Biology 9 - Animal Systems Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes covering animal organization, circulation, respiration, nervous system, sense organs, and locomotion.

Tissues

A collection of specialized cells organized to perform a common function.

Epithelial Tissue (epithelium)

Forms a continuous layer over body surfaces, lines body cavities, and forms glands. Functions include protection, secretion, absorption, excretion, and filtration.

Simple Epithelia

A single layer of cells all touching the basement membrane. Classified according to cell type: squamous, cuboidal, or columnar.

Glandular Epithelia

Epithelia that secrete a product. Can be single-celled or multicellular, including exocrine (secreting into ducts) and endocrine (secreting into the bloodstream) glands.

Stratified Epithelia

Layers of cells where only the bottom layer touches the basement membrane.

Connective Tissue

Specialized cells in a noncellular ground substance with protein fibers (collagen, reticular, elastic). Categories include fibrous, supportive, and fluid.

Fibrous Connective Tissue

Consists of fibroblast cells and a matrix containing collagen and elastic fibers. Includes loose, adipose, and dense connective tissues.

Supportive Connective Tissue

Cartilage (hyaline, elastic, fibrocartilage) and bone. Cartilage cells lie in lacunae in the matrix, while bone matrix is inorganic salts around protein fibers.

Fluid Connective Tissue

Blood (cells in liquid plasma) and lymph (fluid in lymphatic vessels).

Muscular (Contractile) Tissue

Contractile cells (muscle fibers) containing actin and myosin filaments. Three types: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle.

Nervous Tissue

Conducts electrical impulses, conveying information. Includes neurons (transmit information) and neuroglia (support and nourish neurons).

Organ

Composed of two or more tissue types working together for a particular function.

Organ System

Composed of various organs that cooperate to carry out a general process.

Body Cavities

Dorsal cavity (cranial and vertebral) and ventral cavity (thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic).

Integumentary System

Skin and its derivatives. Functions include protection, temperature regulation, and sensory reception.

Epidermis

Stratified squamous epithelium; contains melanocytes that produce melanin (pigment).

Dermis

Deeper and thicker than epidermis; fibrous connective tissue containing receptors, nerve fibers, and blood vessels.

Subcutaneous Layer

Loose, connective tissue located below dermis.

Homeostasis

The ability of an organism to maintain a relatively constant internal environment.

Negative Feedback

The primary homeostatic mechanism that keeps a variable close to a set value.

Positive Feedback

A mechanism that brings about an ever greater change in the same direction.

Circulatory System

Functions to move fluid between various parts of the body.

Hemolymph

Mixture of blood and tissue fluid that fills the body cavity and surrounds internal organs in open circulatory systems.

Cardiovascular System

A closed circulatory system in vertebrates consisting of the heart and blood vessels.

Arteries

Carry blood away from the heart; have thicker walls to accommodate high pressure.

Veins

Return blood to the heart; have thinner walls and valves.

Systole

Contraction of heart chambers.

Diastole

Relaxation of heart chambers.

Sinoatrial node (SA)

Keeps the heartbeat regular (pacemaker).

Blood Pressure

Contraction of the heart supplies pressure that keeps blood moving in the arteries. Measured as systolic/diastolic.

Hypertension

High blood pressure

Atherosclerosis

Accumulation of fatty materials between the inner linings of arteries.

Stroke

Cranial arteriole bursts or is blocked by an embolus.

Heart attack

Coronary artery becomes completely blocked.

Red Blood Cells (RBCs)

Small, biconcave disks that transport oxygen using hemoglobin.

White Blood Cells (WBCs)

Important in inflammatory response; include granular and agranular leukocytes.

Platelets

Involved in blood clotting (coagulation).

Respiration

The events that result in gas exchange between the body’s cells and environment.

Ventilation

Breathing: Inspiration (inhaling) and expiration (exhaling).

External Respiration

Gas exchange between air and blood within the lungs.

Internal Respiration

Gas exchange between the blood and tissue fluid.

Lungs

Vascularized outgrowths from the lower pharyngeal region; site of gas exchange in terrestrial vertebrates.

Alveoli

Elongated spaces at the end of bronchioles where gas exchange occurs with blood in neighboring capillaries.

Partial pressure

The amount of pressure exerted by a gas.

Oxyhemoglobin (HbO2)

Oxygen combined with hemoglobin in RBCs.

Cold

Mild viral infections characterized by sneezing, runny nose, mild fever.

Pneumonia

Viral, bacterial, or fungal infection of the lungs in which bronchi and alveoli fill with fluid.

Neurons

Nerve cells that transmit information; consist of dendrites, a cell body, and an axon.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Includes the brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Consists of all nerves and ganglia that lie outside the CNS; includes somatic and autonomic nervous systems.

Motor Neurons

Accept nerve impulses from the CNS and transmit them to muscles or glands.

Sensory Neurons

Accept impulses from sensory receptors and transmit them to the CNS.

Interneurons

Convey nerve impulses between various parts of the CNS.

Resting Potential

The membrane potential (voltage) when the axon is not conducting an impulse (around -70 mV).

Action Potential

A rapid change in polarity across a portion of an axonal membrane.

Synapse

A region where neurons nearly touch; neurotransmitters carry transmission across the synaptic cleft.

Spinal Cord

Center for many reflex actions and means of communication between the brain and spinal nerves.

Cerebrum

The largest portion of the brain in humans; communicates with, and coordinates activities of, the other parts of the brain.

Cerebral Cortex

A thin but highly convoluted outer layer of gray matter covering the cerebral hemispheres.

Thalamus

Integrates sensory information and sends it to the cerebrum.

Cerebellum

Responsible for balance and coordinate movements

Medulla Oblongata

Contains reflex centers for vomiting, coughing, sneezing, hiccupping, and swallowing.

Somatic System

Includes cranial and spinal nerves; gathers information from sensors and conducts decisions to effectors; controls skeletal muscles (voluntary).

Autonomic System

Controls the smooth muscles, cardiac muscles, and glands (involuntary); divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.

Sensory Receptors

Specialized cells capable of detecting changes in internal or external conditions and communicating that information to the central nervous system.

Chemoreceptors

Sensory receptors responsible for taste and smell.

Photoreceptors

Sensory receptors responsible for responding to light.

Mechanoreceptors

Sensory receptors stimulated by mechanical forces, such as pressure.

Thermoreceptors

Sensory receptors stimulated by changes in temperature.

Photoreceptors

Sensory receptors that are sensitive to light

Chemical Senses

Chemoreception is a primative sense found in almost all animals, used to locate food, find a mate, etc.

Sclera

Opaque outer layer, covering most of the eye

Conjunctiva

Covers surface of the sclera and keeps the eyes moist

Choroid

Thin middle layer that contains blood vessels. Forms the ciliary body and the iris infront of the eye

Retina

Inner layer of the eye, contains rod and cone cells

Rhodopsin

Pigment composed of opsin and retinal in the eye

Mechanorecptors

Hair cells of the cochlear canal

Hydrostatic

Skeletons found in cnidarians, flatworms, roundworms, annelids that use fluid pressure to offer support and resistance to the contraction of muscles so that mobility results

Exoskeleton

External Skeleton found in mollusks like calcium carbonate or arthropods of chitin

Endoskeleton

Internal Skeleton found in Echinoderms and vertebrates of minerallized bone and cartilage

Osteoclasts

Cells that break down bone, Remove worn cells, Deposit calcium in the blood and work with osteoblasts to heal broken bones

Myofibrils

Contractile structures in sarcoplasm, that are encased in the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

Sarcomeres

Units of contraction that consist primarily of proteins-Myosin and Actin

Acetylcholinesterase

Breaks down ACh, ending contraction