BIOL-2356EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Lontra, Heterotroph, Photosynthesis
2 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Heterotrophs eat other organisms or organic matter produced by others to obtain energy. Need specific molecules produced by others: amino acids, vitamins, fatty acids. Morphology reflects the type of food they eat. No animals can digest cellulose though it is needed some symbiotic relations with microbes: carnivores have simple digestive tracts vs herbivores who can digest cellulose are formed. Heterotrophs need energy in organic molecules as they cannot photosynthesize. Different species have special tools for their type of diet: beavers are herbivores and so have large front teeth, otters are carnivores and so have sharper teeth. Some teeth are made for slicing meat like the martes pennanti. Some teeth are made for crushing fish like the lontra canadensis: violet crowned hummingbirds have long beaks in order to gather nectar, hawfinch have short beaks for cherry pits. The morphology and structure of an organisms is a good indicator of the organisms behaviour and its ecology.
