The Animal Organ System

Animals are arguably the most complex organism on this planet. The body is made up of many, many
millions of cells which you cannot see unless you use a microscope. Special cells come together to make
an organ.

The human body and even the simplest animal is made up of several organ systems
that work as one unit. The major organ systems of the body work together, either
directly or indirectly, to keep the body functioning normally. The body is a chemical
and physical machine. As such, it is subject to certain laws. These are sometimes
called natural laws. Each part of the body is engineered to do a particular function
necessary for everyday living.

The Animal Organ Systems

1. Digestive System
Animal nutrition is the process of taking in, taking apart and taking up the nutrients
from the food source. Food processing has four main stages: Ingestion, Digestion,
Absorption, and Elimination or Egestion.
In animals with complete digestive system, where the entrance and exit of food and
waste are different, they have different kind of mechanisms of ingestion depending on
their evolutionary adaptation to their food.
In other animals like cnidarians (jellyfish, anemone, coral) where the entrance and exit
of food and waste is the same, the region where this occurs is called the
gastrovascular cavity.

2. Respiratory System
The respiratory system facilitates breathing. In the alveoli tissue of the lungs, the
exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules between the air and the
bloodstream occurs by passive transport, so that the oxygen is taken in and carbon
dioxide and water are removed. Gas exchange is very important to animals, as they
require oxygen in the production of higher amount of energy compared to process of
production of energy without oxygen.
Air as a respiratory medium- As air is lighter and has more oxygen content compared
to the same volume of water, ventilation is not much of a problem of terrestrial
organisms.
The tracheal system of insects- It has a branched network of tracheal tube which
responds to the problem of decreased surface area in the respiratory structure.
The tracheal system opens externally through the side of the insect through a
structure called a spiracle. Air enters and exit through the spiracles. As the
respiratory system of insects are independent from their circulatory system, gases are
directly exchanged through tracheoles which have extensions that are directly
connected to the cells. Air sacs act like aspirator which takes in and push out air out
of the body of the insects.
The mammalian respiratory system- Compared to insects, mammals and other
organisms have respiratory system that work together with their circulatory system.
Gases are transported via bloodstream and are exchanged via diffusion.

3. Circulatory System
There are different ways in which animals transport substances across their body. In
animals with closed circulatory system, the circulatory fluid does not go out of the
vessel. Exchange occurs through diffusion via thinner vessels called capillaries across
the interstitial fluid.
Different animals, have adapted different mechanisms in transport such as in fishes
where a single circulation is enough. Compared to cnidarians, the gastrovascular
cavity of flatworms have extensions in order to reach areas of the body far from the
axis. Without these extensions of the gastrovascular cavity, diffusion might not be
enough in the transport of substances.
Amphibian double circulation differs from mammalian, crocodilian and avian as blood
is mixed. The presence of one ventricle does not prevent the mixing of blood, unlike in
the four-chambered heart of a mammal, crocodilian and an avian where the ventricle
is divided into two. Mixing of blood does not have major implication on amphibians as:
1) They have low metabolic rate, thus, less need for energy.
2) They have the ability to respire through their skin, thus not needing to fully
oxygenate the blood through the lungs.

4. Urinary System
In order to remove wastes, animals have the excretory system, which enables it to
remove excess salt or water in the body. Waste removal follows the following
processes, 1.) Filtration- the mass movement of water and solutes from plasma to the
renal tubule that occurs in the renal corpuscles. 2.) Reabsorption- the movement of
water and solutes from tubule back into the plasma. 3.) Secretion- the continuous
secretion of additional substances into the tubular fluid, and 4.) Excretion- it is what
goes to the urine.
Organisms have different wastes in the form of nitrogenous wastes which they need to
excrete. Different organisms have different excretory systems, such as the
protonephridia of flatworms where a network of dead-end tubules lacking internal
openings, metanephridia of annelids which consist of ciliated funnel opening into the
body cavity connected to a duct which may be variously glandularised, folded or
expanded and which typically opens to the organisms exterior, malpighian tubules of
insects, any of the excretory organs that lie in the abdominal body cavity and empty
into the junction between midgut and hindgut and the nephrons of humans
and mammals which actually removing waste and excess substances from the blood
through urination.

5. Immune System
The immune system is a complex network of cells and protein that defends the body against infection. It
defends the internal environment from invading microorganisms and viruses, as well as cancerous cell
growth. The immune system provides cells that aid in protection of the body from disease via
antigen/antibody response. A variety of general responses are also part of this system.

6. Endocrine System
The integral parts of the endocrine system include the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, pineal body,
thyroid and parathyroid gland, thymus, adrenal glands, pancreas and ovary that make hormones.
Hormones are substances which can cause a reaction to a cell, in Greek it literally means to excite. It is
secreted into extracellular fluid such in blood or lymph and transported to target cells to elicit a specific
response, which can be rapid or slow. The growth and development of the body are examples of slow
and long- term effect of a hormone while circadian rhythm which is responsible for the sleep and-wake
cycles respond to a more rapid response to a hormone. In an endocrine pathway, the reaction involves
an endocrine cell, which releases the hormone to the bloodstream or the lymphatic system, which can
attach to receptors of a target cell.

7. Nervous System
The central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord, while the
peripheral nervous system is composed of corresponding structures outside of these
two organs of the nervous system. The central nervous system is responsible for
data/information processing which is gathered by the peripheral nervous system.
Upon processing, the CNS transmit the message again to the PNS, which then convey
the message for the appropriate response.
The nervous system has evolved in increasing complexity throughout the different groups of animals.
Connections among the neurons has increased, as seen in the development of the nervous system from
a simple nerve net to a system with ganglia (group of neuron) to encephalized organisms where
concentration of neurons are centered in a head. Below shows the changes in the nervous system of
organisms:

8. Muscular System
The muscular system is an organ system consisting of skeletal muscles which are composed of muscle
cells called the muscle fiber, the cardiac muscle or the heart muscle with involuntary kind of movement,
and the smooth muscle which is controlled directly by the autonomic nervous system. The skeletal
muscle is organized from its largest structure (the muscle tissue itself) to its functional unit (the
sarcomere) as a repeating longitudinal structure that is bound together. Contraction is possible because
of the structural organization of protein molecules that makes up the sarcomere. When contraction
occurs, the sarcomere shortens, and this is reflected in the contraction of a muscle (tell the students to
flex their biceps and ask them if their muscle shortened). In terms of the molecular and physiological
process of contraction, nerve impulse transmission is needed to depolarize the cell membrane of the
muscle to stimulate contraction.

9. Skeletal System
It provides support and protection, and attachment points for muscles. The skeletal
system provides rigid framework for movement. It supports and protects the body and
its parts, produces blood cells, and stores minerals.
A clam’s shell is an example of an exoskeleton and the bones and cartilage in a human is an example of
an endoskeleton. An endoskeleton should not be misconceived to be only made up of bones, as even in
humans, our skeletons are made up of cartilage and bones, while shark’s endoskeleton is made up of
cartilage. We have different bones which our muscles can pull to create movement, and the different
types of joints are responsible for different movement that our body can create.