Using Fig. 4.1, describe how temperature affects the oxygen consumption rate of the lizard when it is resting and when it is running.
Running causes rapid ATP use by muscle cells in the legs and heart of a lizard. With reference to the processes occurring inside a mitochondrion, explain why a faster rate of ATP use requires a higher rate of oxygen consumption.
Describe the way temperature affects the oxygen consumption rate in Sauromalus when it is at rest.
The oxygen debts were determined using the masks described in (a). Suggest which measurements were taken, and how those measurements were used to work out the oxygen debt.
Compare the oxygen debt accumulated by a running Varanus with that of a running Sauromalus.
Varanus is a swift carnivore. Sauromalus is a slow herbivore. Explain how the results in Table 4.1 show that Varanus is well suited to its mode of life.
Most lizards, including Sauromalus, have very simple lungs without alveoli. Varanus, however, has lungs that are more mammal-like, with many air sacs similar to the alveoli of human lungs. Suggest how this difference could explain the differences in the oxygen debts of Sauromalus and Varanus shown in Table 4.1.
Varanus is a swift carnivore. Sauromalus is a slow herbivore. Explain how the data in Table 4.1 show that Varanus is well suited to its mode of life.
Most lizards, including Sauromalus, possess very simple lungs with no alveoli. Varanus, by contrast, has lungs that are more mammal-like, containing many air sacs similar to the alveoli of human lungs. Suggest how this difference could explain the differences in the oxygen debts of Sauromalus and Varanus shown in Table 4.1.