Natural History Mid Word Scramble
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| Question | Answer |
| What is background matching | When general patterns of an animal match the environment they’re in |
| How does an American bittern background match? | They raise their long bills to match the tall Vertic grass |
| How do speckled animals background match in forests | They blend into the light passing through the leaves of the trees |
| What is seasonal colour change | When animals colour changes with the seasons |
| How do snowshoe hared and arctic foxes background match | They have seasonal colour changee. They are typically white in the winter |
| What are disruptive patterns | Colour patterns that break up the body and make it harder to identify an animal |
| How do some birds have disruptive patterns | They have chinstraps, neck stripes, eye stripes |
| What is Masquerade/Mimicry | When an animal resembles a specific part of their environment |
| How do Angle-winged butterflies masquerade | They look like dead leaves |
| What do Wooly afids and spittle bugs do to protect themselves? | They create or add material from the environment to hide themselves |
| What is bicolouration | When an animal has two planes of colour (one above and one below) to help them be concealed on both sides |
| What animal has bicolouration? | Whirligigs have bicoluration |
| What is countershading? | When the body is coloured differently to interact with shadow to appear more overall unified. |
| What are startle colours? | A sudden flash of colour that startles predators |
| What are startle structures | Structures that pop out to startle predators |
| How do Giant Swallowtail caterpillars startle predators? | They have a red horn that pops out |
| What are startle sounds | Loud sounds that can startle predators |
| How do Beaver’s startle predators? | They slap their tails |
| How do Ruffled Grouses startle their predators? | They make loud explosive wing sounds when they take off |
| How can small animals generally scare off predators | They make themselves appear bigger than they are. |
| What are deflection or distraction patterns | Patterns that distract attention of predators away from vital parts of the body |
| What is an example of body armour? | Turtle shells |
| What is an example of a defence structure | Silk tents |
| How is hair a physical defence? | Birds don’t like to eat soft hairs. Hairs can also be stiff and become spines that can harm predators |
| What are chemical defenses | Poisons that harm predators and deter them from getting eaten |
| What is sequestering | When animals eat something toxic and safely store it in their own body for later use |
| What is a chemical animals who eat milkweed sequester? | Cardiac Glycoside or Terpenoid poison |
| Aposematic colouration | When animals are brightly coloured as warnings for chemical defenses |
| Mullerian Mimicry | When a group of unrelated animals are all defended because they bear similar appearances. |
| Why do predators avoid Hoverflies | Because of Mullerian mimicry, they are defended because they look like animals like Wasps and Honey bees |
| According to Mullerian Mimicry, what animal is the Model and what animal is the mimic | The model is the animal with the actual defence and the mimic is the animal who looks like the defended animal |
| What are the conditions for Mullerian mimicry | There must be more models than mimics and they must be around at the same time |
| How does Mullerian Mimicry apply to monarch and viceroy butterflies | Monarch’s are the model as they eat milkweed and have cardiac glycerol. The viceroy does not have a chemical defense but look like monarch buttrtflies so they are the mimic |
| What is Thanatosis | A behavioural defence where an animal plays dead |
| What are yards | Group of deer that come together during winter for safety in numbers |
| What are the two types of flocks | Multispecies and Single species flocks |
| How do multispecies flocks eat | They all go after different food sources |
| How do single species flocks eat | They all go for one abundant food sources like seeds or fruit |
| What is mobbing? | When a group of smaller birds harass a larger threatening bird to get it to leave the area |
| Attack pheromones | Pheromones released to get other members of a group of animals to attack |
| What animal uses attack pheremones | Wasps |
| What are alarm calls? | Calls birds make to alert other birds of danger |
| What are flags and who used them | Flags are indicators that a predators has been spotted. Deers use these by lifting up their hind legs and exposing their stomach |
| Explain the relationship between carpenter ants and aphids. | Carpenter ants protect aphids in return for the dew that the aphids prodewce (lol) |
| What is the Jacobson’s organ | Organ of snakes that enhances their sense of small |
| What is Flemen | Curling back the upper lip to enhance a mammal’s sense of smell |
| Why are big eyes good? | Big eyes let in more light and enhances an animals eyesight |
| What is the Tapedum Lucidum | Eyeshine that allows nocturnal animals to see in the dark |
| How does eye placement impact eyesight | Eye placement on the side allows prey animals to see all around them while eye placement at the front allows for greater depth perception in predators. |
| What are examples of external armour in plants | Bark, Spines, Hard coating (seeds) |
| What are Trichones | Hairs on end of plants that are pricky |
| What do glandular trichomes do | They sting/burn animals. They are inducable and only come when needed |
| What chemicals make plants hard to digest? | Cellulose Hemicellulose, and Pectin |
| What gives Cherries pits and Nuts their hardness | Lignin |
| What is Silica? | The touch element in horsetails and other grasses |
| What is a digestibility reducer | Elements that make a plant harder to eat |
| How is calcium a non-structural digestibility reducer | It makes plants hard and difficult to eat |
| Why are Arum plants hard to eat | They have calcium oxalate crystals that burn animals and cause damage. |
| What do terpenoids taste like? | Terpenoids taste bitter |
| What are alkaloids | Harmful toxins that contain nitrogen |
| What are constitutive defenses | Defences that are always there because they are part of a plant’s constitution |
| What are protein inhibiters | Chemicals that disrupt digestion by interfering with digestive proteins. |
| What are two insect growth hormones? | Juvenile (never matures) and Moulting (matures too quickly) |
| What are phototoxins | Hormones that make an animal susceptible to sunburn |
| How can plants mess with an animal’s reproductive system? | They can constain constitutive chemicals that interfere with an animal’s reproductive system. |
| What defense do mustards have? | Aposematic colouration |
| What are the two types of animal fat | Subcutaneous (for insulation) and Brown fat (to burn for warmth) |
| What are two types of animals in regards to temperature | Endotherms (warm blooded) external temps do not impact internal temps Ectotherms (cold blooded) external temps do impact internal temps |
| How do animals “dress warmly” | They have different types of hair. Mammals: Guard hair (outer) and underfur (inner) Birds Counter feathers (outer) and down feathers (inner) |
| What action do birds take to generate warmth | They shiver |
| What is Groger’s Rule? | Animals in the North tend to be paler |
| What is the rete mirable | A countercurrent heat exchanger |
| What is a Subnivean space | Crustalized place under the snow where small mammals make tunnels to get around |
| What are 3 ways Ectotherms survive winter as adults | Supercooling, Freeze Tolerance, Subnivean spaces |
| What is supercooling | When an ectotherm doesn’t freeze because there is antifreeze (glycerol) in the body |
| What is freeze tolerance | When the space between the cells freezes but not inside the cells. |
| What chemical is a cryoprotectant | Glycerol |
| What is a hibernaculum | A space underneath the frost where snakes go to hibernate |
| What movements or positions can animals do to conserve body heat | Shivering, tucking extremities, breathing through the snout |
| Where are some places birds can sleep in the winter | Coniferous trees, tree cavities, snow caves, snow beds |
| What are lodges | Structures built in the water and insulated with mud to keep beavers and muskrats warm. |
| What is Torpor | A state where an animal lowers their body temperature and heartbeat and go into a dormant state |
| What is another word for Dormancy | Behavioural freeze avoidance |
| How do Eastern Chipmunks go dormant | They lower their body temp and bpm and are easily aroused by warm temperatures |
| How do bears go dormant | They lower their body temp and bpm and are easily aroused by warm temperatures |
| What is True Hibernation | When animals go completely dormant throughout the entire winter. Their bpm and body temp are extremely low and they enter a death like state. They may wake up 3-4 times throughout the whole winter to reset. |
| How do Groundhogs go dormant | They go into true hibernation |
| How do jumping mice go dormant | They do true hibernation. |
| How do Moose solve their problem for winter mobility | Long legs and special movement by lifting leg straight up |
| How does surface area of feet impact mobility | Large surface area of feet act as snowshoes so they can walk on top of the snow. |
| How do Marten Fishers solve the problem for winter mobility | They have big feet for large surface area and can walk ontop of snow |
| How do Ruffed Groose solve the problem of mobility | Grow scales on their feet for winter to increase surface area so they can walk ontop of snow. |
| How do wolves adapt for problems of mobility | Walk single file in their pack, each member walking in the footsteps of the front member. |
| How do otters solve the problem of mobility | They alternate sliding on their bellies |
| What is a browse line? | A line where a yard of deer have eaten the accessible leaves |
| How far does an Arctic term migrate | 20km roundtrip |
| How far does a Red knot fly | 26km roundtrip |
| How do birds prepare for migration | They gain a large amount of weight. Songbirds can gain 10% of their body weight while sandpipers can double their body weight in 10 days to prepare for their migration. |
| What are stopovers | Places where birds can stop mid migration to rest |
| When do most songbirds migrate | They migrate at night because it’s safer, cooler, and less windy |
| What is thermal hopping | When birds like vultures, hawks, and eagles use thermal lift to fly up and then glide to the next one. Conserving energy. |
| What is the benefit of slotted wings | Slotted wings act as an extra wing to help with lift. |
| How do day migraters navigate? | Visual cues like landforms and the sun |
| How do night time migraters navigate | Constellations |
| What did Elmer find with Indigo buntings? | With a real constellation they navigated correctly, with a fake constallation they migrated wrong. |
| How do all bird of migrators navigate | They can sense the earth’s magnetic field with Cryptochrome and other photopigments like Rhodospin |
| What is banding | The practice of putting bands on birds to track their migration patterns |
| How are songbirds caught | Very find mist nets. |
| What are Motus towers? | Geolocators that ping with nearby bands and can transmit their information so it’s easier to keep track of them. |
| How do plants survive winter | They become cold hardy |
| What does it mean to be cold hardy | Excess water is withdrawn from cells, protective sugars are added to make the solute more concentrated to lower the freeze temp. It also makes the cell membrane more flexible so that it can bend around the frozen spaces between the cells. |
| What is the first stage of acclimation | Triggered by the photoperiod (ratio between light and dark) to make the plant more responsive to low temperatures |
| What is the second stage of acclimation? | Triggered by cold but not freezing temps. Preparing for sub 0 temps by adding protective sugars and taking water out of cells. |
| What is Batesian mimicry | When two animals who aren’t related look alike |
| What is Allen’s rule | Animals living in cold climates have shorter and thicker limbs and bodily appendages tuan anomals adapted to warm climates |
| What is Xanthophyll Pigments | A pigment that protects plants from solar radiation |
| What is dessication | Drying out |
| What weather conditions are the most favourable for desiccation | Calm sunny days |
| How do plants protect themselves from desiccation | Close their pores, or have a small surface area |
| How do Evergreens protect themselves from dessication | They curl themselves up to reduce surface area |
| Why do trees shed leaves | Chlorophyll is recalled into the branches and trunk and as it breaks down the colours beneath that are part of photosynthesis pathway begin to show |
| What structure is favourable for supporting thenweight of snow | Short branches and leaves |
| Where can animals go to stay cool | Go into the shade or water |
| What is an obelisk | A position dragonflies take where their butt points up to the sky |
| What is stilting | When an animal extends their legs so they can be above the heat layer close to the ground |
| How do tiger beetles deal with extreme heat | They do stilting. |
| What is evaporative cooling | Using moisture to cool down. |
| How do vultures stay cool | They excrete on themselves |
| How do mourning doves adapt to extreme heat | They raise their body temps really high and become hyperthermic |
| What is detrivory | Eating organic material |
| What are labral brushes | Filters that black fly larvae have that they use to eat |
| What is a probiscus | A long structure used to consume nectar |
| What structure do Hummingbirds have to help them eat nectar | Hyoid horn |
| What are the analogous structures that help animals break up plant tissues | Radula (slugs), Mandibles (Caterpillars), Incisors (Mammals) Cheek teeth (Deer, Moose), Gizzard (birds) |
| What muscles empower cheek teeth | Masseters |
| How do slugs or snails digest food | They have digestive enzymes |
| How do caterpillars digest food? | They eat and poop a lot. |
| What is a Rumen | A part of a digestive system with bacteria that digest food. |
| How do Moose digest food | They have a bacteria filled Rumen |
| What is a Caecum | Part of the digestive system filled with bacteria. Doesn’t digest food fully. |
| What do snowshoes hares have to do to fully digest food | They need to do copraphagy. |
| How much of a porcupine’s body weight is their digestive system | 26% |
| How are waxwings modified to be fruit eating specialists | They have large and wide beaks to swallow food whole for fast external processing and short digest tracks for fast internal processing |
| What are seed dispersers | Animals who poop out whole seeds |
| How do grosbeaks eat cherry pits | They have a sharp beak and a groove to grind off the coating |
| What is vein drain | When an animal eats through a vein to cut off the flow of chemicals to the rest of the tissues |
| How do brown creepers background match | They match tree bark |
| What mimic are grey tree frogs | They’re a bark mimic |
| What disruptive patterns do killdeer have | Breast bands |
| What disruptive patterns do songbirds have? | Eyestripes |
| What type of mimic is a Katydid | Live leaf mimic |
| What type of mimic is a Luna moth | Live leaf mimic |
| What type of mimic is an inchworm | Twig mimic |
| What type of mimic is a tree hopper | Thorn mimicry |
| Swallowtail caterpillar is what type of mimic | Bird poo mimic |
| How does a camouflaged loop protect itself | They add part of flower petals to themselves |
| How do Wolly aphids protect themselves | They create wool around their body |
| How are backswimmers bicoloured | Their back is light (facing water) and their top is dark (facing sky) |
| How do Sphinx, Polyphemus, and Hawk moths startle predators | They have eyespots |
| How do grey tree frogs startle predators | They have yellow legs to scare predators if picked up |
| How do snakes startle predators | They have yellow bellies |
| How do giant swallowtail caterpillars startle predators | Red horns (osmetaroum) that look like a snake’s tongue popcup |
| How do eyed elaters deter enemies | They make themselves look larger by having very large eye spots |
| How do some butterflies have distraction patterns? | Some butterflies have tails that look like their head. |
| How does the five lined skink use distraction patterns | Attacks are deflected to their detachable and regrow able tail |
| What is it called when animals can regrow bodyparts | Autonomy |
| How do painted turtles have body armour? | They can close their shells |
| What physical defense structure do eastern tent caterpillars and fall webworms make? | Silk tents |
| What is the structural difference between Eastern tent caterpillar and fall web worm’s silk tents? | Eastern tent caterpillar are often in forks of a shrub (often cherry) Fall webworms build tents around leaves and eat them. |
| How do quills harm predators | They are hallow and have sharp points so an animal’s muscle contraction makes to go deeper and deeper into them |
| How do Io moth caterpillars defend themselves | Poison spines that burn when injected |
| Why do animals know to avoid Red Eft Salamanders? | Their bright red Aposematic colouration |
| How do animals know to avoid yellowjackets | Bright yellow Aposematic colouration |
| Why do animals know to avoid skunks | Their bright stripe shows up very well at night to display Aposematic colouration |
| How does the Milkweek tussock’s diet affect it | They eat milkweed and sequester the terpenoid |
| How do Bombardier beetles protect themselves? | Releaee hot quinone gas by mixing two gases inside their body and farting it out their butt |
| How do Moose antlers help vigilence | Helps them hear |
| Are Waxwings part of multispecies flocks or single flocks | Single species flock |
| Are warblers lart of single species flocks or multiple species flocks | They are part of multi species flocks |
| Why are Tannins Astringent | They make it harder to digest but have another purpose so they are secondary compounds (metabolites) |
| What covers Mullein leaves | Trichomes |
| How are Water smartweeds protected | They are in water where it is hard for animals to get to it but if the water goes away they grow trichomes |
| How do Alkaloids impact predators | They interfere with digestion by binding to digestive enzymes |
| What chemical does Bracken contain | Hydrogen cyanide |
| What are chemicals that disrupt digestion by interfering with with digestive proteins | Proteinase inhibitors |
| What hormones do ferns have | Moulting pheromones called Ecdysones |
| What are phytoestrogens | Reproductive hormones |
| How do St John’s wort impact animals | They have phototoxins |
| What are phytohormones | Chemical messengers that travel through plants and initiate biochemical responses |
| Where do Ruffed grooses sleep during the winter | Snow beds |
| How do Chickadees cope in extreme cold | They go into tree cavities, shiver, and enter torpor |
| How do golden gill fly grub survive winter? | They are freeze tolerant |
| What animals are only freeze tolerant as hatchlings | Painted turtles |
| What is a tappen rectal plug | A plug in an animal’s butt that ensures they won’t poop during hibernation |
Created by:
Mersede