Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle

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Hatchling vs the egg – which is a better predictor of growth?

American alligators can grow rather large. In fact, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Spanish explorers called these animals “big lizard”, or “el legarto” in Spanish, which explains how they got their name. Hatchlings are typically 8-9 inches long and their growth rate can vary depending on habitat, age, and sex. Female adult alligators can reach about 9 feet in length and 200 pounds in weight whereas […]

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White-footed mice provide clues on the impact of prolonged exposure to light on health

Margaret Newport, graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Holly Bates at Trent University presented results from her research on the effects of daylength (i.e. photoperiod) on body fat and circadian rhythm in white-footed mice at the 2021 Experimental Biology conference. Both photoperiod (length of daylight) as well as temperature naturally vary with changing seasons and can impact an organism’s physiology. To differentiate between the effects of temperature and photoperiod, the research team […]

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2021 August Krogh Distinguished Lectureship

The August Krogh Distinguished Lectureship is the highest award given by the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section of the American Physiological Society. As the name implies, it is awarded to a distinguished physiologist who has made major and meritorious contributions to the field. This year’s August Krogh Distinguished Lecture was awarded to Dr. Ken Olson, Emeritus Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine – South Bend. His talk at the Experimental […]

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Experimental Biology 2021: Q&A with Dr. Christian Damsgaard

We are delighted to speak with Dr. Christian Damsgaard who is currently an Assistant Professor at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies & Section for Zoophysiology, Aarhus University, Denmark. Dr. Damsgaard is a member of the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section of the American Physiological Society and he presented his research “Active Blood Acidification Greatly Enhances Oxygen Supply to the Teleost Retina” at the 2021 Experimental Biology conference today. What initially interested you in studying […]

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Day 1: Experimental Biology 2021

I attended a really great session this afternoon on the Evolutionary Physiology of Locomotor Behavior: Causes, Consequences, and Mechanisms.   The session started with a talk by Dr. David Raichlin from the University of Southern California who spoke about locomotion from a human perspective. He described how locomotion is not only essential for the survival of species, but also provides benefits for the aging brain. It was fascinating to learn […]

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Surviving the cold

The ability to regulate body temperature is critical for animals. This is especially true for small mammals as they have a larger surface area resulting in more heat loss to the environment than larger animals. Animals that stay active during the winter likewise have to spend more energy to stay warm. To do this well, they need to balance heat loss with heat generation through shivering as well as non-shivering […]

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Extreme tolerance of dehydration stress

Talk about an extreme animal. During the rainy season annual killifish, Austrofundulus limnaeus, lay eggs that are resistant to droughts. This is an important attribute for a fish that lives in temporary pools of water. The stress-resistant embryos within the eggs literally shut down their metabolism to survive months – possibly years without water. For many fish, exposure to air (and oxygen) can cause profound oxidative stress. Remarkably, this is […]

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Scientists discover gene that may protect from hypertension

Giraffes are extreme. Given their long necks, their blood pressure is 2.5 times higher than ours, which ensures that oxygenated blood makes it all the way up to their head. Having high blood pressure, however, is simply a normal characteristic of being a giraffe. A new study published in Science Advances explored the giraffe genome to identify genes that might help protect the cardiovascular system of giraffes by comparing their […]

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Anoxia tolerance in goldfish

The reason mammals are not very good at tolerating hypoxic (i.e. low oxygen) environments, is because the brain relies heavily on oxygen for metabolism. It is so stingy, it uses about 20% of the oxygen in the body to make ATP. Without oxygen, the brain has to rely on glycolysis to make ATP and this process is not good at meeting the energy requirements of the neurons, ultimately resulting in […]

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