ZOOLOGY 1 LECTURE 1 AND 2

INTRODUCTION

Biology is defined as the science that study the life and living organism, including their
physical and chemical structure, function, development and evolution.

Zoology is (or animal biology) is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom
and it is a very broad field of study within many sub-disciplines because of the immense
variety of animals and the complexity of the processes occuring within animals.

However, Agricultural Zoology is one of zoology sub-disciplines. They both have the
same basics and principals in studying the animal form, function, description,
classification, mode of development, heredity, the inter or intra-specific interactios
between animal species and even study of the relationships between animals and their
environment. Moreover, Agricultural Zoology is more specific and has the privileges of
being an applied one which concerns with those animal that interfere or affect
agricultural production whatever they are useful or harmful for plant and domestic
animals.

COURSE OBJECTIVES :

Biology 2 (Agricultural Zoology 1 and 2) course aims to :

- provide students with a broad based knowledge and understanding of biological

basic concepts and fundamental principles.
- develop basic practical skills relating to systematics and experience in comparing
several phyla from relatively simple to more complex which encourage
interpretation and discussion of factual information and issues.
- empasizes on understanding and application of scientific concepts and principles.
In particular, this has been seen a necessary due to the boom in the biotechnology
sector, which requires workers with both theoretical and practical capability to do
the job.

Note : Systematics is a branch of biology deals with classification and nomenclature;

taxonomy.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

As in (Al-Ankabut) Surah, verse (20), Allah gives mankind two orders to move on earth
and see how Allah has created the different distinct forms of life. These two words,
Move and See include using all senses to look, observe, search, think, and understand
how and why life is created.

A man has been given that scientific process which involves the scientific method that
begins with observation since more than 14 century ago. While scientists agreed on
such rules since just a few decades.

1- OBSERVATION

*


Natural lows like gravity have been observed by scientists, and other natural events or
phenomenon can be understood more fully by observing it.

Scientists use all their senses to make an observation. And sometimes extend the ability
of their senses by using instruments, such the microscope which enables us to see
objectives that could never be seen by the naked eye.

Chance also can help a scientist get an idea. Like the most famous case pertains to
penicillin. When Fleming observed in the area around the mold was free of bacteria.
Through investigation, Fleming found that the mold produced an antibacterial
substance he called penicillin.

* Surat (Fussilat), Verse (53)

2- HYPOTHESIS :

After making observations and gathering knowledge about a phenomenon, a scientist

uses inductive reasoning.

- Inductive reasoning occurs whenever a person uses creative thinking to combine

isolated facts into a cohesive whole.

In this way, a scientist comes up with a hypothesis, a possible explanation for a natural
event.

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3- EXPERIMENTS :

Testing a hypothesis involves either conducting an experiment or making a further

observation.

The manner in which a scientist intends to conduct an experiment is called the

experimental design. A good experimental design ensures that scientists are testing
exactly what they want to test and that their results will be meaningful. experiments
always include a control group which goes through all steps of an experiment but lacks
the factor (is not exposed to the tested factor).

4- DATA :

The results of an experiment are referred to as the date. Data should be observable
and objective. Mathematical data are often displayed in the form of graph or table.
Many studies rely on statistical data.

5- CONCLUSION :

Scientists must analyze the data in order to reach a conclusion as to whether the
hypothesis is supported or not. Because of science progresses, the conclusion of one
experiment can lead to the hypothesis of another experiment.

Scientists report their findings in scientific journals so that their methodology and data
are available to other scientists. So that, The experiment must be repeatable, so that any
other scientist who repeats the experiment must get the same results.

6- SCIENTIFIC THEORY :

the ultimate goal of science is to understand the natural world in terms of scientific
theories.

Theory refers to a speculative idea. In contrast, a scientific theory is supported by a

broad range of observations, experiments, and data. For example, the cell theory (all
organisms are composed of cells), the Gene theory (organisms contain coded
information that dictates their form, function, and behavior).

So, to a scientist :

- a hypothesis is a working assumption.

- A theory is a conceptual framework that explains existing observations and
predicts new ones (scientific theories must be falsifiable).

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 - The scientific fact is an observation that has been confirmed repeatedly and
accepted as true (Although its truth is never final).

SUMMARY

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LIFE CHARACTERISTICS

WHAT IS LIFE ?

There are uncounted numbers of definitions of life but there is no universal agreement
as to a definition of life. Some say life is the characteristic state or condition of a living
organism or the course of existence of an individual or the state of being alive.

However, it can be generally said that life is an organic phenomenon that distinguishes
living organisms characterized by certain features.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE :

1- PROTOPLASM:

Protoplasm is the living content of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It

can be differentiated into cytoplasm and the nucleus.

It furnishes all physical and chemical (organic-inorganic) basis of life since all vital
activities such as growth, movement, execration, irritability, reproduction, etc take place
in it.

The chemical components include:

- Lipids (C, H, O used for cell membrane).

- Protein (C, H, O, N used for structure and metabolism).
- Nucleic acids (C, H, O, P, N - DNA and RNA for genetic inform).

2- ORGANIZATION:

The bodies of all living organisms are composed of certain structural units, the cells
which are grouped to form body tissues, and these also grouped to form the body
organs, which in turn comprise the different organ systems of the individual.

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3- METABOLISM:

This includes the different biological activities which take place in the protoplasm. These
are two main categories :

a) Anabolism:

Is the building up of a new living material from the foodstuff, in the presence of energy.
Anabolism starts with the intake of food or ingestion this food cannot be utilized by the
body as such, but it must be first transformed into a soluble material which can through
the cell membrane so that the animal can make use of it.

The change of complex food materials into simple soluble ones within the body is
known as a digestive. Digestion is followed by absorption which means the diffusion of
the soluble food materials into the cells.

Inside the body cells, these substances undergo a process known as assimilation i.e.
they are transformed into materials similar to those of living cells in which they are
deposited.

- Thus, digested substances absorbed by the liver cells, for example, are
transformed into a material similar to that found originally in the liver cells, and
those absorbed by the kidney cells are converted into a material similar to that
originally existing in the kidney cells, and so on. Assimilation takes place by the
help of certain enzymes known as synthesizing enzymes.

Some of the taken by the animal cannot be digested. Such substances are usually
harmful to the body. which thus gets rid of them by expelling them to the exterior as
feces. This process is known as egestion.

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b) Katabolism:

Includes all the processes that break down the assimilated food material for the
liberation of energy, which is necessary for the body to carry out its vital activities.
These processes take place in the presence of oxygen and are collectively known as
respiration. Energy is liberated in the form of heat as a result of this process which is
catalyzed by a large number of respiratory enzymes and coenzymes found in the animal
cells.

There is a continuous breakdown of the living material in the body. And since many of
the cellular substances contain nitrogen, some nitrogenous products such as urea are
produced as a result of their breakdown these substances are poisonous to the body
which therefore gets rid of them by a process known as nitrogenous excretion.
Elimination of carbon dioxide and water resulting from respiration is somtimes referred
to as carbonaceous excretion.

It should be emphasized. however, that there is a difference between egestion and

excretion. Egestion means getting rid of certain substances which were not digested and
were not utilized by the body in the formation of new cellular material. But excretion
means the elimination of certain waste products which were found as a result of the
breaking down of certain cellular material.

4- GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:

Means the addition of new substances to the living material of the body.

- If the rate of Katabolism equals that of anabolism, no growth takes place. But if
anabolism is greater than Katabolism, new materials are added to the body, cells
are replicated, materials are constructed, body size increase and body from
develops.

Growth also takes place in non-living material, eg. the formation of crystals.

But there is a marked difference between growth in a living matter and that in the non-
living material. In the former case, growth takes place by the lodging of interposition of
new material within that already existing in the organism, a process known a
intussusceptions. On the other hand, growth in a non-living material is known as
accretion, which means the accumulation of new material around the pre-existing
material.

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5 - IRRITABILITY (SENSITIVITY):

It is the ability to respond to stimuli in the environment or it is the capacity of the

living organisms to react to the changes which take place in the surrounding medium.
Such changes act as stimuli which result in a certain response of the organism in a
suitable manner.

Stimuli are either external or internal:

- Externalstimuli may be physical, such as heat, cold, pressure or chemical as

acidity, alkalinity or salinity.
- Internal stimuli include hunger, anger, fear, etc.

Irritability takes place mainly by certain specialized parts of the body, namely the
nervous and sensory organs, such as the eyes, nose, and ear.

The response of the organism to a stimulus is not permanent and may disappear when
the stimulus in stopped. This is unlike the response of a non-living material to different
stimuli, in which case the material may be permanently altered in shape, size or
structure as in case of bending a rod of iron by heating.

6- REPRODUCTION:

This is the ability of living organisms to produce new individuals similar to the original
parents, thus keeping the race from extinction.

Reproduction takes place by different methods which may be either asexual or sexual :

a) asexual Reproduction : Takes place in lower animals and plants in one of the
following ways :

1. Binary Fission: In which the individual divides into two halves usually similar to
each other. These separate from each other and each half grows into a new
individual similar to the parents.

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 2. Budding: In this case, a small protrusion, Knows as the bud, develops on the
individuals and grows gradually into a new individual. This either separates from
the original parent to lead an independent life or remains attached to the original
individual. The latter case results in the production of colonies of many
individuals as those familiar in sponges and coelenterates.

3. Sporulation: This process is well illustrated in Plasmodium. In this case, the

nucleus divides repeatedly and each daughter nucleus becomes surrounded by a
part of cytoplasm. The resulting cells are called spores These spores separate
from each other and each grows into a new individual.

4. Regeneration (Fragmentation): Certain animals have the ability to replace or

regenerate lost parts of their body. For example, If an earthworm is cut into two
or more pieces, each of them can grow into a complete worm. Stratfishes, carbs
and some other animals can regenerate lost arms or other parts of the body.

5. Parthenogenesis (Virgin Birth): In Parthenogenesis, The females produce eggs,

develop into young without even being fertilized.
Parthenogenesis occurs in same species of Arthropods (Honeybee), Nematodes
(The root-knot nematodes and few species of lizards).

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b) Sexual Production: This mode of reproduction is frequent in a large variety of living
organism.

The process involves certain specialized parts of the body known as the sexual organs or
gonads, those found in the male individuals are called testes, and those found in the
female are the ovaries.

- Testes and ovaries produce germ cells known as spermatozoa and ova
respectively. During reproduction, a spermatozoon fuses with the ovum and a
fertilization egg or zygote is produced. This soon undergoes gradual
development resulting in the formation of the new individual.

There are certain animals in which both male and female organs are found in one
individual. These are known as hermaphrodite or monoecious (mono = one, oecium =
house) animals. On the other hand, individuals in which sexes are separate are known as
diecious (di = two) animals.

7- HOMEOSTASIS:

Organisms use chemical bonds energy to manipulate and maintain the chemical and
physical medium within cells and within whole organisms.In this way, organisms
maintain control over their internal environment which considerably buffered from the
vagaries of their immediate external environment.

This mechanism of control to regulate and maintain an optimal set of internal condition
for life or the physical process where the internal systems of the body are maintained
despite changes in external condition is called homeostasis Ex. Sweeting, body
Temperature, blood glucose level, PH, hormones.

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8- RHYTHMICITY:

Property where certain processes are set to select time pattern (human and rats have
sleep-wake cycles).

9- HEREDITY:

Genetic blueprint determines an organism's characters (DNA, Genes, and roles of

inheritance).

FACTORS NECESSARY FOR LIFE:

1- Organic compounds (organic - containing carbon).

2- Liquid Water.

3- Source of energy:

- Sunlight: light energy used to make food (photosynthesis).

- Geochemical: Ex. Hydrogen sulfide - Chemosynthesis (Chemical breakdown
provides energy to make food).

LEVELS OF CELLULAR ORGANIZATION:

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