Life: The Science of Biology
Life: The Science of Biology
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781319010164
Author: David E. Sadava, David M. Hillis, H. Craig Heller, Sally D. Hacker
Publisher: W. H. Freeman
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Chapter 51.2, Problem 2R
Summary Introduction

To review:

The reason because of which urea is produced in sharks and rays instead of uric acid to raise osmotic concentration of extracellular fluids.

Introduction:

Urea and uric acid are the excretory products that are formed by protein metabolism. Organisms according to their body requirements can either excrete uric acid or urea, both of which are less toxic than ammonia and can be stored in body for some time.

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a) The process by which salmon maintain an internal balance is called osmoregulation. Describe how salmon achieve osmoregulation as they migrate between fresh and saltwater environments.  b) Describe what happens to salmon in fresh water. What direction do solutes tend to move via diffusion? What direction does water tend to move via osmosis?
Which molecules are responsible for the high osmolarity of the renal medulla in the mammalian kidney?     "Na+, Cl-, and K+"     "urea, uric acid, and Na+"     "Na+, Cl-, and urea"     "uric acid, urea, and amonia"
Some animals are osmoconformers, meaning that they maintain the tonicity/osmolarity of their body fluids equal to that of the external environment. Hydroids, a type of cnidarian, are osmoconformers. But they don't move and thus are adapted to the environment they live in. A) What would happen if you take a marine hydroid and transfer it into a freshwater aquarium? B) What would happen if you take a freshwater hydroid and transfer it into a saltwater aquarium? C) Sharks are extraordinary osmoconformers. Bull sharks store urea in their tissues and use it to match the tonicity of their tissues to that of the surrounding environment. Some sharks can move from saltwater to freshwater, hypothesize what changes will sharks do in order to adjust when moving from saltwater to freshwater and vice versa. Explain your answer in terms of tonicity and specify the direction of water movement and urea concentration.
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