The purpose of this laboratory is to
provide some practical experience in determining allometric relationships,
and to expose you to some of the limitations of the techniques.
The purpose of this laboratory is to
provide some practical experience in determining allometric relationships,
and to expose you to some of the limitations of the techniques.
Gulliver's Travels presents some classic
examples of serious problems with allometric relationships!
Examine the series of biological structures
provided. Using ideas and techniques described in the lecture and discussion
papers, examine at least two functionally important scaling relationships.
Please make sure that the two relationships you examine are dimensionally
different, ie. if one parameter is related to l1 then the other
should be related to either l2 or l3. Calculate the
allometric relationships for your chosen parameters, and discuss the
significance of your results. Show all of your results. ALL
reports must be passed in at the beginning of the laboratory the following week.
(These structures are on loan, so please be careful when making your
measurements. DO NOT touch them with a pen or pencil!!!)