Animal Physiology

Master course for biology students - principally aimed at MSc-students specializing in Arctic Animal Physiology. The course is available as a singular course.

Previous knowledge: knowledge in animal physiology equivalent to Bio-2002  (minimum 10 ECTS). 

This course deals with the physiology of animals, with emphasis on the basic mechanisms underlying specialized functions in different tissues/organs/organ systems, and the coordinating mechanisms that regulate and maintain homeostasis in the integrated organism.  

The course focuses on specific physiological adaptations of animals to life in different environments/habitats (terrestrial vs aquatic; seawater vs freshwater; hot vs. cold; dry vs wet; hypoxic, etc.), with respect to nutrition, metabolism, temperature regulation and energetics; neuronal, sensory and endocrine control mechanisms; reproduction and biological clocks; muscles and movement; respiration and circulation and maintenance of water and electrolyte balance. 

Local admission, application code 9371 -  Master`s level singular course.

Admission requires a Bachelor`s degree (180 ECTS) or equivalent qualification, with a major in biology of minimum 80 ECTS.

A candidate that has successfully completed Bio-3008 Animal Physiology should be able to: 

Knowledge:

• Explain the general principles of function of individual tissues/organs 
• Explain how these functions are integrated in the intact organism 
• Explain how the functions of organs are modified and adapted in organisms that live under different environmental conditions 
• Demonstrate and explain how physiological mechanisms may limit or potentiate the process of adaptation 
• Present and explain, from a comparative and integrative perspective, typical examples of physiological adaptations to special environments, with respect to: 
• nutrition, feeding, digestion 
• energy metabolism, cost of locomotion & thermoregulation 
• neuronal functions, sensory orientation and biological clocks 
• muscles and movement 
• internal transport: circulation, respiration 
• water- and electrolyte homeostasis 

Skills:

• Review and communicate, both orally and in writing, current knowledge from the recommended reading/syllabus 
• Plan and conduct laboratory experiments in animal physiology, employing equipment to collect data by a variety of scientific techniques 
• Have skills in proper record-keeping and data analysis and in effective presentation of results to others, orally and in writing 
• Teach animal physiology at BSc and MSc levels and communicate research at MSc level

General skills:

• Apply gained knowledge and available information to plan own research in animal physiology (e.g., own MSc project) 
• Review and extract relevant information from scientific literature in the process of presenting and discussing own research findings or other topics within animal physiology 
• Analyze and critically evaluate scientific research within own discipline 
• Develop teamwork skills in the field and laboratory situations

Obligatory prerequisites

BIO-2002 Animal Physiology

If you pass the examination in this course, you will get an reduction in credits (as stated below), if you previously have passed the following courses:

• BIO-3327 General animal physiology 5 stp
• BIO-3030 Extreme animal physiology 15 stp

• Lectures/Seminars/colloquia, 2 x 2 hrs per week & topic 
• Special seminars in preparation for the exam (to practice skills in answering essay-type exam questions) 
• Laboratory practicals 3 x 4 hrs with written report 
• Oral presentations & individual preparations with mentoring  

Language of instruction and examination

The course is closed and the last opportunity to take the exam after this semester is autumn 2022

Please see this web site for more information

This module is open for exchange students with bachelor degree in Biology.

Do you have questions about this module?  Please check the following website to contact the course coordinator for exchange students at the faculty: https://en.uit.no/education/art?p_document_id=510412

Written exam, 6 hours. A graded scale of five marks from A to E for pass and F for fail.

Course work requirements:

• One oral 10-15 min presentation on a selected topic from the recommended reading/syllabus (Hill et al., Animal Physiology) 
• Approved individual laboratory reports from 3 laboratory practicals on topics related to the curriculum

Re-sit exam

There will be a re-sit examination for students that did not pass the previous ordinary examination.