Syllabus
1. Vetrebrate body and its environmental adaptation 1.1.
Volume and shape correlation 1.2. Surface and volume correlation, Bergman rule and Dehnel effect 1.3.
Allometry, heterochrony and neotheny 1.4. Biomechanics of the movements,physical effects on surface and rules of gravitation 2.
Water adaptation 2.1. Adaptation for low temperature of water , winter season;ice; energy expenditures 2.2.
Adaptation for high temperature of water in Cetaceans 2.3. Adaptation for survival in saline water;excretory adaptation and metabolism of salt. 3.
Terrestrial adaptation for high temperatures 3.1. Thermoregulation in dogs, antelops,camels and small mammals 3.2.
Low tepmerature adaptation in mammals and birds in winter season ; hibernation 3.3. Water regime and water expenditure in mammals living in dry biotops 4.
Light adaptation 5. Burrowing adaptation in mammals (birds) 6.
Arboreal adaptation; body design adaptation 7. Control of bird migration;hypotheses and theories of bird migration mechanism 8.
Adaptation for bird flight; flying mammals; extinct vertebrates
Annotation
The lectures "Vertebrate Environmental Adaptations" are a continuing of the lectures "Ecology and Ethology of the Vertebrates" lectured in the previous( winter) semester. The lectures are focused on the intraspecific behaviour, population dynamics and zoogeography of the birds and mammals.
Teaching aids: Bibliography, internet, videoprogram, Power Point Evaluation:100% attendance on seminars as a prerequisite for the oral exam