t make their own enzymes, however.
o They therefore waste a lot of the food that they eat, and thus
end up eating 10x their body weight per day.
∑ Moose don’t have the enzymes either.
 o They get help from bacteria living in their rumen, spit it back up
as “cud” and chew it again, and re-swallow it only to let the
bacteria break it down even further.
∑ Rabbits, hares and beavers have intestinal pouches called CAECA.
o They don’t spit the food back up, but they dispose of them, and
eat those pellets (poop) the first pass through.
o Coprophagy is eating one’s own droppings.
∑ Birds have caeca as well.
∑ Porcupines don’t eat their own droppings. Their digestive tract is about
26% of their total body weight. This gives them more of a chance to
properly digest their food.
ß Fruit is another major source of food for birds and mammals.
∑ They eat the pulp or the flesh and pass out the seeds. This makes them
seed dispersers.
∑ Most fruit-eating birds are not obligate fruit eaters. They eat it when it’s
available, but are not dedicated fruit-eaters.
∑ Waxwings are as close as they come to dedicated fruit-eaters.
o Birds swallow fruit whole, which allows them to eat more
berries than if they had to chew them properly.
ß They have large gapes (mouth openings) and small
intestines. It takes them an average of 20 minutes to
process one piece of food.
o Seed eaters (Seed Predators) destroy the seeds in their bills
(beaks).
ß Finches eat seeds. (i.e. Evening Grosbeak)
ß Bill size and shape reflects diet.
ß Red Crossbills pry open the cones of coniferous trees
(Pinecones, spruce cones, etc.) with their bills (that open
sideways) and use their tongue to pull out the seeds.
ß Grit (stones) aids in the breakdown of seeds in the
gizzard.
ß Blue Jays have another way of opening nuts. They
hammer the nut shells

NOTE: Plants are hard to eat, and if an animal eats plants, they have to eat a lot of them.
 - Plants also have chemical defences to overcome
o Some herbivores sequester the toxins
ß Too many toxins, even in a milkweed plant for a Monarch Caterpillar, will cause
it harm.
∑ Sometimes the saliva of the insects can neutralize the toxins
∑ Some insects employ a VEIN DRAIN strategy to cut off the flow of toxins
in the plant’s leaves (cutting the veins (phloem)).
o Some use enzymes to counter the toxins
ß MFO’s (Mixed Function Oxidases) are types of enzymes that animals produce
that help neutralize the toxins once the animal ingests them.
- Some herbivores are specialists, eating only one or two kinds of food.
o Red-headed Pine Sawflies eat pine needles (not spruce needles, etc.)
- Others are generalists
o Beavers eat a large variety of foods
- Some animals switch foods for a more balanced diet
o Moose for example:
ß Fresh leaves and twigs (high carbohydrates, protein, low sodium) during the
summer
ß Balsam Fir (very low sodium) during the winter
ß During the summer, to regain sodium, moose will eat aquatic plants (high
sodium).
∑ Water-shield = 500x more Na (sodium) than land plants
ß Moose’s sodium is stored in the rumen.
∑ *The bacteria in the rumen break down the plant materials that the
Moose ingests. The bacteria get a safe place to live, and get a good
amount of food in return.
ß Moose eat roadside mud during the spring to get the road salt out from the
ditches.

EATING OTHER ANIMALS

- Advantages:
o All of the proteins are pre-packaged by the prey animal
o Animal tissues are easier to break down than plant tissues
- Disadvantages:
o Can be hard to find
o Hard to catch
o They can fight back
- It’s called PREDATION (predators)
- Some animals eat the animal from the inside while it’s still alive.
- Some animals eat the animal from the outside without killing it
- Some animals eat dead animals
 o SCAVENGING
o Before a meal is enjoyed, a predator must first locate the animal
o Then the predator must capture the animal
o Then the predator must immobilize the animal
- Of course, there is never just one way of solving these challenges.

- KEEN EYESIGHT
o Hawks have a large number of cones in their eyes
ß Cones are used for colours, and sharp vision
ß They have big eyes. More light is let in, and more light for the cones to receive.
ß The position of the eyes have a large part in depth perception (frontal
placement on the heads)
o Hunting at night requires:
ß Big eyes = more light
ß Owls have rods, instead of cones
ß Rods are more sensitive to low-light conditions
ß The rods in owls are Glycogen Rich, which gives them an even better sensitivity
to light
ß Frontal eye placement causes large blind spots behind and to the side of the
animals
∑ Owls can turn their necks 270º around to compensate for their blind
spots (most owls, at least)
∑ Crepuscular means more active in low-light conditions
o A Hawk and an Eagle’s eye magnifies their vision by 200-300% due to the size of their
eyes
o Other hunters have large eyes too!
ß Frogs, etc.
∑ Tiger Beetles hunt visually and have compound eyes (many eyes that
make one BIG picture)
∑ Ground Beetles are their Nocturnal counterparts
∑ Dragonflies can have up to 28,000 OMMATIDIA (eyes) each with 6 or 7
sensory cells! They make one big picture
∑ Whirligig Beetles can see above and below the water at the same time.
o They have highly specialized eyes
o Spiders have 8 eyes, but they are SIMPLE eyes (not compound).
ß Jumping Spiders have exceptional eyesight (they are visual hunters)
∑ The Anterior Median Eye are the two big eyes on the front
o They can MOVE the retina on these eyes to change their field of
view
∑ All of these eyes give them a 360º view of the world.
 ß Crab Spiders are also visual hunters
∑ They are camouflaged, cryptic hunters that hide in flowers, waiting for
prey.
∑ Goldenrod Crab Spiders can change from yellow to white to match their
backgrounds (like the Grey Tree Frogs)
- HEARING is also important
o Eastern Wolves have big ears, and so do Foxes
o Owls do not have big ears, although they do hunt by ears
ß Owls hear with their faces (no, seriously).
∑ They faces are in the shape of a Dish.
∑ Owls have rings around their faces called FACIAL DISKS to capture the
sound (thick feathers to direct the sound towards their ears).
∑ One of their ears is higher than the other. They are also shaped
differently.
o Asymmetrical ear openings and wide heads allow the
pinpointing of sound for the owls
ß This is to allow them to hear the sound in one ear at a
slightly different time than the other.
ß This allows for a vertical and horizontal offsetting of
their hearing, creating something of a CROSSHAIR so
the owl can pinpoint sounds
o Bats also locate prey by hearing.
ß Bats use echo-location to find their prey (ultrasound).
∑ They use a search phase
o Locating something of interest (longer, more periodic clicks)
∑ Approach phase
o Locating a prey (more fine)
∑ Feeding buzz
o As they are approaching their prey, they put out very short and
fast pulses to get a quick-refreshing radar type of search
o Shrews use ultrasound as well.
- SQUEAKING/SQUEALING is to draw in predators by simulating an injured animal
- SENSE OF SMELL
o Longer snout gives a more precise olfactory sense (sense of smell)
o The verononasal organ (aka. Jacobson’s organ)
o They have a position to enhance their sense of smell called Flemen
o Most animals (Foxes, etc.) will hunt at dusk.
ß The scent trails that prey leave as they move around. At dusk, the cold air helps
hold down these scents in a more concentrated form on the ground, making it
easier to follow scents
o Snakes use the Jacobson’s Organ for finer discrimination of odours
ß They use their tongues to “taste” the air.
- Animals use touch to locate prey
o Raccoons use tactile paws to locate prey (tactile cells = touch cells)
o Otters have tactile sensors located around the mouth
ß They have Vibrissae (whiskers) to with sensory cells at the base of the follicles
o Foxes have vibrissae as well
o Eastern Whip-poor-wills have sensory feathers called bristle feathers
ß They are RICTAL bristles (beaks)
o Their vibrissae help them locate prey
o Star-nosed Moles have lots (25,000) of Imar’s Organs on their snout, which are a bunch
of sensory nose-parts that they have on their nose
o Sandpipers have pressure sensitive cells called herbst corpuscles in the tip of their bills
ß So do ducks on the nail (tip) of their bills
o Woodpeckers have extensible tongues, which have herbst corpuscles on the tip of their
tongues
o Rattlesnakes have infrared heat sensors can detect up to a 0.001ºC change, located
between the eye and the nostril, known as the heat pit.
- How are these tools used?
o Active searching
ß Wolves, foxes, wolf spiders, Tiger beetles, etc. run around trying to find food
o Remaining cryptic (ambush hunting)
ß Praying Mantids, many Owls, Crab spiders, etc. wait for the prey to come to
them
o Trapping animals
ß Spiders
∑ Most Spiders make webs called Flight Intercept traps, which are
designed to trap animals flying by
∑ Orb weaver spiders make spectacular webs
∑ Funnel Weavers build webs on the ground that look like “floormats”
∑ Sheet web weavers make a web with a bowl on the bottom, and some
messy strands coming up
o They have knockdown strands, which is designed as a flight
interceptor
o The capture sheet is used to get the animal stuck
∑ Webs are most visible at dawn, because the dew lands on them
o The dew makes the webs more flexible, so they’re not as brittle
and won’t break as easily
ß Webs are HYGROSCOPIC
o Spider webs have higher tensile strength than steel
∑ Facts:
o Spider webs can contain 6 or more types of silk
o Spiders recycle silk from broken webs (eat the silk)
 o To build a complex orb web takes about 20 minutes on average
∑ Some webs aren’t invisible. The Argiope Spider (garden spider) hides in
the middle of the web, which contains a very visible zigzag pattern
o The zigzag structure is called the Stabilimentum, which reflects
ultraviolet light, which attracts insects.
o The Argiope Spider also has ultraviolet patterns on them
ß Moles make pitfall traps
∑ So do Ant-lion larvae
ß Some fireflies deceive and eat other species of Fireflies, which is known as
Aggressive Mimicry
∑ Aggressive Mimicry is using your body to deceive an animal
o Angler Fish have a fish-like structure on their antennae, which is
above their mouth
o Hawks and Owls have talons
ß Osprey have special feet for catching fish
ß Their feet have rough skin patches called Pappilae
ß They have a reversible toe to help them catch the slippery fish
∑ Owls have opposable toes as well
o The African Fisher Owl uses it to catch fish
o Most other owls use the opposable toe to capture their prey
under low-light conditions
ß Spiders use their legs
∑ So do Mantids
∑ These legs are called Raptorial Legs, which are legs used for capturing
prey
ß Foxes use their mouths
∑ So do Tiger Beetles, with their mandibles
∑ Merganser Bills are modified for catching fish, as they have almost
tooth-like projections on the tips
ß Frogs use their tongues to capture prey
∑ As the tongue is shot out, it unrolls.
o Their tongue’s underside is sticky with saliva
∑ This motion is called a tongue flick
∑ Woodpeckers have a hyoid process, which extends the tongue,
wrapping around the head when it’s retracted
- Once the prey are captured, they must be killed
o Teeth can be used
ß Foxes and Coyotes grab the prey by the back of their neck, and shake them to
break their neck
ß Wolves slash their prey until it starts bleeding and getting weak, and goes into
shock, as they tend to go for larger animals
ß Carnivores use their canine teeth, and tend to have strong temporalis muscles,
and smaller masseters to grind up the meat
∑ Herbivores have the opposite
ß Weasels bite into the cranium of their prey
ß Cats bite into the neck vertebrae, to break the neck.
ß Bird Hawks use their Talons to kill, trying to puncture vital organs
ß Most snakes swallow their prey alive
∑ Black Rat Snakes and Milk Snakes are constrictors, killing their prey
before they swallow them
∑ Massasagua Rattlesnakes use poison to kill their prey
o Their venom also includes enzymes, which start to digest their
prey before they even swallow the animal
o
Poison:

- Massasagua Rattlesnake has digestive enzymes.

o They inject these into their prey to predigest them before eating them.

Poison Mammals:

- Short-tailed Shrew are one of very few poisonous mammals.

o They have a sort of hemotoxic to break down red blood cells.

After capturing:

- Once a prey is captured and killed, there are certain indigestible parts
- Selective Feeding
o They only actually ingest the parts they can eat. (i.e. eating around bones, etc.)
- Fishers skin Porcupines, eating everything but the hide and the quills.
o Bears also do this
- Some animals do pass indigestible bits through their bodies (small bone fragments, hair, etc.)
- Owls swallow their prey whole.
o Their gizzard separates the bones, flesh, and hair from the meat. The meat is liquefied
and is passed down to the intestines, while the other parts are regurgitated about 12
hours later as a pellet (hair ball with bones, etc.).

Being a predator can be hard too!

- Prey can fight back!

o Some wolves can be found dead with broken skulls from deer and moose kicking back.
- Injury caused by accidents while pursuing prey.
o Impaling while chasing prey through bushes, etc.
- BIOACCUMULATION of toxins caused by humans and bacteria
o Over a period of time, animals can become poisoned by toxins accumulating in their
systems.
o BOTULISM is caused by bacteria in prey.
ß The number of bacteria increase in warmer waters
- The Parabin Falcon eats small Songbirds, who ate insects who were infected by DDT, a toxin in
insect repellents, and were nearly wiped out to extinction.
- Some humans kill predatory animals due to prejudice
o Human persecution
- The #1 problem facing predators such as the Eastern Wolf is Starvation.
o For most animals, the success rate of capturing their prey is about 10%
- Predators play important roles.
o They actually fine-tune the prey by means of natural selection.
ß For example if a Deer is bred to run towards a wolf, they will die and not pass on
those genes.
- Other animals eat their prey from the inside
o The host can be either killed or left alive in the process.
ß Those that don’t kill the host, but live off of it are called parasites
ß Those that DO kill the host are called parasitoids
∑ Braconid Wasps are parisitoids only in the larval stage.
∑ Tachinid Flies are also parisitoids as larvae.
o They lay their eggs on the host
ß Some inject them into the host.
ß Some lay the eggs on the leaves that the host eats.
ß Some parasitoids paralyze prey and burrow them in the
ground WITH the eggs. (i.e. Thread-waisted Wasp)
∑ Spider Wasps and Digger Wasps (Cerceris) do
this too
∑ Some parisitoids do visual searching
o A flesh fly is also a parisitoid
o Parisitoids also inject DNA viruses into the host, which changes
the way the host behaves (defences, behaviour, etc.)
∑ The eggs are laid through the Ovipositor.
∑ Ichneumon ovipositors are very long to drill (actually BURNS the
cellulose in the wood via chemicals) into trees to get at the grubs of
beetles in the trees.
o The Horntail grubs in the trees are placed there by the adults
with a fungus to feed on. These Ichneumons can smell this
fungus, and use this to locate the grubs.
o When the larvae hatch, they generally eat the host.
∑ Pelecinid Wasps lay eggs on June beetle grubs in the ground
∑ There are flies that are parisitoids to Turtle Eggs!
o Leeches are ECTOPARASITES
ß They are on the outside of the host
- Black Flies are not ectoparasites.
o They filter-feed as larvae. They do not live on or in the body.
ß They suck blood only for their young.
- Ticks are ectoparasites. Their only source of food is blood.
- Moose Ticks are specific to Moose
- Most ticks are general eaters, and will feed on almost any animal
o In large numbers, Ticks can irritate Moose enough that they begin pulling out their hairs.
ß In colder weather, the lack of insulation on a Moose can lead to hypothermia
o If the host animal of a parasite dies, then the parasite dies as well.
- Some Mites are ectoparasites
o On Dragonflies, the mites attach to the nymph stage as it crawls out of the water.
- Many migratory birds harbour ectoparasitic flies
o Flat Flies are one group
ß They are flat enough to crawl around through the bird’s feathers
- Larval Clams (Glochidium) are ectoparasites to the gills of fish
o The adult Clams are not ectoparasites
ß Adult Clams Mantles are a type of fish-imitating piece of flesh that tricks a fish
to come to it
∑ The clam squirts out thousands of Glochidia into the water, which the
fish breathes
- A Tick’s mouthpart is like a barb that attaches into the skin of the host
- Some hosts fight back to get rid of parasites!
o They groom and preen
ß Great Blue Heron has a special grooming claw called with Pectinate (saw-like
edges)
ß Beavers have one too! They have a split-toenail with a sharp edge.

- Endoparasites live inside the host

o Some are parasitic throughout their lives
ß Deer have a parasitic Brainworm.
ß Deer droppings contain the larvae
ß Snails eat the droppings
∑ The parasite burrows into the snail and lives inside of it, changing its
way to live, making it eat during the daytime on leaves within reach of
deer, instead of their normally nocturnal lifestyle
ß The deer eats the snail, and the parasite burrows out of the digestive system,
moves up the spine, and to the brain.
∑ It does not harm the Deer, eating the sinus tissue
ß The DEFINITIVE HOST is the Deer
ß The INTERMEDIATE HOST is the Snail
 ∑ If a Moose eats an infected intermediate host, they eat the spinal tissue
and brain tissue, killing the host!
o An infected Moose staggers and walk into trees (“Blind
Staggers”)
o Some are only during the larval stage
ß The Cuterebra (Robust Bot Fly) is only parasitic in the larval stage.
∑ The eggs are dormant, and are laid on the ground. As the future-host
animal passes by it on the ground, the egg explodes and the larval
Cuterebra attaches onto the host.
∑ They find a hole in the animal (mouth, rectum, etc.) and lives inside,
feeding on the flesh of the animal.
o They do not kill the animal! (remember the picture of the
mouse with the fly larvae in it)
o Robins have a parasite called FLUKE
ß They are the Definitive host.
∑ The Aquatic Snail is the Intermediate host
o The parasite lives in the snail, through droppings of birds over
water, and moves up to the snail’s antenna, which swells and
changes it to a bright colour, and makes the snail migrate closer
to the surface of the water, and attracts birds. The cycle repeats.
o Endoparasites will also die if the host animal dies.

ANOTHER WAY ANIMALS GET MEALS:

- Eating something that is already dead

- SCAVENGING!
o Done by Scavengers.
- Most scavengers do not depend only on dead animals (i.e. Wolves, Foxes, etc.)
o Most scavengers eat live animals too
o Eagles are also part-time scavengers
- Gulls are more than less full-time scavengers
o So are Common Ravens
- Full-time scavengers are obligate
- Part-time scavengers are facultative (?check?)
- Turkey Vultures are 100% obligate scavengers
o They have big, raptorial bills for tearing up flesh
o Naked head for putting their heads in “nasty” places
o They have large wings to soar around, detecting carcases (up to 2km away)
o They also have the ability to digest putrid meat
- Blow Flies lay their eggs on dead animals
- Carrion Beetles (Burring Beetles) burry dead carcases into the ground to lay their eggs on the
animal
- Animals that eat dead animals are Scavengers, also known as Necrophagous (not necrophilia).

- There are always times of food shortages for animals, no matter how they get their food.
o For predictable shortages, there are solutions such as:
ß Going Dormant
ß Migration
o Some sources are not predictable:
ß Seeds
ß Fruit (berries)
ß Small mammals (mice, etc.)
ß Some solutions for these are:
∑ Moving to new food-rich envirronments only when necessary
o This is called IRRUPTIVE events
o The movement is called irruption
o Ex: bohemian Waxwings
∑ Crossbills are irruptive
∑ Great Grey Owls are also irruptive
o Some animals store food
ß Some have an expandable crop
ß
Some animals store food based on when extra is available

- Blue Jays have a crop that they store the food in

- A Chickadees’ have the ability to grow their hippocampus (gives the ability to remember large
amounts of things) larger for the winter!
- Northern Shrike store some food when extra is available.
o They generally IMPALE the extra food on Hawthorns (shrubs)
ß A collection of small animals stored is known as a LARDER
ß Shrikes kill with their bills
o Some owls do the same
- Other animals store food on a regular basis
o Beavers create their own central cache (one location only) of food called a Food Pile
ß Speckled Alder branches are a beaver’s main food source (they eat the bark)
∑ Aspin and poplar trees are one of the beaver’s favourite food source
∑ They put their choice foods at the bottom of the pile
∑ In some studies, beavers choose the roots of aquatic lilies over what’s in
their food pile, and may not even make a food pile because of this
o Gray Squirrels create hundreds of solitary caches underground of nuts
ß This is called a SCATTER HOARD
- Gray Jays do not migrate
o They scatter hoard thousands of items both in the summer and the fall
ß For storing food:
∑ They have enlarged salivary glands that coats the food they swallow
o The saliva is sticky, and they put it under bark
∑ They have an amazing memory
o Hippocampus
∑ They nest early
o They lay their eggs by the end of February
ß The dominant young stays with the parents for the
winter
ß They keep in pairs of 3 for the winter
∑ They are very gentle birds
∑ To keep the food fresh for the winter, they rely on the freezing
- Red Squirrels create larger stashes called MIDDENS
o They make about a dozen or so stashes of pinecones
o They dry the pinecones before storing them
- Chipmunks enter dormancy
o They store nuts underground
o They have expandable check pouches
Are plants different than animals?

- They too have nutritional demands

- They are autotrophic, making their own food via photosynthesis
- For photosynthesis, plants need basic ingredients:
o Water, sunlight, and nutrients: Nitrogen and Phosphorus and calcium
o Bogs are nutrient-poor habitats
ß Heath plants are common
∑ They have fungal partners on their roots called hyphae network called a
cilium to bring in the nutrients
o Mycorrhizae in the roots are called Endomycorrhizae
ß Ericoid mycorrhizae
o Mycorrhizae allow trees to grow in bogs
ß Their mycorrhizae grow around the roots, called the
fungal mantel: Ectomycorrhizae
ß Mycorrhizae bring in nutrients such as Nitrogen and Phosphorus
ß They prevent the uptake of toxic compounds
ß Alders have a different solution for Nitrogen
∑ They have root nodules
o Swellings of the root tissues, which have bacteria in them to
transform (fixing) the nitrogen from the nitrogen in the air to
the organic nitrogen that plants can use
o And then there are plants that are carnivorous
ß Some plants eat animals:
∑ Sundews are “carnivorous”
o Sundew leaves are an adhesive trap (sticky trap)
ß Their leaves are like little hairs.
ß They have capturing hairs
ß They have digestive hairs
∑ Butterworts also have adhesive traps
∑ Pitcher-Plants are also carnivorous
o Their leaves are “pitfall” traps
o They hold rainwater
ß They have downward pointing hairs inside of the “pit”,
which guide the insects downwards to a slippery slide,
into the rainwater, where the plant releases enzymes to
digest the insect
o Their Peristone (part of the pit wall) have nectar from pseudo-
nectaries to attract ants
o A Phytotelma is a life oasis inside the water of a plant
∑ Bladderworts are also carnivorous
o Their underwater leaves are suction traps
o They use modified leaves as traps (all carnivorous plants)
o They have sensitive trip-wires with sacks on them (negative
pressure in them) (utricle)
o The sack opens, water is sucked in along with the organism
ß The bacteria in the water will eat the organism, and
digest the organism for the Bladderwort
o
Plants face another nutritional challenge: Light varies depending on where the plant is located

- A lack of sunlight (shade)

o Plants have big leaves (large surface area) if they don’t get a lot of sunlight
o These leaves are parallel to the sky
ß They lie on the ground to require less support
o Hobblebush have massive leaves
ß They grow on the floor of forests
o Levels of Chlorophyll b (gathers more light) > chlorophyll a
ß Plants growing in sunny areas have 3x more chlorophyll a
ß Shade plants have more chlorophyll b
o Some plants have many more leaves
ß They grow in colonies (one plant, many leaves)
∑ Bunchberries exhibit Clonal growth – leaves that are attached to a
common rhizome
o Some plants grow away from the shade
ß Positive PHOTOTROPISM is when a plant grows towards the light
ß Wild cucumbers grow atop of other plants
∑ Tendrils are thigmotropic (are sensitive to touch)
o They are 10x more sensitive than our finger’s touch
o They grow and latch onto other plants to pull the cucumber up
it
o They are negatively PHOTOTROPIC to grow towards the plant
o Trilliums have another solution to shade problems
ß They grow before most other plants, to avoid getting drowned out in the shade
of other plants
ß They are Spring EPHEMERALS for this reason
∑ Many spring ephemerals grow in deciduous forests
∑ They face the threat of a late frost (winter coming back in spring)
∑ The insects that pollinate the flowers are not present due to the cold.
o Another solution is to not need sunlight!
ß Coralroots only grow in shade
∑ Their roots essentially steal nutrients from the mycorrhizae associated
with other plants
∑ They are mycoheterotrophs
ß Indian Pipe doesn’t need sunlight either
∑ Mycorrhizal associations
∑ Gets its nutrients from living plants
∑ They live like parasites, almost.
ß Some plants do both! They make their own carbon products, AND
photosynthesize!
∑ Known as Mixotrophs
 ß Cancerroots have no leaves or micorrhizae
∑ They don’t make it (no green leaves), and don’t have (no fungal
partners).
∑ They are true parasites
o Their roots form haustoria in the cells of other plants, which
finds bytracking their strigolactones
ß They track the strigolactones of other plants (normally
used by other plants to find fungi) back to their roots
and tap directly into their roots, bypassing the fungi of
other plants
o They are HOLOPARASITES
o Can lay dormant for up to 14 years
∑ Dwarf Mistletoe is a holoparasite, which makes a growth on Spruce
Trees called a Witche’s Broom
- Some habitats have lots of sunlights
o Too much sunlight can be a problem, as well
ß The Lakeside Daisy has small leaf surface area
ß Buttercups have tiny leaves
ß Leaves that are very cut up (dissected) have less surface area
∑ Sand dunes are particularly sunny and hot
ß A lot of leaves in meadows are at a 45º angle to reduce the amount of sunlight
they are in contact with
REPRODUCTION
Asexual vs. Sexual Reproduction

- External Fertilization is when sperm meets egg outside of the body

- Internal Fertilization is when sperm meets egg inside of the body
o Most animals use this method to better guarantee their efforts
o Springtails can leave SPERMATOPHORES (sperm bag-type things) on the ground for
females to pick up
o Most animals use an Intromittent Organ for sperm transfer (likeapenus ツ)
o Male spiders use special mouthparts called pedipalps
o Male snakeshave two penises called hemipenes (only one works at a time)
o During sperm transfer with their penis, dragonflies hold females with their Claspers
(holds the female + stimulates her)
ß The sperm is made in their tails, although their penis is in not there. They
transfer it to the penis before they mate
o A penis is a tool for transferring their sperm closer to their eggs
o When not needed, a penis is usually stored away.
o Birds have a cloacah (common hole for reproduction and body waste)
ß Males and Females press them together
ß Ducks have rudimentary penises, as they are usually in water when they mate
o To find the right mate, many animals advertise
ß American Toads and Frogs use Auditory Advertisements
- Amplexus is the hold that frogs do when mating
- Freshwater Sponge don’t meet each other.
o So do Clams, as they are sessile (slow-moving)
o Clams are hermaphrodites
- Intromittent Organs are the penises for different animals
- Slugs and snails are also hermaphroditic
o They have a “love-dart” that they jab into other
o Apopholation is when a snail or slug’s penis cannot be withdrawn back into themselves,
so they chew it off :S
- Most hermaphroditic animals tend to be slow-moving animals
- A cat’s penis is barbed to increase stimulation
- When a penis is need, it’s usually inflated with liquids (i.e. blood)
- An Os Penis (Baculum) → Penis bone
- How do animals meet these potential mate?
o Not all animals that have a penis are required to meet the female
ß Barnacles have a very long penis that “probes” around on different surfaces that
the barnacle sticks to, and finds a female (they are hermaphroditic)
o Other animals advertise
ß Auditory advertisements
∑ Not all auditory advertisements are vocal
o Woodpeckers drum on wood with their bills
o Ruffed Grouse drum with their wings on a drumming log
o Snipe use tail feathers
ß They Winnow, flying really high and then diving down,
allowing the air current to vibrate their tail feathers
o Crickets and Grasshoppers rub wings and/or legs together
ß This is known as Stridulation
o Band-Winged Grasshoppers crepitate (they snap their wings
open rapidly)
o Cicadas (heat bugs) make sounds with their tymbals
∑ Although some are
o Male Toads have extensible throat sacs that act as a resonating
chamber (they gulp up air) and chord (not with their vocal
chords)
ß Toads have one throat sac, while Leopard Frogs have
two
o Birds also advertise vocally
ß SONG is a product of sexual selection
ß Song can have two functions:
∑ Attracting mates
∑ Defending/declaring Territory
 ß Some birds (Warblers) have two songs: one for each
purpose (the higher accented one is generally for
females)
o Some mammals also use vocalizations to attract mates
ß During the RUT, cow Moose call to attract the bulls
ß They thrash their antlers
∑ Making these Courtship Sounds have risks:
o Predators and parasitoids can hear you
o There are cheaters called Satellite Males, who can exploit the
calling males.
ß As a female approaches, the camping satellite male will
impersonate the caller.
ß Visual Advertisements:
∑ Female choice is a powerful component of sexual selection
o That is the reason why so many male Songbirds are beautiful
colours
o The opposite can be the same, such as in Phalaropes, where the
females court the male.
ß This is called SEXUAL DIMORPHISM
o Phalaropes are polyandrous, meaning they have multiple mates
(female has many male mates)
o Female Mallards have preference for males with the greenest
heads (shows age and health)
o Female House Finches choose the most brightly coloured males
(they get their colour from their diet)
o Atlantic Puffins have ornaments (their bills…badges of maturity)
ß Their bills have groves on them, each taking 2 years to
grow
o Antlers are also ornaments (Moose)
ß Antlers change their size and shape, with age
ß The length of the tines on the antlers (fingers)
ß The size of the palms
ß New antlers have velvet in them, small hairs from the
blood vessels
ß Deformed antlers are not good for attracting females
ß Bulls learn their strength via SPARING
- Bulls use sparring to determine the better male, and how big their antlers are (Stature)
o Size does matter to a female moose
- Like song, antlers are a product of sexual selection
- Submission is a way to avoid injury, as injury can reduce the performance of a moose during
mating, and can also kill the other moose
- Sometimes the animals’ antlers can lock together, and both animals can die
- Male Dobsonflies have large ornaments during mating season
- Many ducks use head displays
- Ruffed Grouse use Neck Ruffs and tail displays
- Some animals use Aerial displays
o Midges use this, for mating purposes
o Damselflies have aerial displays as well.
ß Male Ebony Jewelwings perform, and the females will judge them by either
clapping their wings over their heads, or laying their wings down flat
o Fireflies use aerial displays at night
- Some birds dance
o Swans have choreographed (synchronized) mutual displays for courtship
ß Sandhill Cranes performed ritualized dances
o Sharp-tailed Grouse also dance. The males have communal dancing grounds called leks,
where the males get together and dance together to impress females
- Animals also use olfactory advertisements
o Chemical advertisements are called pheromones
ß Moose release pheromones in their urine during the Rut
∑ Males dig rutting/wallow pits, in which they urinate
∑ Bulls use their tongues to help them detect these pheromones with
their Jacobson’s Organ
ß Deer produce these pheromones too
ß Female snakes leave pheromone trails
∑ Males fallow this, and form mating swarms around them
o Insects are also used by a lot of insects
ß Each species has its own distinct pheromone.
∑ In almost all species, only the females produce this pheromone
ß Males have modified antennae to track the pheromones
∑ They are quite developed in silk moths
ß When the female leaves the cocoon, they produce these pheromones
∑ The pheromones are spread out into a ploom, getting more and more
concentrated as they approach the female
o The males can track the females from up to 3km away
o 4 million sensory pores per antenna
 ß They have no mouth parts once they evolve from the
caterpillar stage, so once the hatch from their cocoon,
they are “sex-machines”
o Pheromones have a second role.
ß They serve as a stimulant
∑ Male Hares leap over the females, urinating on them to try to stimulate
them
∑ Male porcupines urinate on females from up to 2 metres away
- Courtship can involve gift-giving
o Cedar Waxwing exchange food
o Male Terns also give courtship gifts of food
ß The males give the females fish.
o Food gifts shows the female that the male is a good provider
o Male spiders, Scorpionflies and Dance Flies all give courtship gifts of food.
ß Some gifts of food are also to help prevent the female from killing/eating the
male
o Some males exploit other males by pretending they are female, and stealing gifts
o Male Marsh Wrens also offer gifts
ß They build dummy nests, resembling real nests, but are not used for nesting
∑ The more dummy nests, the more the female will want the male
o A theory for this is: the more nests, the more food there is on
his territory (more time spent building = less time spent
hunting)
∑ Male Bass and Bluegill Sunfish offer nests as well.
o Bluegill Sunfish have cheaters:
ß One type have a young male appearance, but are fully
developed
ß The other type looks like a female, but is actually male
- Some animals ensure paternity
o Some animals will stay with the female for a period of time to ensure another male
doesn’t mate with her
ß Contact Guarding
o In Dragonflies, the male’s Claspers will remain coupled with the female
o Some Odonates stay coupled while the female lays her eggs
ß The damselflies do this as well
o Other animals use long copulation
ß Male Walking Sticks use bondage
∑ They use handcuffs, which keep them together for a day or two!
o Some male beetles plug the female’s repductive opening
ß Some use headless sperm
ß Featherwing beetles use giant sperm to plug up the opening
 ∑ Known as Copulatory plugs
ß Some males produce anti-aphrodisiacs to the plug of the female
ß Male Honeybees’ genitalia explode, leaving it embedded in the female
- Male honeybees’ genitalia explode during sex.
- Even copulatory plugs do not guarantee paternity.
- A Flowers’ only purpose is to reproduce
- Like some animals, plants are sedentary (stuck in one spot)
- Most plants have both sexes
o The term perfect flower means that the flower has both sets of reproduction organs
- Flower sex organs
o STAMENS (male) produce sperm
o PISTILS (female) produce eggs
o STIGMA (female)
o STYLE (
o OVARY (
- Do plants have an intromittent organ?
o Partially. Not a penis, but they do have Polin Grains
o “Wandering penis”
o A pollen grain contain two sperm and a tube nucleus.
o The tube nucleus is what travels to the ovaries in the plant
o Some plants have a “Double event” where they form sperm, and food for the sperm
(pollination)
o Pollination → fertilization
- How do the pants get the pollen near the eggs?
o Grass Pollen is carried by the wind
o Grasses and sedges also use the wind (ANEMOPHILY)
o Grasses grow in grasslands, as they are open, and thusly wind can transport pollen easily
o Ragweed is wind-pollenated
o Goldenrod is not!
ß Insects transport their pollen
o Conifer pollen is also wind-carried
o Disadvantages of wind-pollination?
ß The wind may not carry the pollen to its target
∑ Plants produce a vast amount of pollen to increase their chances
o Plants have another way of transporting pollen
ß Animals deliver their pollen for them
ß POLLINATORS are animals that deliver pollen for the plants
∑ These include: Flies, bats, bees, wasps, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths,
hoverflies, etc.
∑ Pollination by insects is called ENTOMOPHILY
∑ Why do pollinators help flowers have sex?
o The flowers bribe them (animals don’t know they’re doing the
job for the flowers)
 o They give them food along with their pollen, which attracts
insects
o Some offer only pollen as food
ß Some bees use buzz pollination to shake the pollen
from the flowers, which comes out of the poricidal pore
∑ Buzz pollinated plants generally have their
stigmas and stamens far away to avoid self-
pollination
∑ Some buzz pollinated flowers have an anther
cone
ß Bees have a pollen basket to carry up to a million pollen
grains at one time
o Butterflies love the sugar water that flowers produce, called
Nectar
ß Called nectaring
ß Buttercup nectaries
ß Nectar is held in shallow cups in milkweeds
ß Columbine flowers have special nectar leaves with long SPURS
∑ Requires a long tongue to get at
∑ Long-tongued Bees can reach it (bumblebees have long tongues)
∑ Cardinal Flowers have long spurs but bees ignore them
o They attract hummingbirds
ß Flowers advertise for pollinators
∑ Certain kinds of insects are attracted to certain colours and shapes of
flowers
∑ Shape and colour are long range visual attractants
∑ Bees like blue flowers, and tend to ignore orange ones
∑ Insects see colours differently than we do
o Insects see yellow as red, and most colours (green, for example)
as grey
o Red is not seen by most insects, but is seen by hummingbirds
∑ Scents often attract and guide insects near their flowers
o Scents are close-range attractants
o Evening Primrose release scents at dusk whenever their flowers
are open
ß They are pollinated by moths, which mostly flies at night
o Not all scents are sweet, though.
ß Wild Ginger plants smell like decaying fungus to attract
fungus nats who want to lay their eggs on them
ß Brood Site mimicry
 ß Red trilliums smell like rotting flesh to attract flies,
drawn to carrion
ß Flowers also use Close Range Guidance aids
ß Many plants have “Guiding patterns” to attract insects
to where the nectar actually is (Nectar Guides)
∑ Converging lines
∑ Spots
∑ Bull’s Eyes
∑ Landing Targets
ß Does Marsh Marigold have nectar guides?
∑ Yes, but not visible to our eyes.
o They have ultraviolet bull’s eyes!
o So do Brown-eyed Susan!
ß How do plants avoid self-pollination?
∑ Self-sterility or self-incompatibility
o The female parts can misdirect or kill the tube nucleus based on
the chemical communication
∑ Another is spatial separation of the sexes
o On the same plant
ß Male flowers of conifers are usually near the bottom of
the tree and the females are at the top (up high, so
pollen from male flowers does not fall down on them)
ß
How do plants avoid self-pollination?

- Self-sterility/self-incompatability.
- Spacial Placement of sex organs
o Closed/Bottle Gentian is a closed flower, which attracts bees, who must pry their way
into the flower.
ß As the bee climbs back out, it closes the stigma, preventing self-pollination
o Pink Lady’s-Slippers also have a placement strategy.
ß The pouch petal has a slit in it, which bees must climb through.
∑ Once the bee is inside, it is guided upwards by hairs, lines, and light
from the slit
∑ There are two exits on the staminode, and both are partially blocked by
the staminode and by sticky pollen masses.
o As the bee squeezes through these exits, the pollen masses get
stuck to it, and it carries them away.
o Monoecious is a term for plants that have both sexes, which are greatly separated.
o Dioecious is a term for spatial separation of sexes on different plants
ß White Campions plants are either male or female
o Temporal Separation is a plant that has separation through time.
ß As the stigmas (female) grow, they become stamens (male) which bear pollen
ß Orange Jewelweed flowers start off as males, and over time the stamen falls off,
making it female
∑ Temporal Sex Change is known as DICHOGAMY
o PROTANDRY = male first
o Pickerel-weed has another way of preventing self-pollination
ß Flowers appear in different forms, but are consistent on any one plant (sizes of
the style and stamens)
∑ Has 3 forms
∑ Known as Heterostyly
ß Purple Loosestrife also has three forms of flowers
∑ Short, medium, and long style form
o Each form of flower cannot pollinate another flower of the
same form
ß Plants with 2 forms are known as DISTYLY
ß Plants with 3 forms are known as TRISTYLY
- Some flowers take an active role in the pollination process
o Milkweed has clamping saddlebags of pollen called Pollinium
ß They are joined together by translators
∑ The entire structure is called the pollinarium
ß Between each flower petal is a slit, which the bee will attach to, and pull free, to
bring to another milkweed plant
o Sheep Laurel have bashing stamens, which are sprung back in a groove in the flower
pedal
ß When an insect walks on it, it springs back and forces the insect into the pollen
o Red Trilliums smell like rotting flesh to attract flies drawn to carrion
ß Brood Site Deception
o There are other forms of deception
ß Grass Pink have pseudostamens with pseudopollen, which attract bees to a
hinged petal, which collapses form the weight of the bee
∑ The bee drops off the pollen from another Grass Pink plant on the
winged column, slides down, and picks up the pollen from that plant.
∑ Pogonia and Dragon’s Mouth also have pseudopollen
ß American Grass-of-Parnassus have pseudonectaries, which attracts flies
ß Helleborine releases the scent of an injured plant (wound hormones)
∑ Wasps come to the plant to kill the offender, but instead get nectar
from the plant
ß Some plants imitate a female fly or wasp (scent, look), offering sex to a male
insect, instead putting pollen on it when it attempts to copulate
ß Queen Anne’s Lace has a bunch of white flowers, and one little purple flower in
the middle.
∑ Speculated that it is a decoy/lure to make other insects think it’s safe
ß Bunchberries are known as Pop-Flowers
∑ They explode like landmines, throwing the pollen at 6m/s at an insect,
and up to 10x the plant’s height
o Might be a safe-guard against self-pollination
o Might be an attempt at wind-blown pollen
o Becomes female
ß Twayblades also explode
∑ As the insect walks up the stalks, it walks on trip-hairs
∑ The “overhead cannon” explodes with quick-drying glue and pollen,
showering the insect with their sticky pollen
∑ The twayblade now becomes female
ß White Water-Lily opens first as a female
∑ PROTOGYNY
∑ The flower has a sweet nectar on the bottom of the flower, attracting
flies
o The flower closes up overnight, trapping the flies, who drop the
pollen off to the insects
o The flower opens up in the morning, fully grown, bearing pollen,
and give the trapped flies their pollen as they try to climb out.
o Cross-pollination is the general rule
ß But what if there are no pollinators?
ß They self-fertilize
∑ They have an underground flower with a stamen and a style, which
never bloom, but have the ability to self-pollinate
∑ These are CLEISTOGAMOUS FLOWERS, which are insurance (Plan B)
o Many Spring Ephemerals have these
o Plants in new habitats generally use this to gain numbers
ß
- Plants and animals face one more challenge
- Getting their progeny (offspring) off to a good start
o Until they are ready for dispersal, plants protect the seeds
ß Shells, cones, etc.
∑ Hard, heavily lignified structures (lignen)
ß Some have hard seed coats, such as those on acorns
ß Some seeds are protected chemically
∑ Terpenoids (unripe berries)
o Aposematic coloration
∑ Milkweeds are protected by a hard case, which is full of cardiac
glycosides
o Plants in the process of sending out progeny into the world is called SEED DISPERSAL
ß Advantages:
∑ Avoids crowding and competition
∑ Prevents spreading of diseases and parasites
∑ Prevents in-breeding
∑ Prevents chances of being eaten
o Once mature, the pods open and seeds are sent off. But how?
ß Plants in open habitats such as old fields often use the wind
∑ Abiotic (non-living) forces
∑ Wind dispersal is known as ANEMOCHORY
ß Seeds must have adaptations to fly in the wind
∑ They are lightweight, with silky hairs to catch the wind (i.e. Dandelion)
∑ However, they might miss the target habitat
o Producing a lot of seeds increases their chances of hitting their
targets
ß Fireweed produces 70,000-100,000 seeds
o They attach themselves to animals
ß Known as ZOOCHORY
ß They have hooks and burrs, which catch on hairs or
feathers
∑ They are called stick-tights
ß Queen Anne’s Lace also uses animal power for seed
dispersal
∑ The umbel (umbrella-type thing) protect the
seeds from the rain
o The umbel is a dead part of the plant
o It closes on cloudy days
o Opens on sunny days
o The relative humidity changes the
position of the umbel arms
 ß The inner cells are small, and
don’t absorb a lot of water
ß The outer cells are bigger, and
do absorb a lot of water
ß Causes the arms to retract
ß Other sun-loving plants exploit animals in another way
∑ ENDOZOOCHORY is when the seeds travel
through the animal
o Bears eat berries, which contain seeds
ß The seeds must be protected against the physical
trauma of the animal’s teeth, and the chemical trauma
of the animal’s stomach’s acids.
ß In forests, there is wind (during late autumn), but not much during the summer,
when seeds are actually being spread
∑ Maple Samaras (keys → helicopters) are wind-blown
∑ Some tree seeds have sails (i.e. Basswood)
∑ Yellow Birch have tiny windblown seeds that land on stumps or logs
o Known as Perched Birch
∑ Some plants at ground level use the wind too
o Indian Pipe bloom late in the summer, so they have time to
disperse their seeds during the fall
ß Their seed pods mature upright, and split open,
releasing their tiny seeds gradually
ß Animals disperse seeds in the forests, too.
∑ Red Squirrels burry their seeds and nuts to preserve them, but they
don’t remember all of their seeds, giving the ones they forgot about the
chance to germinate
∑ Spring Ephemerals use another seed dispersal strategy that involves
animals
o They pay the animals with food
ß Red Trilliums pay ants with an ant-food called an
ELAIOSOME
∑ The ants eat this, then throw out the seeds in
their garbage disposal
∑ Some Yellowjacket Wasps also carry off these
seeds
ß Violet seeds also have elaiosomes
∑ The seed pods shrink, squeezing the seeds,
shooting them up to 1m away from the plant,
before they are carried away by ants
o Ballistic Ejection, or BALLISTOCHORY
 ∑ Orange Jewelweed grow in wet places, which
uses ballistochory as well
o The seed pods dry and up under high
tension, and at the slightest touch, can
shoot their seeds up to 3m away
ß Two other spring ephemerals use another method of seed dispersion
∑ Miterwort uses raindrops!
o Their splash-cup, which houses the seed, is slightly bigger than a
raindrop, and when a raindrop falls into it, it shoots the seed
outward.
ß Splash-cup Dispersal
ß Some fungi use this method too
∑ Foamflowers also use raindrops!
o Almost like a PEZ candy disperser, as a raindrop hits the
springboard, it disperses one seed, which falls into the raindrop,
and then the springboard shoots the raindrop back up
o These are ABIOTIC as well.
ß Aquatic plants have floatation devices on their seeds to be carried by the
current
ß Many plants can vary seed productions based on environmental conditions
∑ They can abort the seed production if their chances of survival
(conditions, etc.) become volatile

Animals

- The animal equivalent of seed dispersal is parental investment

o For some animals (mostly ectotherms), effort is made only to lay eggs in the right
habitat
ß No care is necessary afterwards
ß Temporary or Ephemeral Ponds are egg-laying habitats for Gray Tree Frogs
(freeze-tolerant frogs)
ß For some animals, the right host plant must be chosen
ß Or on the right host animal (parisitoids)
o Effort can be spent finding the right location
ß Eggs of most amphibians, reptiles, and insects are not guarded
ß Parental care in Turtles stops after laying their eggs in the ground
∑ The soil temperature during egg incubation determines the sex of
hatchling turtles
ß
- Walking Stick eggs end up underground as well.
o Their eggs contain a cap, the CAPITULUM, Ants take them underground to eat the cap.
- Northern Water/Garter Snakes internally hold their eggs until they hatch.
o Called OVOVIVIPARITY
o They don’t guard their young
- Other animals guard their eggs
o Five-Lined Skinks lay their eggs under rocks
o Red-back salamanders lay their eggs in rotting logs, hanging them up in little stocks
o Female Wolf Spiders carry eggs in an egg sac held by the spinnerettes
ß Babies are carried on the female’s back.
o Female Nursery Web Spiders carry the egg sac in their chelicerae (“jaws”)
ß Then builds a nursery web and guard the sac
ß They also guard their young
o Giant Water Bugs offer male-only parental care
- All of these animals provide very little parental investment internally
- Animals that have a short lifespan, have more parental care
o R-Strategy
ß (SEE TEXTBOOK – Q-STRATEGY, etc)
- In 95% of mammals, females provide ALL of the parental care
- Moose have 8-month gestation with a placental connection
o Young that are “off to a good start” early on are called precocial young
o Parental care involves feeding and protecting
ß Cow Moose protect their young for one year
- Wolves, Coyotes, Red Foxes exhibit biparental care (males and females care for the young)
o Wolves are social animals that cooperatively raise pups
ß The pups are born in dens, and in mid-summer they are taken to rendevouz-
sites
∑ They are left there when the alphas go hunting, although there is
usually an adult wolf within earshot
∑ They are sites in a meadow, with a water and an open area
- Not all female mammals invest a lot internally
-