- Info
BIO113 Studying Mammals Unit 1: A Winning Design - OPEN University
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Open University
S182_1 10 Hours
Introductory
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Course Description
Mammals come in a bewildering variety of shapes
and sizes and yet all of the 4700 or so species have some
characteristics in common. Indeed, it's the existence of these common
features that justifies the inclusion of all such diverse types within
the single taxonomic group (or class) called the Mammalia.
This is the first in a series of units about
studying mammals. To get the most from these units, you will need access
to a copy of The Life of Mammals (2002) by David
Attenborough, BBC Books (ISBN 0563534230), and The Life of Mammals (2002) on DVD, which
contains the associated series of ten BBC TV programmes. OpenLearn unit S182_8 Studying mammals: life in the trees
contains samples from the DVD set. You should begin each unit by
watching the relevant TV programme on the DVD and reading the
corresponding chapter in The Life of Mammals. You will be asked
to rewatch specific sequences from the programme as you work through the
unit.
By the end of this unit you
should be able to:
- explain the distinctive
biological features of monotremes;
- distinguish
contrasting modes of reproduction in monotremes, marsupials and
placental mammals;
- describe the
cellular basis of lactation and explain the benefits of an early diet of
milk;
- explain the significance of
mammalian metabolic rate;
- explain how
and why the thermogenic response differs amongst species;
- distinguish between behavioural and physiological
temperature regulation;
- describe, with
examples, the insulating properties of hair;
- distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate uses
of the terms ‘primitive’ and ‘successful’.
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Introduction
 Introduction
Resource- Mammals come in a bewildering
variety of shapes and sizes and yet all of the 4700 or so species have
some characteristics in common. Indeed, it's the existence of these
common features that justifies the...
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1 Overview
- 1 Overview
Resource
- As you work through this unit you
will come across boxes, like the one below, which give you advice about
the study skills that you will be developing as you progress through the
unit. To avoid breaking...
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2 How should we think of monotremes?
- 2 How should we think of monotremes? Resource
- This section contains the first of
the activities, Activity 1. If possible, you should do each activity as
you come to it; the text that follows it assumes you have done so.
However, if this is not possible,...
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3 Reproduction in marsupials
- 3 Reproduction in marsupials Resource
- The study of mammals requires you
to deal with measurements, which we call numerical ‘data’, and you will
get practice with compiling and analysing data if you work through all
the units in this series....
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4 Milk production (lactation)
- 4 Milk production (lactation) Resource
- In this section, you are presented
with a fairly complex diagram, Figure 1. The first thing to do when you
come to any diagram is to read the caption (i.e. the title), which
explains what it shows. Then...
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5 Metabolism and body temperature
- 5.1 Warm-blooded vs cold-blooded Resource
- This section is concerned with
another key mammalian characteristic. LoM highlights some of the
essential terms and ideas – such as the notion of warm-bloodedness – but
for more thorough study, some technical...
- 5.2 Metabolism Resource
- Scientific data are often
presented in the form of a table, with the data arranged in columns
(running vertically) and rows (running horizontally). You will find
Table 1 below. As with diagrams, a table...
- 5.3 Heat production Resource
- There are two graphs in this
section, Figure 2 and Figure 3. Graphs are often used to display data in
a way that makes trends easier to see than in a table. Simple graphs
have two axes, one running horizontally...
- 5.4 Coping with heat Resource
- Not only are there the mechanisms
to generate extra heat, but there are cooling mechanisms too, of which
sweating is just one example.
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6 Thermoregulation and mammalian fur
- 6 Thermoregulation and mammalian fur Resource
- A coat of profuse mammalian body
hair is commonly called fur. Fur provides insulation, which is a
property that one first thinks of as useful for mammals to help retain
body heat. Fur is a unique and fundamental...
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7 What's special about placental mammals?
- 7 What's special about placental
mammals? Resource
- As a pointer to the later units in
this series, it's helpful to end this unit (as LoM and the TV programme
do) by stressing the differences between marsupials and the placental
mammals – the mammals that...
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References and Acknowledgements
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There are currently no items in this folder.
Copyright 2007,
by the Contributing Authors.
Cite/attribute Resource.
administrator. (2010, January 30). BIO113 Studying Mammals Unit 1: A Winning Design - OPEN University. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from Free University Courses OCW Courses OpenCourseWare Freeversity Foundation Web site: http://freeversity.org/science-and-mathematics/biology/bio113-studying-mammals-unit-1-a-winning-design-open-university.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License
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