Category: Biology

Explore the Comparative Physiology Literature. Find six original peer reviewed papers (each includes original data about animals) from leading comparative physiology journals (See specific journals listed below), write short summaries/comments about each and complete a summary analysis of the papers in a table documenting the diversity of the topics and animals. Then upload each of the original papers in PDF format and a file containing a) the bibliography and b) the six commentaries and c) the table summarizing the diversity of the papers.

All of the papers should be about how animals work. They can focus on one or more levels of biological organization – the cellular, tissue, organ, organ system or whole organism level and can they focus on any of

. (Nesse, R.M., 2013. Tinbergens four questions, organized: a response to Bateson and Laland. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(12), pp.681-82.)

Locate scientific papers by searching through journal websites (I recommend this when you are first learning about a journal), our library index, Google, Google Scholar, Pub Med, JSTOR, etc. You can also use scite the AI app to find and curate papers. (Note that ChatGTP can give made-up citations so I would avoid that as a source of papers unless you ask for DOIs and you can then check them easily.) This might best be a two-step process: first locating a paper of interest and then using Google scholar.

Steps

1. Find six primary (peer reviewed with data and a methods section describing how they made the measurements) research papers (not reviews or commentaries or meta analyses) that catch your interest and download them in pdf form and upload them to Canvas as part of the assignment.

Get at least one paper from each of the following three journals and no more than 2 per journal.

• Journal of Comparative Physiology
• Physiological Zoology and Biochemistry
• Journal of Experimental Biology

The remaining papers can come from these journals (2 papers maximum for one journal) or any of the ones list below, but the articles must be about animal physiology (any animal taxon is OK), except model species such as rats, mice, rabbits, pigs, drosophila, etc.) and pet species (dogs, cats, etc.)

Other good journals:

Journal of Physiology, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, American Journal of Physiology (many sections), Functional Ecology, Biological Bulletin, Journal of Thermal Biology & Journal of Insect Physiology or one not on this list but that I have OKed. Occasional the three highest profile journals Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) have articles.

1. Make a list of these six articles in standard bibliographic form (see citations in the papers you have selected for correct formats for literature cited but it is easiest to cut and paste (and correct as necessary) using Google Scholar) and rank them in the order of interest. You may also find it helpful to use Googles library option (I will demonstrate in class) or install a reference manager such as Mendeley or Zotero. The UMB library has instructions in how to use them.

Here is an example of a list of papers formatted correctly

Carlisle, D.B., 1968. Triops (Entomostraca) eggs killed only by boiling. Science, 161(3838), pp.279-2 80.

Geiser, F. and Kenagy, G.J., 1988. Torpor duration in relation to temperature and metabolism in hibernating ground squirrels. Physiological Zoology, 61(5), pp.442-449.

Harano, K.I., Maia-Silva, C. and Hrncir, M., 2020. Adjustment of fuel loads in stingless bees (Melipona subnitida). Journal of Comparative Physiology A, pp.1-10.

Leaf, A. and Renshaw, A., 1957. Ion transport and respiration of isolated frog skin. Biochemical Journal, 65(1), p.82.

Waller, L.A., Lailvaux, S.P. and Wilson, R.S., 2025. Honesty Is Costly in a Deceptive System: Locomotor Costs of Producing Large and Strong Weapons for the Crayfish Cherax destructor. Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology, 98(6), pp.369-380.

Pitt, K.A., Duarte, C.M., Lucas, C.H., Sutherland, K.R., Condon, R.H., Mianzan, H., Purcell, J.E., Robinson, K.L. and Uye, S.I., 2013. Jellyfish body plans provide allometric advantages beyond low carbon content. PloS one, 8(8), p.e72683.

Thoen, H.H., How, M.J., Chiou, T.H. and Marshall, J., 2014. A different form of color vision in mantis shrimp. Science, 343(6169), pp.411-413.

1. Include 2 – 4 sentences about what was of interest to you in each paper.
2. Fill in a table with an analysis of each paper using the same headings as in the example below documenting the diversity of the topics and taxa. Try to get a variety of different topics and phyla. Using the table from the first day of class as inspiration

Tips and Mistakes to avoid.

• Look for papers that say Research Article,
• Make sure each paper is NOT a commentary article. It needs to have methods, results and discussions sections,
• Avoid just a number for the file names. I recommend that you name the PDF files with the author, year and title: For example Harano et al 2020. Adjustment of fuel loads in stingless bees (Melipona subnitida)
• Make sure to italicize species names written as genus and species such as Melipona subnitida
• Do not forgot to upload all 6 journal articles,
• Make sure the PDFs match the papers you write about

read attached files pick either topic A, B, C, or D, thank you.

Cancer Risk Across Mammals: Research Paper Analysis Assignment Paper: Vincze et al. (2022) “Cancer risk across mammals” Nature 601:263-267 Assignment Overview This assignment will help you develop skills in reading and critically evaluating scientific research papers. You’ll work through a major research study published in the prestigious journal Nature that examines cancer occurrence across different mammal species. Part I: Understanding the Research Question Read: Abstract and Introduction What is “Peto’s paradox”? Explain this concept in your own words. What was the main research question the authors wanted to answer? Why is it difficult to study cancer in wild animals? List at least two challenges mentioned by the authors. Part II: Methods and Data Collection Read: Methods section What type of animals did the researchers study, and where did the data come from? How many individual animals and how many different species were included in the study? What are the two metrics (CMR and ICM) the authors used to measure cancer mortality? Explain what each one represents in simple terms. Part III: Main Findings Read: Results sections and Figure 1 According to Figure 1, which mammalian order (group) had the highest cancer mortality risk? Which mammalian order had the lowest cancer mortality risk? What did the study find about the relationship between body size and cancer risk across different mammal species? Was there a strong relationship? What did the study find about the relationship between lifespan and cancer risk across species? Part IV: Diet and Cancer Risk Read: The section on carnivorous diet and Figure 2 What dietary pattern was associated with higher cancer risk? Be specific about which types of prey consumption showed the strongest association. What are two possible explanations the authors give for why this dietary pattern might increase cancer risk? Part V: Critical Analysis Questions These questions require you to think critically about the research: What was actually measured in this study? Be specificwas it cancer incidence in living animals, cancer deaths, or something else? How might this affect the conclusions? The title of the paper is “Cancer risk across mammals.” Based on what you read about their methods, is this title accurate? Do the data actually show cancer “risk” or something else? Explain your reasoning. Are the authors’ claims about which animal groups have higher cancer rates justified by their study design? Consider the source of their data (zoo animals) and whether this represents natural populations. There is evidence that the same biological characteristics that increase vulnerability to some forms of cancer may provide resistance to other forms of cancer. The authors do not present the types of cancer that were identified in animals at necropsy (e.g., breast cancer vs melanoma). Rather, they treat cancer as a single entity. Explain how this knowledge limits the strength of the paper’s findings. There is evidence from human epidemiological studies that cancer risk increases with high consumption of red meat. The authors reference this and use it to support their findings. Do you agree or disagree that this information supports their findings? Why or why not? Submission Guidelines Length: No more than 3-5 pages, typed, double-spaced Format: Use question numbers and provide clear, complete answers Citations: If you reference information beyond what’s in the paper, cite your sources

1- At CU Boulders College of Arts & Sciences, the ampersand (&) is more than just a symbol. It represents the power of combining ideas, identities, passions, and disciplines. We call this ANDing. Its about how you bring together different parts of yourself – your academic interests, creative pursuits, cultural identities, values, and goals to build something meaningful, innovative, and uniquely your own. Tell us: How do you embody the spirit of the ampersand? How do you combine different aspects of who you are, what you love, and what youre curious about in your learning, creativity, and community? Describe the ways you “AND” and how this shapes your goals and vision for the future. No more than 250 words. Include how CU Boulder is my dream school to major in biology for pre-med.