Reference no: EM132423350

Question 1: There is an extinct species of penguin known as the Colossus penguin that may have been twice as large as a modern day Emperor penguin. Modern Emperor penguins have an aerobic dive limit of 20 minutes and paleontologists have speculated that the Colossus penguin may have had an aerobic dive limit of 40 minutes.

a) Imagine we could resurrect a Colossus penguin and study it. Draw a graph of blood lactate in the two species before, during and after a 30 minute dive.

b) Justify your graph

c) There is speculation that the Colossus penguins could dive much deeper than Emperor penguins, even though birds do not have collapsible lungs like mammals. It's possible that they ascended very slowly to avoid the bends. Use gas laws (Boyle's, Dalton's and/or Henry's Laws) to explain why this would be effective.

Question 2: Training at altitude has been called "natural doping" because it triggers the natural production of erythropoeitin (EPO). Unfortunately, physiological responses to exercise and altitude may not be compatible with each other.

a) Vasopressin (=ADH) levels increase during exercise. Why would high vasopressin levels be a disadvantage at altitude?

b) Researchers wanted to test the hypothesis that if athletes live at high altitude, but train at low altitude they will have the benefits of both environments. List two variables that the researchers should measure to test their hypothesis. Why are these variables relevant and what results would support their hypothesis?