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May 2, 2024

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1.2.8 Explore: Thermoregulation in Turtle Embryos Exploration AP Biology Sem 2 Points Possible: 25 Name:Ishita Mukadam Date: 1. Compare and contrast endothermy and ectothermy. Does behavioral thermoregulation play a role in both of these mechanisms? Explain. (4 points) Endothermy (also known as warm-blooded animals) maintains a stable internal body temperature through metabolic heat production. It generates and retains its own body heat, remaining active in a wide range of external temperatures. Examples include mammals and birds. Ectothermy (cold- blooded) relies on external heat sources to regulate body temperature, seen in reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Behavioral thermoregulation is the process of using voluntary actions to regulate body temperature. Ectotherms depend more on behaviors like basking and seeking shade, while endotherms may use behaviors such as seeking shelter. 2. The authors state the following in their paper: Many ectotherms use behavioral tactics (such as sun-seeking and shade-seeking) to maintain their body temperatures within selected bounds. Behavioral thermoregulation requires an ability to detect spatial thermal heterogeneity and to move to favorable sites. Accordingly, biologists have assumed that the (immobile) embryonic stage cannot thermoregulate behaviorally. a. Evaluate the passage above to determine the specific characteristics of embryos that biologists assume to provide a barrier to behavioral thermoregulation. (2 points) Since embryos cannot actively move to seek optimal thermal environments, they may be limited in their ability to regulate their body temperature behaviorally. b. Write a scientific question that the authors of this paper likely proposed at the beginning of their investigation. Then write two statements that provide alternative hypotheses that answer this question and that form the basis for the experiment that the authors carried out. (3 points) Can ectothermic embryos regulate body temperature behaviorally despite immobility? Hypotheses 1: Embryos can move within the egg to orient towards optimal temperatures. Hypothesis 2: Embryos are entirely dependent on external temperatures due to immobility.
3. The investigation was designed to test the researchers’ hypotheses. Evaluate some aspects of their experimental design to determine strengths and weaknesses in their approach. a. Explain why it was important for the researchers to begin their investigation by measuring the temperature at different points on the surface of a turtle egg when it was exposed to an external heat source in only one direction. (2 points) Measuring temperature at different points helps understand heat distribution across the egg and potential thermal gradients. b. Analyze Figure 2 from the paper. Which data function as a control set? Which data function as an experimental set? Do the error bars add important information that assists in drawing a conclusion from the data? Explain your answers. (3 points) The control set is the embryo's body (measured at the point where the neck joins the carapace) from an uppermost-in-egg position (where all embryos were located at the beginning of the trials). The experimental set are the lateral heating, where the embryo shifted within the egg. The error bars indicate variability in the data and help to assess statistical significace. For example, at developmental stage 3 days and 6 days, the error bars do not over lap in either condition, indicating the difference in angle shifted statistically significant. c. Explain why the researchers ran a series of tests using turtle eggs buried in an outdoor set of nests when they had already run a series of laboratory tests. Did running the outdoor series strengthen or weaken their conclusion? Explain. (3 points) Outdoor tests provide ecological validity and confirm laboratory findings in natural conditions, strengthening conclusions. In this case, they put nests in buried basking slopes to replicate outdoor conditions. This also strengthened their conclusion for support of embryo shifting to experience heat from external environment. 4. Suppose another scientist challenges the results of this investigation by claiming that any changes observed in the embryos over time can be explained by the growth in size of the embryos. Would you be able to use the data to refute this challenge? Explain your answer. (3 points) To refute the claim that changes are due solely to growth in size, data showing a correlation between thermoregulation and outcomes while accounting for embryonic growth can be used. 5. The authors suggest that "reptile embryos could plausibly obtain a fitness benefit by behavioral thermoregulation."
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