Homework Bring in S.I. “Sports Gene” article on Tuesday

Why was the “peak” or average form seen as being perfect Why was the “peak” or average form seen as being perfect? How has this ‘view’ changed over time? Author mentions the track Carl Lewis ran on, any improved technologies you can think of? Examples? What is “The Big Bang of Body Types”? How can ‘we’ alter the gene pool within elite sports but NOT alter the gene pool of humanity? Why are longer arms an advantage in water polo? What is the mechanism causing the length of lower arms in Croatian water polo athletes be getting longer? Is Michael Phelps the ‘greatest’ Olympic swimmer in history, or did he just get “lucky”? Explain.

The author provides an argument about the skeleton-to-muscle ratio of 1:5. Do you think there is a limit to this (is there a limit to how big a skeleton can get and the muscle it can hold)? Is the increasing length of forearms in tennis players genetic or environmental? Explain. Do you think it would be possible to pick a ‘body type’ for an Olympic sport who would out compete other athletes with more training? Explain. Some have argued that the rate of increase in sports skills over the last century is too fast to be explained by evolution, and must therefore be due to greater quantities of practice. What is flawed about their argument? During the prime of her competitive career, women’s marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe won 100% of the marathons she ran in the autumn, but was badly defeated (or was unable to finish) the two marathons she ran in the summer months. Why might this be the case? How did the physical attributes of the summer marathon winners differ from Radcliffe’s? Can you relate these principles to the morphology and niches of other organisms found in the wild?

Muscles of the Jaw

Jaws, Levers, Ecology Look at the skull/jaws of a carnivore Caniform – canids, bears, mustelids Feliform – cats, hyenas Compare to a cervid (deer) Front to back: incisors, canines, premolars, molars Premolars and molars = carnassials Slowly open and close the jaws and watch how the carnassials interact. How about on a cervid?

Jaws, Levers, Ecology Smaller vs Larger (within group) MAs, Bite Force, Trends (one muscle), muscles and bite force and muscles, ecological role/restriction Between Groups MA (for one muscle), Bite force (same muscle), Trend in MA (same muscle), Bite Force, ecological role Carnassials vs Incisors Hypothesis

Jaws, Levers, Ecology Do the jaws of larger individuals differ from those of smaller ones? If so, how? Does MA vary with size? If so, how? Is the bite force the same for carnassials and incisors (for an animal or among animals)? EXPLAIN!!!!! Construct a hypothesis describing how crocodilians can have a strong bite force with such a long jaw

Jaws, Levers, Ecology Hypothesis – a plausible explanation for an observation. Explanation is the key!!! Use skulls, diagrams, ‘research’, model it, discuss it, get it done!!!!! One per group is fine.

Looking ahead Friday – Jaws Monday – Dissection and new Objectives Tuesday – Flight and Sports Gene Wed-Thurs – Review Friday - Test