Skull Analysis 1. Determine the structural adaptations that enhance an animal s survival. Skull 1 Skull 2 Skull 3. Upper Incisors.

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Dinah Harrell
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1 Stayin Alive Teacher Notes VCE Biology Unit 1: How do living things stay alive? VCE Biology Unit 1 How do living things stay alive? Skull Analysis 1. Determine the structural adaptations that enhance an animal s survival. Skull 1 Skull 2 Skull 3 Dentition: Upper Incisors Upper Incisors Upper Incisors Lower Incisors Lower Incisors Lower Incisors Canines Canines Canines Molars Molars Molars Carnassial Teeth Carnassial Teeth Carnassial Teeth Mandible length: (lower jaw) Diastema: The gap between the incisors and molars. Eye position: Long Short Forward Facing Long Short Forward Facing Long Short Forward Facing Saggital crest: A ridge extending along the skull. It is a site for muscle attachment. Zygomatic Arch: The arch of bone beneath the eye sometimes referred to as the cheek bone. Name of Animal: Side Facing Wide Narrow Side Facing Wide Narrow Side Facing Wide Narrow Diet group: Rodent Skull saggital crest incisors zygomatic arch diastema mandible molars 1 P a g e

2 Scats 2. Observe the scats provided. Draw or photograph the scats of different animals in VCE Biology Unit the 1 table How below. do living things stay alive? Area of Study 2: Observations, How do living systems e.g. size, sustain life? Animal name particles present Dietary group, e.g. herbivore, ruminant, etc. Common Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibious 3. Based on your observations of the herbivore skulls and scats in Questions 1 and 2 would you classify the Common Hippopotamus as a foregut or hindgut fermenter? Discuss. The hippopotamus is classified as a foregut fermenter as it has an enlarged foregut in the form of a 3 chambered stomach where a large amount of digestion occurs. However as it doesn t have a 4 chambered stomach and does not regurgitate its food, it is not considered to a be a true ruminant. In ruminants, the small intestine is designed for absorbing nutrients. The large intestine to reabsorb water. Therefore a ruminant with a large intestine will absorb water, evidenced by dry scat. However, hippos are a bit different they have a really large stomach to hold enormous amounts of vegetation (approx. 50kg per day), and a smaller large intestine which doesn t absorb much water, therefore the scat is very wet as opposed to true ruminants. 4. What is considered to be the closest living relative to the hippopotamus? List the evidence scientists have used to come to this conclusion. The closest living relative to the hippopotamus is the whale. Both DNA and similarities in some structural adaptations have lead scientist to this conclusion. For many years scientists thought the hippopotamus was related to the pig. This theory developed from the observation that both species have similar shaped molars but changed following the discovery of a 28 million year old fossil, Epirigenys lokonensis in DNA analysis indicated that this species is a common ancestor to whales and hippos, not to pigs. Other evidence to support this relationship: Baleen whales (carnivores) have the same multi - chambered stomach as the hippopotamus (herbivore - Artiodactyla), 3 chambers as opposed to 4 in a true ruminant. The larynx of hippos and baleen whales are similar. Both have horizontal vocal cords to direct sound into water and large larynxes to make low frequency sounds that travel over long distances. All other terrestrial mammals have vertical vocal cords. Like whales, hippos have lungs with 2 lobes to allow for quick evacuation of air. All other terrestrial mammals have 4 lobes. 2 P a g e

5. Annotate the diagram below with the structural adaptations that you observe on the hippopotamus. VCE Biology Unit 1 How do living things stay alive?

3 5. Annotate the diagram below with the structural adaptations that you observe on the hippopotamus. VCE Biology Unit 1 How do living things stay alive? Area of Study 1: How Ears, do eyes organisms and nose function? top Area of Study 2: How of do head living allowing systems use of sustain life? senses and the ability to breathe while body is largely submerged. Thick lips used for grazing. Clear membrane covers the eyes that can be seen through like goggles when under water. Flat tail allows distribution of faeces used as an olfactory home locator. Nostrils seal shut when under water. Skin exudes a red fluid that protects the skin against water loss, sunburn and infection. Solid leg bones (no marrow cavity) act as a ballast. Incisors and canines continually grow throughout life. Teeth used for fighting. Animal Behaviour Ethology, the study of animal behaviour, involves the investigation of the relationship of animals to their physical environment as well as to other organisms. Ethology considers the factors that determine the behavioural responses in animals and how the behaviour helps the animal to survive. Studying animal behaviour in captive environments such as zoos may assist scientists to predict how humans may impact on animals and their environment. By gaining an understanding of animal behaviour in captivity, scientists can then look for those behaviours in the wild, test out hypotheses and answer questions. 6. Applying a behaviour sampling tool: What activity do hippos spend most of their time doing? Method: All occurrence sampling. This method records each time a behaviour is performed, either for an individual or all of the animals present. Prediction/s: Start time: End time: Behaviours Occurrences Total Percentage etc Total Behaviours 7. What does your data tell you? 3 P a g e

4 Explanations of animal behaviour Niko Tinbergen s Four Questions about Animal Behaviour - WHYS (1963) VCE Biology Unit 1 How do living things stay alive? Area of Study 2: Ultimate How do (Why?) living systems an explanation sustain life? in terms of the processes and forces in evolution Proximate (How?) an explanation in terms of immediate factors relevant and potentially measurable in current time MECHANISM ADAPTIVE VALUE OTOGENY PHYLOGENY 1. What is the cause of the behaviour? What triggered it just now? Answers may include both the external stimuli that affect behaviour, and the internal hormonal and neural mechanisms that control behaviour. 2. What function or functions does the behaviour serve? Helps determine the behaviour s effect on the animal and its value in helping the animal to survive or reproduce successfully within its environment. 3. How did the behaviour develop within the individual s lifetime? Helps scientists learn how behaviour changes over the lifetime of the animal, and how these changes are affected by both genes and experience. 4. How did the behaviour evolve over time? Helps determine the origins of behaviour patterns and how these change over generations. 8. Apply Tinbergen s 4 questions to provide an explanation for one of the behaviours you observed in the hippopotamus or have learnt about today. Eg. Hippos yawning (opening mouth and displaying teeth) at each other whilst in the water. Mechanism:Hippos coming into spatial contact with each other through a face to face encounter. Adaptive Value: Maintains the hippos physical space in water. Otogeny: May be an innate or learnt behavior. Developed as a form of protection. Phylogeny: Male hippos use yawning to maintain territories which they may hold onto for life. Territories are established to defend mating rights and not food. Mating occurs in the water. Birth occurs in most cases in the water. Females may use yawning for protection. Considering the average weight of a female could be around 1300kg, coming into contact with each other could result in injury. 9. How could the explanation you have developed for a hippopotamus behaviour be used to effectively manage a group of hippopotamus in captivity? eg. Yawning behavior is a regular occurrence within a group of hippos living together. However if this behavior was to occur at a high frequency between a group of females in captivity, it may indicate that the area that they are housed in needs to be enlarged or provided with some diversity to allow the hippos to maintain personal space. Male hippos will need to be housed separately as yawning may lead to physical contact and extensive injuries. 4 P a g e

5 A keystone species is an organism that performs a crucial role in the functioning of an ecosystem. Without keystone species, the ecosystem would be altered VCE Biology Unit dramatically 1 How do or living completely things stay break alive? down. Area of Study 2: 10. How Explain do living why systems hippopotamus sustain life? are considered to be a keystone species. Hippos are considered to be the ecosystem engineers of their riverine environments. Excavations in the river banks carried out by hippos (usually about 1 hippo wide, create pathways that lead them back to water and the safety of home all roads lead to the river. These excavations also create habitat for other species e.g. new watering holes for fish. Hippo excrement provides a source of nutrient in aquatic ecosystems for phytoplankton and fish. 11. List the threats that the Common Hippopotamus face in the wild that have led to them being listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Habitat loss and conflict with agricultural development. Illegal hunting for bush meat and ivory. The ivory trade of hippo teeth has increased since the 1989 international ban on elephant ivory trade. Safari Tour 12. The African savanna is shared by many herbivores competing for resources. While on safari select a species to observe and record in the table below one example each of a structural and a behavioural adaptation that may: a. help to reduce competition for food with other species b. conserve water loss Structural Adaptation Behavioural Adaptation 13. Draw a food web to represent the interactions between species in the African savanna. 5 P a g e

Draw a line to match the skulls with the digestive systems. System Skull Digestive A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 b.

6 Putting it all together back at school VCE Biology Unit Consider 1 How utilising do living some things or stay all alive? of the questions below as a basis for establishing a report on the fieldwork activity. a. The skulls and digestive systems below are representative of a carnivore, omnivore and two types of herbivore; ruminant and non-ruminant. Draw a line to match the skulls with the digestive systems. System Skull Digestive A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 b. The skulls and digestive systems above belong to the zebra, giraffe, chimpanzee and cheetah. Label the skulls and digestive systems you have matched together with each of these animal names. Give reasons for your choices. Cheetah: Zebra: Chimpanzee: Giraffe: 6 P a g e

7 Compare ruminants and non-ruminants by circling your responses: VCE Biology Unit Comparative 1 How do amounts living things stay alive? Area of Study 1: Time How spent do organisms eating function? Ruminants high / low Non ruminants high / low Nutrition derived from herbage eaten high / low high / low Time take to digest herbage large / small large / small Quality of herbage digested high / low high / low Location of microbes in digestive foregut / hindgut foregut / hindgut system needed to break down cellulose Absorption of water high / low high / low Cud chewing present / absent present / absent Examples bison / giraffe / rhinoceros / deer /antelope / zebra bison / giraffe / rhinoceros / deer /antelope / zebra Refer to the observations you made of the Hippopotamus structural adaptations Suggest how the hippopotamus skin ties it to the water and their stomach to the land. The hippopotamus has a very thin layer of fat beneath a thick skin too much fat would see them overheat quickly in hot African temperatures. Hippos have to spend their days in the water where they keep cool. Very little food is available for Hippos in the water so they come out and forage on grass in the cool of the night. Relationships between organisms in an ecosystem Commensalism: One organism benefits from another without affecting it. Ammensalism: One species hurts the other but doesn t benefit from the interaction. Mutualism: Each individual benefits from the activity of another. Parasitism: One species benefits at the expense of another. Predation: Predator feeding on prey. Using the definitions above of the types of relationships that exist between organisms, provide one example of a relationship that exists between the Common Hippopotamus and another organism. Mutalism: Armies of fish pick of dead skin and grass seeds stuck in their teeth. The fish benefit from having a source of food and the fish are taking care of the hippos dental hygiene. List the issues with trying to implement conservation action for hippos. As they spend most of their life in water and don t respond well to other animals being in close proximity they are difficult to research and manage in the wild. Management plans are difficult to implement in aquatic environments that may not be managed at all or managed by a range of stakeholders. Indirect competition occurs where hippos and agriculture coexist. Hippos may enter agricultural areas to obtain food or may just damage the area by walking through it. 7 P a g e

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPOS Learn about the 3rd largest mammal in the world. He weighs over 5,000 pounds and only eats plants!

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPOS Learn about the 3rd largest mammal in the world. He weighs over 5,000 pounds and only eats plants! Grade(s): 2-4 Objectives (grade dependent): Student(s) will be able to: use place