Science Section I: Vocab and Key Concepts

The criteria to be an animal

An organism that...

1) Feeds on organic matter

2) Moves completely from place to place

3) Made up of multiple eukaryotic cells that contain membrane-bound organelles and produce collagen

Animal cells that have membrane-bound organelles working together to help the cell function

Eukaryotic cells

A protein that provides structure to cells and holds them together.

Collagen

Where is collagen found?

Skin, tendons, bones, ligaments, and surrounding organs of animals

Animals that have...

- spinal cords

- brains

- produce milk

- have hair

- have 3 middle ear bones

Mammals

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

Spinal cord

Animals that give birth to live young.

Viviparous

Animals that reproduce by laying eggs

Oviparous

Animals that give live birth to offspring that develop and are hatched internally

Ovoviviparous

Insects and arachnids are part of...

Arthropods

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

Behavior

Anything outside of the animal to which it can respond to is termed...

An external stimuli

Signals coming from inside the body to which the animal can respond to is termed...

Internal stimuli

All the organisms in the area that are from the same species make up a...

Population

Multiple different populations create...

A community

Multiple communities make up an...

Ecosystem

A large area that contains multiple ecosystems is termed...

A biome

All environments found on planet Earth.

Biosphere

Animals that are crucial to their environment are called...

Keystone species

The field of research concerned with the classification of all organisms, not just animals

Taxonomy

A two-part Latin scientific name for a single species.

Binomial name

A visual description of evolutionary history between taxa based on biological features, behavior, genetics, and/or geographic location.

Phylogenetic trees

A line on a phylogenetic tree is called a...

Branch

The point where two branches meet is called...

An internal node

The point at which two species can no longer breed with one another because their genetic code is too different is termed...

A divergence event

The extent to which individuals are best fit for their environment and will be the most successful at reproducing and surviving is termed...

Fitness

The manifestation of a genetic code that produces a specific characteristics is called a...

Trait

The mechanism that drives evolution.

Natural selection

Natural selection is driven by...

Selective pressures

A theory purporting that when an animal behaves in a way that brings harm to themselves, but benefits others whom the animal is genetically related, it increases the fitness of offspring that carry that animal's genetic code.

Kin selection

The term for the science of animal behavior.

Ethology

The process by which young animals, during a critical point in development, recognize stimuli as a parent is called...

Imprinting

Innate (instinctual) behaviors

Behaviors that do not need to be learned

When the behavior of animals is viewed through the lens of human behavior.

Anthropomorphism

Hypothesis-driven studies that measure the frequency of a behavior and may use natural or artificual manipulations.

Observational studies

The group in a research study that is not manipulated in any way.

Control group

Uses a detailed description of behavior to quantify the frequency or types of behavior exhibited.

Ethograms

When two or more researchers compare results for accuracy.

Inter-rater reliability

Utilized in animal behavior research; can quickly detect and accurately measure behaviors from researcher input

Machine learning

The total change in the population of organisms over time.

Evolution