Animal Diversity

What is an animal?
Your text defines an animal as a eukaryotic, multicellular, heterotroph, that lacks a cell wall. Eukaryotic - separates animals from bacteria and bluegreen algae (cyanobacteria) Multicellular - separates animals from any protists Heterotroph - separates animals from plants and some protists Lacks a cell wall - separates animals from plants.

Other distinguishing features- Life cycles. Most adult stages are diploid which form gametes by meiosis. Gametes (egg and sperm) fuse to form a new individual which begins as a diploid zygote. The zygote divides by mitosis to an early stage referred to as a blastula, a single layer of cells surrounding a hollow cavity. Further development results in a gastrula which looks like an indented blastula. The gastrula develops into a saclike embryo. Eventually three layers of cells form from which the epidermis and nervous system, the digestive tract, and other organs develop. Some animals develop through several morphological forms. The most immature form is the larvae which eventually develops into an adult through these stages. Development of this type is called metamorphosis.

March through the phyla of the kingdom Animalia Porifera. These are the sponges. There are about 5000 species. Most are marine but some (150) are freshwater aquatic organisms. Most feed on bacteria that flow through their porous bodies.

Cnidaria. Radial symmetry, seen is some sponges, is a hallmark of Cnidarians. These include Hydra which have a polyp body form and jellyfish which have a medusa body form. The two traits that mark an animal as a cnidarian is radial symmetry and the presence of cnidocytes (stinging cells) used to capture prey and defend the animal. These animals have a digestive cavity and a gastrula stage which are not seen in sponges. However, these animals are considered to be "tissue animals" which means the functions are achieved by tissue rather than organs, which are organized layers of tissues (different tissues) that perform a function or functions.

Platyhelminthes. The flatworms. These animals show bilateral symmetry or left and right are symmetrical. They do have a dorsal (back or top) that is different from the ventral (front or bottom). These animals include the planaria that you played with in high school biology, flukes, and tapeworms. Many are parasitic. These organisms do not have a body cavity except for the digestive tract itself. The body cavity on higher organisms is called a coelom and it is lined by a layer of tissue from the middle in development. It was the evolution of the coelom that allowed for the development of organs.

Nematoda. The roundworms. These are the first organisms covered by a nonliving layer of tissue called the cuticle, that protects the organisms from drying and being crushed. It is a "skin". This allows these to live in the soil rather that wet environments. They have a pseudocoelom. An animal with a pseudocoelom has a cavity lined with tissue, but the tissue is only in contact with the outer wall and doesn't surrond the digestive tract as it does with the coelom. Many of the nematodes are parasitic.

Mollusca. The mollusks. This is a very morphologically diverse group and yet they share a basic body plan. The four points to look for is the presence of a foot for locomotion, a radula used to scrape up food, a mantle covering the body, and the presence of a coelom. These animals also have a primitive heart and circulatory system. The phylum is divided further into the gastropods (snails and slugs), the bivalves (clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops), and the cephalopods (squids and octopus).

Annelida. The segmented worms. Earthworms, polychaetes, and leeches are members of this phylum. This group is distinguished by having a ringlike body that is repeated in many segments. Only the head is distinguished from the other segments externally.

Arthropoda. The arthropods. They are distinguished by the presence of an exoskeleton made of chitin, and jointed appendages used for walking, swimming, capturing prey or defending against predators. They grow in size by shedding the exoskeleton through a process called molting. The four groups of arthropods are the horseshoe crabs, the crustaceans (lobsters, barnacles, crayfish), arachids (spiders, scorpions, mites), and the wormlike arthropods (millipedes and centipeds).

Insecta. The insects. There are more species of insects than all other species combined. They are similar to arthropods in that they have an exoskeleton of chitin but are distinguished in that they have three body segments, the head, thorax, and abdomen. Most have wings that allow for flight.

Echinodermata. The echinoderms. These animals have a spiny skin, and endoskeleton, and a water vascular system for movement. This group includes starfish, sea urchin, and sea stars.

Chordata. The chordates. We are chordates. Our phylum is distinguished by (1) a dorsal hollow nerve chord (2) a notochord, a flexible, longitudinal rod located between the digestive tract and the nerve cord (3) gill structures behind the mouth and (4) and post anal tail. Doesn't sound much like you does it. You have all four of these during embryonic development and except for the gills, you have remnants as adults. The chordates are first divided into two groups, the invertebrates and the vertebrates. The invertebrates include the tunicates and the lanclets. The vertebrates have an endoskeleton that includes a skull and a backbone segmented into vertebrae. Most have a hinged jaw. The vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

The fish are divided into the cartilaginous fish called the Chondrichthyes, and the bony fish called the Osteichthyes. The cartilaginous fish include the shark. The bony fish have a protective flap over the gills which can be moved. This allows the fish to move water across the gills without moving.

Amphibians have two stages in life. An embryonic stage in which they have gills and swim in water and an adult stage in which they breath air and usually spend at least some time on the dry land. They must return to the water to lay they eggs so that the next generation can again start in the water.

Reptiles include snakes, lizards, turtles, etc. Unlike amphibians they do not have a stage where they live and breath water. They have an amniotic egg which is filled with fluid and covered in a shell that allows the egg to be layed on land rather than in water. The chordates up to this point are all ectotherms which means they do not regulate their own temperature. Their bodies get heat from the environment. Birds and mammals are endotherms. They generate their own body heat through metabolism.

Birds are in the class Aves. They are covered in feathers and most are capable of flight. Mammals are distinguished by the presence of mammary glands that produce milk to nourish their young and by the presence of hair. We divide these into three groups. The montremes are the egg laying mammals (the Duck-billed platypus). The marsupials are the pouched mammals that carry embryo in a marsupium on the mothers abdomen where it is attached to a nipple. The placentals carry their embryo internally in a placenta and nourish them by transfering nutrients from mothers blood to the embryo's blood system within the placenta tissue. The placenta is derived from tissue from both mother and embryo.

This section shows a phylogenetic tree which shows the evolutionary relationships between these organisms. You might be surprised to note that the echinoderms are the most near to the chordates. This is because of the internal skeleton. Notice that we begin with protists and develop tissue. The next division is based on symmetry, then the presence of a pseudocoelom or coelom. The next division we really didn't discuss but is based on whether the coelom comes from cell masses or from a digestive tube. These are the protostomes or deuterostomes respectively. The deuterostomes include only the echinoderms and the chordates.