Thursday 8 September 2016

Challenge!!!!!!!

Do now: A rabbit is active at down and dusk. It's normal activity is recorded in a lab for 6 days then recorded in constant darkness for another 10 days. There is still a pattern to the rabbit behaviour but it start 20 minutes later each day.

Describe or re-write what is happening using each of these words at least once.

1. Zeitgeber
2. entrained
3. biological clock
4. endogenous
5. exogenous
6. circadian
7. circatidal
8. phase shift
9. period of
10. nocturnal
11. diurnal
12. crepuscular
13. biorhythm

The biorhythm shown by the rabbit is crepuscular because it active at down and dust. It's normal crepuscular rhythm was recorded for 6 days with the ...... present, which was...... the rhythm  when the rabbits activity was recorded in darkness the .... was removed and the activity pattern became.....which means biorhythm is ...                  

Sunday 4 September 2016

Practice Question
A recent New Zealand study compared the size, shape and pigmentation of hundreds of leaves of Pseudowintera axillaris (horopito, also known as the New Zealand pepper tree) and small Alseuosmia macrophylla (toropapa) plants, and found a match. Over a third of the leaves of the two species cannot be statistically distinguished from one another.  Toropapa were possibly eaten by moa before the arrival of humans quickly decimated the moa population.  Unless the plants are flowering or fruiting, the only fast way to tell them apart is to taste a leaf.  Horopito leaves a pungent, hot peppery taste and a numb tongue when the leaf is chewed, while toropapa is highly palatable.
Small toropapa (left) and horopito seedling (right)
Name and describe the relationship between Pseudowintera axillaris and Alseuosmia macrophylla.  
Discuss the adaptive advantages and disadvantages of the relationship to the two species of New Zealand flora, including any survival strategies they employ.
Planning my answer:
  • Their relationship (batesian)
  • Definition of Batesian
  • What about these 2 that make it (batesian)
  • Advantages (natural selection)
  • Survival strategies (chemical protection) e.g so the herbivorous will avoid the plant.
The two species is Pseudowintera axillaris known as horopito, and Alseuosmia macrophylla known as toropapa. The relationship between them is batesian.