Decathlon 26 - 27 Science Section 1

What are animals?

Living organisms that share the same set of criteria in common with one another

What must animals feed on?

Organic matter (not sunlight)

What must animals have in order to break down organic matter?

An internal component like a stomach

What must animals be able to do?

Move from one place to another

What is movement defined as?

The ability to move the entire organism from one place to another

What must animals be made up of?

Multiple cells that contain membrane-bound organelles and produce collagen

What are animal cells made up of?

Eukaryotic cells

What are the defining characteristics of eukaryotic cells?

Internal components seperated by membranes

What do the membranes of eukaryotic cells create?

Separate structures called organelles

What is collagen?

A protein that provides structure to cells and holds them together

How does collagen make animal cells distinct?

By separating them from other eukaryotes like plant cells

What is collagen found in?

Skin, tendons, bones, ligaments, and surrounds the organs of animals

Why are fungi not considered animals?

They do not produce collagen

What do fungi produce that acts similar to collagen?

Chitin

What are protists?

Microscopic organisms made up of eukaryotic cells and can move, but they are usually unicellular and canot produce collagen

What are mammals?

Animals that have spinal cords and brains, produce milk, have hair, and have three middle ear bones

What is the spinal cord?

Part of the central nervous system in which sensory information from the outside world is sent to the brain

What do spinal cords allow for?

Complex motion and reactions

What are animals with spinal cords considered?

The most complex forms of life on earth

From where do mammals produce milk?

Mammary glands

What is the word for whenever an animal gives birth to live young?

Viviparous

What are monotremes?

Mammals that lay eggs (like the platypus and the echidna)

Why do mammals have three ear bones?

Because they all evolved from a common ancestor

What do the three ear bones in mammals allow?

The transmission of sound vibrations into messages into the brain

Where are the majority of mammals found?

The land

What do all animals (except for fish)?

A skeleton

What is the internal support structure of fish made of?

Cartilage

How do reptiles, fish, amphibians, and birds reproduce?

Through oviparous and ovoviviparous means

What does it mean to be oviparous?

To reproduce by laying eggs

What does it mean to be ovoviviparous?

To reproduce by giving live birth to offspring that develop and are hatched internally

What do amphibians include?

Animals that are fully aquatic and semi-terrestrial species

What must all amphibians breathe?

Oxygen

How do amphibians breathe?

Through their skin in addition to their lungs

What do arthropods include?

Insects and arachnids, which are both considered animals

What does the label insects refer to?

Most species of bugs that have 3 body segments and 6 legs

What do arachnids include?

Spiders, mites, ticks, and scorpions

What does the label arachnid refer to?

Animals with 2 body segments and 8 legs

What do arthropods lack?

A spinal cord

What do arthropods have for a circulatory system?

An open circulatory system

What substance the open circulatory system of arthropods circulate?

Hemolymph

What does hemolymph do?

Oxygenate the organs of arthropods

What are honeybee and ant colonies composed of?

Thousands of individuals with specific roles to maintain a systematic flow of raising young and making food

What arthropods tend to be solitude?

Grasshoppers and some species of wasps

What do arthropods not contain?

An internal skeleton

What are arthropods supported by?

An outer skeleton called an exoskeleton

What do goliath bird eater tarantulas usually eat?

Earth worms (sometimes birds)

What percentage of all known animal species are arthropods?

80 - 85 percent

Why are sea sponges considered animals despite resembling plants later in life?

They have a larval phase in which they move freely

How do tardigrades differ from insects?

They are microscopic and belong to their own group of animals

How do sea slugs differ from typical animals?

There are some species that use photosynthesis to obtain their energy from the sun

What does behavior refer to?

All the ways animals interact with other organisms, internal signals, and the physical environment

What does behavior occur in response to?

Either external stimuli or internal stimuli

What are internal stimuli?

Sensations that come from within the organism's own body

What is shivering a response to?

Signals coming from inside the body that indicate it is getting too cold to maintain normal body functions

What are external stimuli?

Anything outside of the animal to which it can respond

What is social behavior?

Where animals interact with other members of their species

What is play behavior?

Social interactions that often imitate functional behaviors, leading to learning more essential skills

What are the nonessential behaviors?

Ornate mating displays and playing behavior

How are ornate mating displays an advantage AND a disadvantage?

They attract mates and predators

What is ecology?

The study of how living organisms interact with their environment to maximize their chances of survival and reproduction

What are the six levels of ecology (from least to greatest)?

Organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, and biosphere

What is an organism?

A single individual

What is a population?

All the organisms in the area that are from the same species

What is a community?

When multiple populations of animals are together

What is an ecosystem?

The interactions with plants and all prior ecological levels

What is a biome?

A large area that contains multiple ecosystems

What is the biosphere?

All environments found on Earth

What are the ecological levels analogous too, from least to greatest?

A bedroom, house, city, state, country, and planet

What happens to animal behavior when there is limited coverage (shelter)?

They may be more reluctant or cautious

What happens when there is a higher density of animals in a location?

There may be more competition for territory, food, or mates

What happens if there's a higher density of animals in a social group?

There can be more protection against predators as there are more eyes watching for danger

What is a keystone species?

Animals that are crucial to the environment

What is taxonomy?

The field of research concerned with the classification of all organisms

How do taxonomists classify living things?

By giving them a standardized series of names

In what order do the series of standardized names animals receive go?

From broad to specific

What name are most animals referred to by?

Their binomial name

What is a binomial name?

A two-part Latin scientific name for a single species

Who developed the moder concept of taxonomy?

The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1735

Why was Latin chosen for taxonomy?

Latin is a dead language, so grammatical rules can't change

What are the eight levels of taxonomy from broadest to most specific?

Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species

What makes up a binomial name?

The Latin italicized genus with the first letter capitalized followed by the italicized species name in all lower-case letters

What do phylogenetic trees visually describe?

The evolutionary history between taxa based on biological features, behavior, genetics, and/or geographic location

What is each line on a phylogenetic tree called?

A branch

What is the point where two branches meet on a phylogenetic tree called?

An internal node

What does each internal node on a phylogenetic tree represent?

The last group that the two animals had in common before there was a divergence event

What is a divergenece event?

The point at which two species can no longer breed because their genetic code is too different

When are two species more related on a phylogenetic tree?

If they connect at a node, because it represents their last common ancestor

When did every single animals common ancestor live?

4.2 billion years ago

What is every animals common ancestor called

Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)

What were the first multicellular animals on Earth?

A type of sponge or jellyfish that lived in the ocean

How far back have scientists found evidence of animals living in ancient oceans?

910 million years ago

What was the genetic code of early animals like?

Simple and primitive

What was the first animal to transition to land?

A millipede creature known as P. newmani

When did P. newmani live?

About 420 million years ago

When did the first animals with bones and spines emerge?

375 million years ago

What did the first animals with bones and spines resemble?

Reptiles or amphibians and lived partially in land and in water

What is the oldest known mammal?

A rodent-like creature called Basilodon

When did the Basilodon exist?

225 million years ago

What percentage of mammals survived the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs?

7 percent

What domain do animals belong to?

Eukarya