This blog is devoted to BIOL 6988, a graduate level seminar in the biological sciences at Youngstown State University. While targeted towards graduate students, BIOL 6988 actively incorporates undergraduate participants in their scholastic endeavors in the biological sciences. This blog is intended as a educational tool not just for YSU students and faculty, but for anyone who wishes to contribute to an active-learning environment.
Dakota gave an interesting presentation on two connected topics. It is interesting to see how sloth limbs are structurally related to that of people of physiologically function differently. Sloths are slow and deliberate in all aspects of their life and by studying them we are seeing a different way of living. Perhaps this understanding with lead to sloth prosthetics! What is something else we could take away from studying sloths?
This was really a fascinating presentation from Dakota. It was fun learning a new thing which I had not thought about before. I have actually come to learn three things about sloths which might trigger my curiosity. Sloths spend prolonged periods inactive and when they move they do so slowly and deliberately to conserve energy and avoid predator detection. They are physically unable 2 traverse gaps in the canopy by jumping and moving to the ground is a laborious and dangerous strategy. Sloths spend most of their time in the trees either breeding or feeding and however they descend to the ground once or twice a week to defecate and urinate by digging a hole with their tail while the front legs are attached to the trunk of the tree. There is a lot to learn about sloths and I found this very interesting and I must say this is a good area of research.
This was a great presentation by Dakota. After being in Dr. Butcher's lab this semester it was exciting to see the presentation that Dakota has been working on. Sloth's are fascinating animals and it's great that they are being studied here at our university. Answering Briana's question, I believe that what we can take away from studying sloths is the ability to apply how they conserve energy to other animals. We can use sloth's as a model and be able to compare and contrast their energy conservation to how other similar animals conserve or use their energy.
To most people, they see sloths as these slow and largely inactive animals. Prior to hearing the research that Dr. Butcher, Dakota, and some of Dr. Butcher's previous graduate students were doing, I would have described a sloth as an animal that is trying it's best to be a plant. However, like with most things in science, things become much more interesting and unexpected when you look into the fine details and nuances, which I think is one of the many things we can take away from Dakota's presentation. Being able to support and move their body weight for those extended times would be an exhausting (if not impossible) task for humans, but they are able to do so very efficiently. I thought it was particularly interesting that sloths have the capacity to move fast, but they don't. Granted, metabolic energy conservation is the main goal for the sloth, but why not move a little faster like the rest of us? I think that questions like this opens the door perfectly to further research across several fields. Very well done!
I was captivated by Dakota’s presentation on sloths since it was quite different from my own field of study. It is interesting to know that sloths have muscle mass half that of human beings but still have high strength and endurance even compared to humans. I am not entirely sure if he talked about some the muscles responsible for the sloth’s stout but It would also be interesting to know which of these muscles and how they are structured differently compared to those of humans.
Interesting!! I believe sloths are fun to be with. Their nature makes them unique among other mammals. Their slow movements and hanging upside down, their resilience and endurance make them strong.
Everyone seems to think sloth muscles are really slow because they move very slow. It was really cool to see the actual muscle architecture properties showing that they are actually faster and have more range of motion than expected. We could also take away from sloths how they have adapted over time. Just like us walking everywhere, well they hang everywhere. We could look at how they evolved to become this strong and powerful.
Cool presentation! It's interesting how a sloth's muscle architecture varies from other mammals. I wouldn't expect sloths to have the strength that they do compared to humans. I wonder how their conservation of energy can be applied to other mammals?
Dakota gave an interesting presentation on two connected topics. It is interesting to see how sloth limbs are structurally related to that of people of physiologically function differently. Sloths are slow and deliberate in all aspects of their life and by studying them we are seeing a different way of living. Perhaps this understanding with lead to sloth prosthetics! What is something else we could take away from studying sloths?
ReplyDeleteThis was really a fascinating presentation from Dakota. It was fun learning a new thing which I had not thought about before. I have actually come to learn three things about sloths which might trigger my curiosity. Sloths spend prolonged periods inactive and when they move they do so slowly and deliberately to conserve energy and avoid predator detection. They are physically unable 2 traverse gaps in the canopy by jumping and moving to the ground is a laborious and dangerous strategy. Sloths spend most of their time in the trees either breeding or feeding and however they descend to the ground once or twice a week to defecate and urinate by digging a hole with their tail while the front legs are attached to the trunk of the tree. There is a lot to learn about sloths and I found this very interesting and I must say this is a good area of research.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great presentation by Dakota. After being in Dr. Butcher's lab this semester it was exciting to see the presentation that Dakota has been working on. Sloth's are fascinating animals and it's great that they are being studied here at our university. Answering Briana's question, I believe that what we can take away from studying sloths is the ability to apply how they conserve energy to other animals. We can use sloth's as a model and be able to compare and contrast their energy conservation to how other similar animals conserve or use their energy.
ReplyDeleteTo most people, they see sloths as these slow and largely inactive animals. Prior to hearing the research that Dr. Butcher, Dakota, and some of Dr. Butcher's previous graduate students were doing, I would have described a sloth as an animal that is trying it's best to be a plant. However, like with most things in science, things become much more interesting and unexpected when you look into the fine details and nuances, which I think is one of the many things we can take away from Dakota's presentation. Being able to support and move their body weight for those extended times would be an exhausting (if not impossible) task for humans, but they are able to do so very efficiently. I thought it was particularly interesting that sloths have the capacity to move fast, but they don't. Granted, metabolic energy conservation is the main goal for the sloth, but why not move a little faster like the rest of us? I think that questions like this opens the door perfectly to further research across several fields. Very well done!
ReplyDeleteI was captivated by Dakota’s presentation on sloths since it was quite different from my own field of study. It is interesting to know that sloths have muscle mass half that of human beings but still have high strength and endurance even compared to humans. I am not entirely sure if he talked about some the muscles responsible for the sloth’s stout but It would also be interesting to know which of these muscles and how they are structured differently compared to those of humans.
ReplyDeleteInteresting!! I believe sloths are fun to be with. Their nature makes them unique among other mammals. Their slow movements and hanging upside down, their resilience and endurance make them strong.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to think sloth muscles are really slow because they move very slow. It was really cool to see the actual muscle architecture properties showing that they are actually faster and have more range of motion than expected. We could also take away from sloths how they have adapted over time. Just like us walking everywhere, well they hang everywhere. We could look at how they evolved to become this strong and powerful.
ReplyDeleteCool presentation! It's interesting how a sloth's muscle architecture varies from other mammals. I wouldn't expect sloths to have the strength that they do compared to humans. I wonder how their conservation of energy can be applied to other mammals?
ReplyDelete