JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
  • About K
  • Academics
  • Admission
  • Alumni Relations
  • Giving to K
  • News & Events
  • Student Life
  • HORNET HIVE
  • ATHLETICS
  • SITEMAP
  • WEBMAIL
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   CACHE Homepage
    • Academic Departments, Programs, and SIPs
    • Biology
    • Biology Senior Integrated Projects
    • View Item
    •   CACHE Homepage
    • Academic Departments, Programs, and SIPs
    • Biology
    • Biology Senior Integrated Projects
    • View Item

    Adherence of the Vascular Branching Geometry in the blue Crab, Callinectes Sapidus, to Murray's Cost-Optimized Model

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Searchable PDF / Kalamazoo College Only (1.657Mb)
    Date
    1993
    Author
    Marcinek, David
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Murray's Law predicts that there will be a radius cubed relationship between the parent and daughter vessels of a branching system of vessels that minimize the cost per volumetric flow. This cost-optimizing model has proven to be a loose approximation of biological fluid transport systems as diverse as the trophic systems of sponges and the closed circulatory systems of mammals. This study examines this relationship in yet a third distinct group of animals, the phylum Arthropoda. Molds of the vascular system of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, were made by corrosion casting with modified Bateson's number 17. Diameters were measured from these molds and used to calculate a junction exponent for each branch point, which was then compared to the Murray's predicted value of three. The exponents in the blue crab circulatory system correspond well with Murray's ideal cost-optimized model. These findings are significant for a number of reasons. (1) This study is the first quantitative description of the branching geometry of an open circulatory system. (2) The phylogenetic distance of arthropods from the animals previously studied, sponges and mammals, as well as the distance between these two groups is evidence for three independent evolutions of this branching relationship in biological fluid transport systems. (3) The physiological characteristics of the blue crab vasculature, such as the lack of cells in direct contact with the fluid and the absence of arterial smooth muscle, raise questions as to the mechanism animals use to maintain a relatively constant branching geometry throughout their fluid transport system in the face of dynamic environmental conditions.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10920/23145
    Collections
    • Biology Senior Integrated Projects [1613]

    Browse

    All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Login

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2023  DuraSpace
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
    Logo

    Kalamazoo College
    1200 Academy Street
    Kalamazoo Michigan 49006-3295
    USA
    Info 269-337-7000
    Admission 1-800-253-3602

    About K
    Academics
    Admission
    Alumni Relations
    Giving to K
    News & Events
    Student Life
    Sitemap
    Map & Directions
    Contacts
    Directories
    Nondiscrimination Policy
    Consumer Information
    Official disclaimer
    Search this site


    Academic Calendars
    Apply
    Bookstore
    Crisis Response
    Employment
    Library
    Registrar
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV