Lab exam #2

Pre-Lab Questions:

1. What is taxonomy? The science of naming things, most common is binomial nomenclature, scientific name has 2 words

2. What phyla of animals has no true tissues?

Porifera, sponges

3. What phyla of animals demonstrates radial symmetry?

Cnidaria, sea anemone, starfish

4. Name one animal phyla that demonstrates bilateral symmetry?

Humans or crawfish

5. What characteristics are shared by all members of the animal kingdom?

multicellular, eukaryotic organisms that are heterotrophic

6. Do sponges have a digestive tract?

No, they have cells that filter food

7. What is the ecological role for an Earth worm?

To fertilize soil and be food

8. What is an endoparasite?

Lives on outside of hosts

9. What is an ectoparasite?

Lives on inside of hosts

10. What is a marine animal?

Members of the animal kingdom ARE very diverse.  How are they similar?

Characteristics shared by all animals:

• Eukaryotic

• Multicellular

• Heterotrophic

• Sexually reproducing

Patterns in Animal Kingdom Evolution

• From simple to more complex

• From marine to terrestrial

• From radial to bilateral symmetry

Taxonomy:  the science of classifying and naming living things!

Why Taxonomy?

• Taxonomy is important so we can clearly communicate about organisms in a scientific way.   For example, a robin here in the USA and a robin in Great Britain are two very different birds.   

• By using binomial nomenclature (scientific names), we can be clear about what species we mean.   

• Also, taxonomy helps us to categorize organisms and indicate relationships.  Taxonomy allows us to easily indicate, for example, that we are more closely related to a rabbit than a fish.

A VERY Brief History of taxonomy:

• 3000 BCE – Chinese Emperor Shen Nung tests hundreds of herbs for medicinal value.  He was known as the Father of Chinese medicine and is believed to have introduced acupuncture. He wanted to educate his people in agriculture and medicine and is said to have tasted hundreds of herbs to test their medicinal value.  The pharmacopoeia Divine Husbandman's Materia Medica included 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, and animals.

• 1500 BCE – Egyptian wall paintings and preserved scrolls classify different plant species by name

• 384 – 322 BCE – Greek philosopher Aristotle launches the western tradition of taxonomy by classifying plants and animals by their size, habitat (ex. Land or water), and methods of reproduction.  Some of his groups are still used today, like the vertebrates and invertebrates, which he called animals with blood and without blood. His system of classification was not evolutionary, and the various species on the ladder had no specific genetic relationship to each other.

• 1516 - 1565 – Swiss scholar Conrad von Gesner publishes a 5-volume compendium of then-known life forms in the 1550s.

• 1656 – 1708 – French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort classifies about 9,000 species in 698 genera.

• 1707 -1778 – Swedish botanist Carolus Linneaus publishes The System of Nature in 1735, becoming the father of modern taxonomy.  Linnaeus placed humans among the primates and used binomial nomenclature to classify us as Homo sapiens.  Linnaeus’ work continued through his successors, and the principles of taxonomy are now based on genetic principles, informed by the analysis of DNA.

• 1977 – American microbiologist Carl Woese defines the Archaea as a separate domain of life, introducing the 3-domain system used today.

• domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

• Dumb King Phillip Came Over For Green Spaghetti,

The 3 Domain System

• This system proposes that a “last universal common ancestor” (LUCA) cell gave rise to three different cell types, each representing a domain.

• The three domains are the Archaea, the Bacteria, and the Eukarya (eukaryotes).

• The Eukarya are then divided into 4 kingdoms: Protists, Fungi, Animalia, and Plantae.

  • A species represents one type of organism.

  • Binomial Nomenclature:  Genus + species.    Species names are always underlined or written in italics

Most people, when they think of animals, think of those similar to us: dogs, cats, horses, apes, tigers and other mammals.

However, the Kingdom Animalia is in fact a very diverse one, with mammals being just a minor group in terms of numbers of species.

Actually, in terms of diversity and numbers, the Arthropods are far and away dominant and arguably the most important group ecologically.

This lab features some of the more common animal phyla. Work in your lab groups, using this handout as a guide to examine the names, characteristics and examples from each of the phyla represented. Major characteristics are provided.

Objectives for today’s lab:

• At the end of today’s lab you should be able to name these phyla, give their general characteristics, and be able to place an animal into its correct phylum.

• You will also learn some of the classes in the phyla Arthropoda and Chordata and you should be able to place these animals into their correct class.

You are responsible for visually identifying organisms from the phylums and classes listed below.

Phyla Chordata:   

At some point in their life cycles, all chordates have

• a dorsal nerve cord running down the back,

• a notochord (supporting rod made of cartilage just beneath the nerve cord),

• pharyngeal gill slits and a post-anal tail

Subphyla:  Vertebrata (remember only 5% of the animal kingdom has a backbone)

• Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals

Post Lab Questions

1. Which phylum do the following animals belong to?

Jelly fish:  Cnidaria

Siberian tiger  Chordata

tape worm  Platyhelminthes

seagull  Chordata

sea urchin, echinoderm  a phylum of marine invertebrates with a spiny endoskeleton, radial symmetry, and a unique water vascular system

2. What percentage of the animal kingdom are invertebrates?

95%

3. Which class does each of the following animals belong to?

Horse- Mammal

sting ray- cartilaginous fishes

bald eagle-  chordata

dolphin- mammal

octopus- cephalopod

4. Explain why all chordates share these embryonic features: Gill slits, post-anal tail, and a notochord?  because they have a common ancestor and genetic similarities

5. Define these terms:

1. Filter feeder: An organism that feeds by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically using specialized structures like gills or sieves.

2. Bivalve: A class of mollusks characterized by a two-part hinged shell, including organisms like clams, oysters, and mussels, which are often filter feeders.

3. Test: A hard protective outer structure or shell found in certain organisms, such as echinoderms and some protozoans, providing support and protection.

4. Exoskeleton: A hard external structure that provides support and protection to certain animals, such as arthropods and some mollusks; made of chitin or calcium carbonate.

5. Endoskeleton: An internal skeleton made of bone or cartilage, providing structural support and protection for vertebrates and some invertebrates.

6. Crustacean: A class of arthropods that includes crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and barnacles, characterized by a hard exoskeleton and jointed limbs.

7. Sessile: Referring to organisms that are fixed in one place and do not move freely, often attached to a substrate, such as barnacles and corals. arthropod

keel- raised breastbone

skeleton of birds are hollow

leopard sharks are chordata, chondrichthyes

worms are endoparasites

bats make good hosts because they live in colonies so disease easy and travel far in big numbers

largest cell is the egg, smallest is the sperm

only 5% of animals are vertebrates

birds are chordata

Starfish are echinoderm

herbivore, no incisors, has flat teeth

bony fish, they have bones/vertebrae

chitin provides structure to animals and is in the exoskeleton of the beetle

bivalve- soft bodied marine animals that have two shells

All echinoderms have radial symmetry

The sponge is porifera

tooth enamel is the hardest in body, then keratin

turtle rings represent periods of growth

arachnids have 8 legs insects have 6

coral are porifera

snakes are chordata and the class is reptilia

Frogs have short vertebrae to provide mobility so they can jump

urchins and sand dollars, tests skeletons that are made of small plates bound together by collage

1. Recognize and describe the California native plant communities that are exhibited here at the ESA.

2. Understand why California enjoys so much biological diversity.

For each plant community:

Give its chief characteristics (climate, terrain, etc)

Describe the adaptations plants/animals have made to succeed in the community

Name 2 or 3 key plants

________________________________________________________________________

Define the following terms:

Swale- dip of plants that absorbs rain water, reduces flooding

Adaptation- characteristics that adjust to the habitat over time

Riparian-  running water and whats on the bank of the river (deciduous trees, grasses, supports plants and animals)

_______________________________________________________________________

Deciduous- tree that loses its leaves seasonally

Canopy-  the the uppermost layer of branches and leaves of a tree or group of trees that cover the ground

Leaf litter- nesting material fr birds and squirrels, hiding places for small animals, enriches soil, protects seeds from birds, keep soils moist

_______________________________________________________________________

Nutrient cycling-  the process by which nutrients move between living organisms and the non-living parts of an environment:, ex plants: Absorb nutrients from the soil  then Animals: Consume nutrients from plant

Drought resistant adaptations -reduced leaf size, deep root system, cuticle)

Gymnosperms/ Angiosperms-  of angiosperms develop in the ovaries of flowers and are surrounded by a protective fruit. Gymnosperm seeds are usually formed in unisexual cones, known as strobili, and the plants lack fruits and flowers xeric- tolerant to drought (reduced leaf size, deep root system, cuticle)

endemic- native to here and only here

Exotic - not native

Native- comes from that area