UNIT ONE

INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL ZOOLOGY

1.1. Definition and Historical development of zoology

Zoology –
 The term is derived from Ancient Greek zoon” ('animal'), and “logos” ('knowledge', 'study').
 is the scientific study of animals.
 studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals,
both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems.

Zoologists- are scientists that may study functional, structural, or ecological aspects of one or more
animal groups or choose to specialize in a particular group

Although humans have always been interested in the natural history of the animals they saw around them,
and used this knowledge to domesticate certain species, the formal study of zoology can be said to have
originated with Aristotle. He viewed animals as living organisms, studied their structure and development,
and considered their adaptations to their surroundings and the function of their parts. Modern zoology has
its origins during the Renaissance and early modern period, with Carl Linnaeus, Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek, Robert Hooke, Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel and many others.

The history of zoology traces the study of the animal kingdom from ancient to modern times. Prehistoric
people needed to study the animals and plants in their environment in order to exploit them and survive.
There are cave paintings, engravings and sculptures in France dating back 15,000 years showing bison,
horses and deer in carefully rendered detail. Similar images from other parts of the world illustrated mostly
the animals hunted for food, but also the savage animals.

The Neolithic Revolution, which is characterized by the domestication of animals, continued over the
period of Antiquity. Ancient knowledge of wildlife is illustrated by the realistic depictions of wild and
domestic animals in the Near East, Mesopotamia and Egypt, including husbandry practices and techniques,
hunting and fishing. The invention of writing is reflected in zoology by the presence of animals in
Egyptian hieroglyphics.

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Having previously been the realm of gentlemen naturalists, over the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, zoology
became an increasingly professional scientific discipline. Explorer-naturalists such as Alexander von
Humboldt investigated the interaction between organisms and their environment, and the ways this
relationship depends on geography, laying the foundations for biogeography, ecology and ethology.
Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction and the mutability of
species.

These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in the
1859 publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection; in this Darwin placed the
theory of organic evolution on a new footing, by explaining the processes by which it can occur, and
providing observational evidence that it had done so. Darwin's theory was rapidly accepted by the scientific
community and soon became a central axiom of the rapidly developing science of biology. The basis for
modern genetics began with the work of Gregor Mendel on peas in 1865, although the significance of his
work was not realized at the time.

Darwin gave a new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a common biological
theory: the theory of organic evolution. The result was a reconstruction of the classification of animals
upon a genealogical basis, fresh investigation of the development of animals, and early attempts to
determine their genetic relationships. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation
and the rise of the germ theory of disease, though the mechanism of inheritance remained a mystery. In the
early 20th century, the rediscovery of Mendel's work led to the rapid development of genetics, and by the
1930s the combination of population genetics and natural selection in the modern synthesis created
evolutionary biology.

Research in cell biology is interconnected to other fields such as genetics, biochemistry, medical
microbiology, immunology, and cytochemistry. With the sequencing of the DNA molecule by Francis
Crick and James Watson in 1953, the realm of molecular biology opened up, leading to advances in cell
biology, developmental biology and molecular genetics. The study of systematics was transformed as DNA
sequencing elucidated the degrees of affinity between different organisms.

1.2. Branches of zoology

The study of animals has largely moved on to deal with form and function, adaptations, relationships
between groups, behavior and ecology. Zoology has increasingly been subdivided into disciplines such as
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physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, teratology, ethology and
evolution, etc. With the discovery of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953, the
realm of molecular biology opened up, leading to advances in cell biology, developmental biology and
molecular genetics.

1.3. General Characteristics of Animals

What is an Animal?
Animals:
1. General Features of All Animals
 Multicellular
 Eukaryotes (cells with nucleus)
 Ingestive heterotrophic (take in food & internally digest it)
 Motile (can move at some point in the life cycle)
 Store food reserves as glycogen in the liver
 Have some type of skeletal support
 Diploid (means they have 2 sets of chromosomes)
 Sexual Reproduction
 No cell wall
 Form a blastula (embryo) during gastrulation
 Have specialized tissue
 are multicellular eukaryotic organisms
 form the biological kingdom known as kingdom Animalia or Metazoa.
 does not contain:
 prokaryotes (organisms made up of cells that lack a cell nucleus or any membrane-encased
organelles, such as bacteria and blue-green algae)
 unicellular eukaryotic organisms or protists (Kingdom Protista)
With few exceptions, animals:
 consume organic material
 breathe oxygen
 are able to move
 can reproduce sexually, and

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  grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula during embryonic development.

Although there is great animal diversity in the world, most animals share the following characteristics:
 Multicellular, eukaryotic organisms
 Heterotrophy is by ingestion.
Ingestion = Eating other organisms or decomposing organic matter (detritus).
 Carbohydrate reserves generally are stored as glycogen.
 Lack cell walls, but do have intercellular junctions: desmosomes, gap junctions, and tight
junctions.
 Highly differentiated body cells which are organized into tissues, organs and organ systems for
such specialized functions.
 Are unique in Nervous tissue (impulse conduction) and muscle tissue (movement)
 Reproduction
 is typically sexual with flagellated sperm fertilizing non-motile eggs to form diploid
zygotes. A diploid stage dominates the life cycle.
 the zygote undergoes a series of mitotic divisions known as cleavage which produces a
blastula in most animals.
 Gastrulation occurs after the blastula has formed; during this process, the embryonic forms
of adult body tissues are produced.
 Development
 is direct to maturation(in some)while the life cycles of others include larvae which
undergo metamorphosis into sexually mature adults.
Larva = Free-living, sexually immature forms

1.4. Evolution of zoology

In biology, evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive
generations. Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection (including sexual
selection) and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or
less common within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to
biodiversity at every level of biological organization.

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The theory of evolution by natural selection was conceived independently by Charles Darwin and Alfred
Russel Wallace in the mid-19th century as an explanation for why organisms are adapted to their physical
and biological environments. Evolution by natural selection is established by observable facts about
living organisms:
(1) More offspring are often produced than can possibly survive;
(2) Traits vary among individuals with respect to their morphology, physiology, and behaviour;
(3) Different traits confer different rates of survival and reproduction (differential fitness); and
(4) Traits can be passed from generation to generation (heritability of fitness).
In successive generations, members of a population are therefore more likely to be replaced by the
offspring of parents with favourable characteristics for that environment.

In the early 20th century, competing ideas of evolution were refuted and evolution was combined with
Mendelian inheritance and population genetics to give rise to modern evolutionary theory. In this
synthesis the basis for heredity is in DNA molecules that pass information from generation to generation.
The processes that change DNA in a population include natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and gene
flow.

All organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral gene pool. Current species are
a stage in the process of evolution, with their diversity the product of a long series of speciation and
extinction events. The common descent of organisms was first deduced from four simple facts about
organisms:
First, they have geographic distributions that cannot be explained by local adaptation.
Second, the diversity of life is not a set of completely unique organisms, but organisms that share
morphological similarities.
Third, vestigial traits with no clear purpose resemble functional ancestral traits.
Fourth, organisms can be classified using these similarities into a hierarchy of nested groups, similar to a
family tree.
The hominoids are descendants of a common ancestor that could be illustrated by tree of life.

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Figure 1. This phylogenetic tree was constructed by microbiologist Carl Woese

Past species have also left records of their evolutionary history. Fossils, along with the comparative
anatomy of present-day organisms, constitute the morphological, or anatomical, record. By comparing the
anatomies of both modern and extinct species, palaeontologists can infer the lineages of those species.
However, this approach is most successful for organisms that had hard body parts, such as shells, bones or
teeth. Further, as prokaryotes such as bacteria and archaea share a limited set of common morphologies,
their fossils do not provide information on their ancestry.

More recently, evidence for common descent has come from the study of biochemical similarities
between organisms. For example, all living cells use the same basic set of nucleotides and amino acids. The
development of molecular genetics has revealed the record of evolution left in organisms' genomes: dating
when species diverged through the molecular clock produced by mutations. For example, these DNA
sequence comparisons have revealed that humans and chimpanzees share 98% of their genomes and
analysing the few areas where they differ helps shed light on when the common ancestor of these species
existed.

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Prokaryotes inhabited the Earth from approximately 3–4 billion years ago. No obvious changes in
morphology or cellular organisation occurred in these organisms over the next few billion years. The
eukaryotic cells emerged between 1.6 and 2.7 billion years ago. The next major change in cell structure
came when bacteria were engulfed by eukaryotic cells, in a cooperative association called endosymbiosis.
The engulfed bacteria and the host cell then underwent coevolution, with the bacteria evolving into either
mitochondria or hydrogenosomes. Another engulfment of cyanobacterial-like organisms led to the
formation of chloroplasts in algae and plants.

About 500 million years ago, plants and fungi colonised the land and were soon followed by arthropods
and other animals. Insects were particularly successful and even today make up the majority of animal
species. Amphibians first appeared around 364 million years ago, followed by early amniotes and birds
around 155 million years ago (both from "reptile"-like lineages), mammals around 129 million years ago,
Homininae around 10 million years ago and modern humans around 250,000 years ago. However, despite
the evolution of these large animals, smaller organisms similar to the types that evolved early in this
process continue to be highly successful and dominate the Earth, with the majority of both biomass and
species being prokaryotes.

1.5. Taxonomy of zoology

The classification, taxonomy, and nomenclature:

The classification, taxonomy, and nomenclature of zoological organisms is administered by the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

Classification: - is the process of arranging organisms, both living and extinct, into groups based on
similar characteristics

Taxonomy - is the science of naming, describing and classifying organisms and includes all plants,
animals and microorganisms of the world

Systematic – is the study of organism identification, classification, and nomenclature

 taxon - (plural = taxa) - any taxonomic group; examples of taxa are: Mammalia, Homo sapiens
(category - is the term “Kingdom”, “Phylum”, etc.)

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Scientific classification in zoology is a method by which zoologists group and categorize organisms by
biological type, such as genus or species.
Biological classification is a form of scientific taxonomy. Modern biological classification has its root in
the work of Carl Linnaeus, who grouped species according to shared physical characteristics. Molecular
phylogenetics, which uses nucleic acid sequence as data, has driven many recent revisions and is likely to
continue to do so. The dominant classification system is called the Linnaean taxonomy. It includes ranks
and binomial nomenclature.

Carolus Linnaeus - Swedish botanist who wrote Systema Naturae - was responsible for naming species -
his system is called binomial nomenclature; each species has a Latinized name of 2 words --- first name
is genus (which is capitalized) and second name is called specific epithet (lower case) (this scientific
name must be either underlined or italicized)
 genus is a noun; specific epithet is usually an adjective
 subspecies - have trinomial nomenclature.
 in 1898, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) was formed; it makes
the decisions on naming animals.
 evolutionary taxonomy - traditional approach to taxonomy; bases taxonomy on evolutionary
theory
 numerical taxonomy - arbitrarily chosen, equally weighted characters (> 100 usually) are selected,
coded, and fed into a computer and species are groups that are clustered by similarity (this system
makes no attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary history of groups)
 cladistics - classification exclusively based on phylogeny

Example:-Classification Scheme of Human:

Kingdom (Animalia)

Phylum (Chordata)

(Subphylum - Vertebrata)

Class (Mammalia)

Order (Primata)

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 Family (Hominidae)

Genus (Homo)

Specific epithet (sapiens)

(species is combination of genus and specific epithet

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 Fi
gure 1.2.The phylogenetic tree of animals is based on morphological, fossil, and genetic evidence.

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 UNIT TWO
SUB PHYLUM PROTOZOA
2.1. General features of protozoa
The Protozoans
 are unicellular and Eukaryotic animals without tissues or organs. They exist singly or in colonies. In
these colonies all cells are alike.
 But in "Proterospongia" a colonial flagellate some degree of differentiation exists among the
individuals forming the colony.
 are a diverse groups of unicellular eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile.
 Originally they had been defined as unicellular protists with animal-like behavior, e.g., movement.
 were regarded as the partner group of protists to protophyta, which have plant-like behavior, e.g.,
photosynthesis.
 first described the protozoan animals under a microscope by Leuwenhoek, he called them
animalcules.
 gave the name ‘Protozoa by Gold fuss in 1871
 The term protozoa mean primitive animals.
 are present from Precambrian period to recent times 50.000 species are included in this Phylum
 are referred to as animal-like protists because of movement (motility).
 both protozoa and protists are paraphyletic groups (not including all genetic relatives of the
group).
For example, Entamoeba is more closely related to humans than to Euglena.
 there is no exact definition for the term protozoa, it is often referred to as a unicellular heterotrophic
protist, such as the amoeba and ciliates.

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 Figure 2.1 Moving structures of different protozoan

 Many species are free living

 Some species are parasitic living in the bloodstream of their host and cause malaria, amebic
dysentery, or giardiasis.

2.2. Physiology and functions of Protozoa

A. Structure
 Have the nucleus enclosed in a membrane
 One type of its vesicular nucleus contains a more or less central body, called an endosome or
karyosome.
 The ciliates have both a micronucleus and macronucleus, which appear quite homogeneous in
composition.

B. Reproduction:
 All reproduce asexually by binary fission (single protozoan divides into two individuals)
 Some species reproduce by multiple fission producing more than two individuals
 Some species reproduce sexually by conjugation (opposite mating strains join and exchange
genetic material)
C. Adaptations:
1. Eyespots in some protozoans can detect changes in light
2. Many can form harden covering called cyst when conditions become unfavorable (no
water, pH or temperature changes, nutrient deficiency, decreased oxygen supplies…)
 Metabolic activity of protozoans resumes when conditions become favorable again
3. Some protozoans can detect and avoid obstacles and harmful chemicals in their
environment
4. Freshwater protozoa have contractile vacuoles to pump out excess water
D. Motility and digestion
1. flagella e.g. Giardia
2. cilia e.g. paramecium
3. pseudopodia. E.g. amoeba.

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 4. While others do not move at all
 And yet others have openings or "mouth pores" into which they sweep food, and that engulfing of
food is said to be phagocytosis.
 All protozoa digest their food in stomach-like compartments called vacuoles.
Some protozoa have two alternating life stages or forms between (e.g.,
1. Trophozoites) and
 (Greek, tropho = to nourish
 proliferative stages
 actively feed stage
2. Cysts.
 Dormant stage
 Inactive stage
 can survive harsh conditions, such as exposure to extreme temperatures or harmful chemicals, or
long periods without access to nutrients, water, or oxygen for a period of time.
 enables parasitic species to survive outside of a host, and allows their transmission from one host
to another.
 The conversion of a trophozoite to cyst form is known as encystations, while the process of
transforming back into a trophozoite is known as excystation..
2.3. Classification of Protozoa –

Based on their method of movement Protozoa are classified in to as Sarcodina, Ciliophora,

Zoomastigina, and Sporozoa.

Table 2.1 classification of subkingdom protozoa

Common
Phylum Locomotion Type of Nutrition Examples
Name
heterotrophic; Amoeba, Radiolaria
Sarcodina Sarcodines Pseudopodia
some parasitic Naegleria
heterotrophic; Paramecium, Tetrahymena
Ciliophora Ciliates Cilia
some parasitic Balantidium
Zoomastigina Zooflagellates Flagella heterotrophic; Trypanosoma , Leishmania

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 some parasitic Giardia, Trichonympha
heterotrophic; Plasmodium
Sporozoa Sporozoans (None at all in)
most parasitic Toxoplasma

2.4. Economic Importance of Protozoa

Protozoa are found almost everywhere, in water, in moist surface of the soil, in air and even within the
bodies of other animals and plants. They exert far more influence on the worldly affairs. They are harmful
as well as useful species.
Useful Protozoa
 Helpful in sanitation:
 Planktonic Protozoa as food:
 Symbiotic Protozoa:
 Oceanic ooze and fossil Protozoa:
 Protozoa in study
 Ecological role of Protozoa:
 important food source for micro-invertebrates.
 Thus, the ecological role of protozoa in the transfer of bacterial and algal production to
successive tropic levels is important.
 As predators, they prey upon unicellular or filamentous algae, bacteria, and micro fungi.
 Protozoa are both herbivores and consumers in the decomposer link of the food chain.
 They also control bacteria populations and biomass to some extent.
 Protozoa such as the malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.), trypanosomes and leishmania, are
also important disease causing agents in humans

2.5. Difference between Protozoan and Metazoans

The main difference between Protozoa and Metazoan is that Protozoa is a group of unicellular
primitive animals known as protists whereas Metazoan is a group of multicellular animals.
Furthermore, the main forms of protozoans are Amoebae, flagellates, ciliates, and Sporozoa while the two
main forms of metazoans are vertebrates and invertebrates. Protozoa and Metazoan are two forms of
eukaryote classified based on their organization of the body.

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Table 2.2 The main differences between Protozoan and Metazoan
Features Protozoa Metazoan
A group of phyla which comprises the Are animals under animal kingdom
single-celled microscopic organisms, that comprises all animals other
Definition
belonging to Kingdom Protista than single- celled organisms?
Kingdom make up the kingdom Protista make up the kingdom Animalia
Classification Sarcodina, zoomastigina, ciliophora vertebrate and invertebrate
and sporozoa
Size or Visibility Microscopic and acellular or body is Macroscopic (large and naked)
not differentiated into different cells transform into tissues, organs and
systems in most cases
Cellular organization are unicellular Are multicellular
Division of labor No division of labor show the division of labor
Undergoes all biological activities have different organ- systems and
inside the cytoplasm including tissues to perform a certain
Biological activity
digestion, excretion, reproduction, etc. biological activity. Digestion is
Digestion is also intracellular. both intracellular and extra cellular.

Pellicle, the outer thin firm protective Pellicle is absent in Metazoan.

layer, present in some species.
Type of undergo both sexual and asexual mainly undergo sexual reproduction
reproduction reproduction
Sex division produce identical gametes which Some metazoans are
cannot be distinguished as male or hermaphrodites and others are
female sexually differentiated.
Embryological stage Do not show embryonic stage Shows all embryological stages
Evolution Are evolved first have evolved from Protozoa

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2.6. Similarities between Protozoa and Metazoan
 Protozoa and Metazoan are two types of eukaryotic organisms.
 They have a nucleus inside their cells.
 Furthermore, they do not have a cell wall as plants and algae.
 Also, they do not undergo photosynthesis.
 Moreover, they use chemical energy stored in nutrients to produce energy for their cellular
processes.

2.7. Main bench marks for the classification of metazoan in to different phyla
1. Levels of organization in Metazoans
 There are 13 levels of organization. In sequence, they are represented as atoms, molecules,
organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, population, community, ecosystem,
biome, and biosphere.
 Atom: is the most basic and fundamental unit of matter

2. Based on Body Symmetry of Metazoans

i. Asymmetrical – no symmetry ( example in sponges)

ii. Radial Symmetry – symmetry in the shape of a wheel; body parts arranged in a circle around a
center axis (example in cnidarians, echinoderms)
iii. Bilateral Symmetry – symmetry in which
 their body divided into two equal halves, through a sagittal plane which passé
longitudinally.
 there is - a right and left side that are mirror images
- anterior (head) and posterior (tail) end
Example: worms, arthropods, and all vertebrates
3. Features (stages) of Embryological Development of Metazoans

 Zygote (fertilized egg)  cleavage (rapid mitotic divisions)  forms morula ( solid ball of cells)
 forms Blastula (hollow ball of cells with fluid-filled center called blastocoel) Gastrula (stage
at which three germ layer ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm developed by the process of
gastrulation in all animals except Poriferans ).

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4. Based on their germ layer formation, metazoans grouped as diploblastic organisms and triploblastic
organisms.
A. Diploblastic organisms: are made up of only two germ layers:
 ectoderm which forms the outer covering of the animal and
 endoderm which is the inner layer and is also known as the gastrodem. The two layers are also

sometimes referred to as the hypoblast ("primitive endoderm"). and epiblast ("primitive

ectoderm").
B. Triploblastic organisms: Rest of the animals (Platyhelminthes up to mammals) are all made up of
three germ layers as ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. These animals are triploblastic animals.
Table 2.3 Derivatives of the germ layers

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5. Embryonic Development of the Mouth of Metazoan

i. Protostomes (Greek word meaning “mouth first), include arthropods, mollusks, and annelids.
ii. Deuterostomes (Greek word meaning “mouth second or the anus develops first) include more
complex animals such as chordates but also some simple animals such as echinoderms.

6. Presence or Absence of a Coelom (Body cavity) of Metazoan

 Acoelomate : animals without fluid filled body cavity(flatworms)
 Pseudocoelomates: these are animals with partially fluid filled body cavity(roundworms)
 Coelomates : these are animals which have true fluid filled body cavity(mollusks, arthropods,
echinoderms, & vertebrates)

Figure 2.2. Summary of the development of metazoan

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 UNIT THREE
INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

Domain – Eukarya
Kingdom - Animalia
All Animals fall under two Categories:
1. Invertebrates (no spine)(Sponges, cnidarians, flatworms, roundworms, arthropods, annelids,
mollusks, echinoderms)

2. Vertebrates (have a spine)(fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,mammals)

3.1. What are Invertebrate Animals?

Invertebrates:-
 are animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a backbone
or spine), derived from the notochord.
 are " animals without a backbone, or spine." Or are animals without a notochord
A notochord:- is a rigid rod made of cartilage that is present in all chordates
 gain structural support for their bodies in different ways.
For example,
 Sea anemones have a hydrostatic skeleton that produces support via sheets of muscles
and an internal cavity filled with fluid.
 Insects and crustaceans have a hard outer shell or exoskeleton.
 are about 97% of all animals living today. .
 are about 32 phylas in animal kingdom(from 33 phyla).
 have soft bodies because they don’t have an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) for support. Instead,
many have structures on the outside (exoskeletons) that provide support and protection. In addition,
invertebrates
 are cold-blooded, meaning they can’t regulate their body temperature, so it changes depending on
the environment.
 are incredibly diverse.
 are most aquatic live in fresh water, salty water, on land and
 as parasites in other animals.

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  are carnivorous (meat eaters), herbivores (plant eaters) and omnivores (meat and plant
eaters).
 some can grow bacteria and cells inside their bodies that make their food.
 Some stay in one spot, while others fly, swim, float, crawl and burrow.
 form large colonies( some species)
Colonies:- are groups of animals of the same species that remain together throughout most of their life
cycle.
Example:-The best known terrestrial colonial invertebrates are the social insects—bees, ants, termites,
and wasps.

3.2. Special Features of Invertebrates

A. are small and can utilize very small resource items.

 a large number of species can share the same habitat,
 some of which may have very large populations.
B. have annual life cycles (most spp) and depend on suitable breeding conditions being present every
year at the appropriate time.
C. have no long term resting stage so they cannot easily overcome even short periods of adversity.
D. have complex life cycles and each part of the life cycle has specific habitat requirements that must
be met within the limits of mobility for the life stage of the species.
E. most have very limited means of dispersal and are therefore very slow at decolonization of sites from
where they have been lost.
F. are cold blooded and are dependent on external heat for normal activity.

3.3. Difference between vertebrate and invertebrate animals

Table 3.1 comparisons between Invertebrates and Vertebrates

Vertebrates
Features Invertebrates
Animals with an internal skeleton made of
About: Animals without a backbone
bone are called vertebrates.

Kingdom: Animalia Animalia

Physical Multicellular; no back bone; no Multicellular, Well-developed internal

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 skeleton; highly developed brain; have
notochord; reproduce sexually;
Characteristics: advanced nervous system; outer covering of
heterotrophic.
protective cellular skin; heterotrophic
Examples: Insects, flatworms etc. Parrots, Humans, snakes etc
Only one phylum which is classified into
Classification: 32 phyla five groups: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
and mammals.
Phylum: Non- Chordata Chordata
Size: Small and slow moving. Big in size.
97- 98% of animal species are
Species: 2-3% of the animal species are vertebrates.
invertebrates.
Number of
More than 2 million More than 57,739
species:

3.4. Similarities between vertebrates and invertebrates

The feature uniting all chordates (all vertebrates and some invertebrates (protochordates) and hagfish) is
that at some stage in their lives, all have notochord:-
 a flexible supporting rod,
 running through the length of their bodies.
 is replaced by a series of interlocking bones called vertebrae during their early development in
a majority of chordates.
 These bones form the backbone, and they give these animals their name as the vertebrates and
the others without backbone called invertebrates
3.5. Diversity of invertebrates
Invertebrates
 making up 97% of the world's species.
 is great diversity in the form ,some have many legs, some have no legs, some have shells to protect
them, some don't.
 are found all over the world - on land, in freshwater, in salt water and many different habitats..

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3.6. The roles of invertebrates for the environment
I. Waste re-cyclers
 making minerals and organic material available again to plants and other animals.
Example: In the soil earthworms and other invertebrates decomposition of organic matter.
 Their activities improve the drainage, aeration and composition of the soil, thus enabling
plant growth.
II. Basis of ecosystems
Most marine habitats are dominated by invertebrates and are important for birds and fish to rely on
their food and the abundance and diversity of marine plankton is a useful indicator of healthy marine
ecosystems.
III. Pollination
 About two-thirds of the major food crops used for human consumption across the world depends
to some degree on pollination by insects

IV. Food chains

Invertebrates form the basis of numerous food chains which is the sequence of who eats whom in a
biological community (an ecosystem) to obtain nutrition.

Table 3.2 Samples of food chains

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 V. Pest control
In agricultural systems, simple measures such as conserving headlands and making
 ‘beetle banks’ encourage predatory invertebrates such as beetles and hoverflies,
 help to control pests and provide additional food for birds and mammals.

3.7. Evolution of Invertebrates

 The first life evolved in the form of single cells in water.
 Invertebrates
 were the initial few examples of multi cellular organisms that evolved in water.
 set the path for the evolution of other organisms as simple transformations started taking
place which led to complex beings in the form of vertebrates.

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Figure 1.5. Evolutionary lineage of invertebrate
 To reconstruct the evolutionary history of the animal phyla, zoologists use information from
comparative anatomy, embryology of living animals, and molecular systematics.
 Most zoologists agree that the animal kingdom is monophyletic and that the ancestral organism
was probably a colonial flagellated protist related to choaoflagellates.

3.8. Major Phyla of Invertebrates

3.8.1 PHYLUM PORIFERA

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1. General Characteristics of sponges
 are the Simplest of all animals with uncomplicated structures.
 have cellular-level organization,
 have a porous structure from which derived their name
 have many openings called Ostia, through which water enters their bodies.
 the single, large osculum(little mouth) allows water to flow out of the body.
 have dried skeletons(spicules) are used in kitchens and bathrooms for cleaning and exfoliation
purposes.
 Sessile as adults: i.e., they remain attached to a substratum and are not capable of any
movements
 some species, especially the freshwater forms, are capable of amoeba like
movements.
 are multicellular organisms with a certain level of cell differentiation.
 have internal skeletal structures made of spongin (modified type of collagen) and/or or spicules.
These skeletal structures are made of calcium carbonate or silica.
 have a jelly like substance called mesohyl which is sandwiched between two layers of cells.
 different cell types in which all perform d/t bodily function and are independent of each other.
1. Liphocyte(Colenocyte)-secrete collagen
2. Pinacocyte-form the outer covering of the sponge
3.Oocyte-are egg cells
4. Porocyte-control water flow through ostia
5. Amoebocyte-pick up food from choanocyteand distribute it to all parts of the sponge
-transport co2 and wastes away from sponge cells
6. Sclerocyte-secret silica and spicules
7. Choanocyte(collar cell)- is the wave like movements of the flagella used to digest food
2. Physiology of Sponges
Feeding system
 are filter feeders that remove plankton (food) from the water that is brought in through pores stick
to collar cells of choanocytes where it is digested.
 feed on microscopic organisms like bacteria, protozoa and other small organisms in water.

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  some species of sponges, which live in food-scarce environment and feed on small crustaceans like
scuds, water fleas etc.
Reproductive system
Sponges reproduce by:-
a. Sexual reproduction:-
Sperm carried along by water currents
 the fertilized eggs form larvae called Planula :

b. Asexual reproduction:-
i. Fragmentation (a piece of the sponge breaks off, settles on a new substrate, and develops into a new
individual),
ii. Budding
 a genetically identical outgrowth grows from the parent and eventually detaches or remains attached
to form a colony).
 is found only in freshwater sponges and occurs through the formation of gemmules.
Gemmules :-
 are environmentally resistant structures produced by adult sponges (e.g., in the freshwater
sponge Spongilla).
Circulatory System
 do not have a circulatory system,
 do not have hearts, instead, small pores called Ostia open up, allowing the cell tails on the surface
to create water current.
 has no specialized nervous system in but there is intercellular communication

Excretory system of sponges

 waste products such as ammonia diffuse into cells as water follows through its body diffuse out via
single osculum.
 Archeocytes remove mineral particles
3. Morphological structures of sponges
Sponges have three different types of body plans(organization)
i. Asconoid sponge :

26
  are shaped like a simple tube perforated by pores
ii. Syconoid spong
 larger than asconoids and have a tubular body with a single osculum.
iii. Leuconoid.
 are the largest and most complex sponges.
 are made up of masses of tissue penetrated by numerous canals.
The class Calcarea have asconoid, synconoid and leuconoid members.
The class Hexactinellida and Demospongiae groups have only leuconoid forms

4. Classification of Phylum Porifera

Phylum porifera is classified mainly based on skeleton(spicule) and is divided into 4 classes

I. Class: Calcarea
 skeleton is made by calcareaous spicules.
E.g. Clathrina, Leucosolenia, Olynthu
II. Class: Hexactinellida
 skeleton contains six rayed, or triaxon, siliceous spicules.
E.g Euplectella:
III. Class: Demospongiae
 include horny and bath sponges with only spongin or spongin and silica spicules.
E.g Spongilla , Thenia, Oscarella, Tetilla, Geodia.
IV. Class Sclerospongiae
 are coral sponges and have spongin and silica and calcium carbonate spicules.
e.g. Asterosclera, Calciferospongia

5. Importance of sponges
 for washing car because it contains caco3and silica
 for manufacturing rubber and plastic
 for fishing industry
 for medical value as antimicrobial compounds.
 dried skeletons of sponges (spicules) are used in kitchens and bathrooms for cleaning and
exfoliation purp

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3.8.2. PHYLUM CNIDARIA

Taxonomy of Cnidaria
Domain: Eukaria
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrazoa, Anthazoa, Cubazoa, Schyphozoa

1. General Features of Phylum Cnidarians

 tentacle bearing aquatic organisms encircle the mouth- used for food capture, and defense.
 are aquatic, mostly marine organisms such as jellyfish, Portuguese man-of-war, coral, sea anemone,
& sea fans Hydra
 head and segmentation is absent.
 are all diploblastic animal show ectoderm and endodm and mesoglea in between
 has cnidoblasts which are defensive and offensive cells and also useful for food capture.
 mouth is present that leads into a central cavity called 'Coelenteron’hence the name
Coelenterate'. Anus is absent.
 are acoelomate (no true body cavity, or coelom).
 no respiratory, circulatory and excretory system.
 nervous system is diffused type.
 Polyp is a nutritive zooid and fixed zooid and Medusa is a free swimming zooid and sexual
zooid.
 locomotion in medusa is by muscles.
 nutrition is intercellular and intracellular.
 Show Polymorphism tendency.
 Asexual reproduction is by budding.
 Sexual reproduction takes place by the development of gonad and sex cells. Planula larva is seen.

2. Physiology of Cnidaria

Feeding System
a) Ingestion: Cnidoblasts of the oral arms and gastric filaments will paralyze and entangle the prey.

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 b) Digestion:
 It is carried-on in stomach, and gastric pouches called gastrovascular cavit for extracellular
digestion.
 the digestion is completed is called intracellular digestion.
c) Absorption: The digested food is distributed to all parts of the body and is utilized.
d) Egestion: The undigested food is sent out through the out-going water.

Reproduction System
 fertilization is internal.
 form planula larva.

Gas Exchange in Cnidarians

 gas exchange occurs through direct diffusion between
Circulatory System of Cnidaria
 do not have a circulatory system simply because all cells are in contact with the water, which
contains oxygen and nutrients.
 the cells take in the oxygen directly from the water in contact with them by a process called
diffusion
Nervous system of Cnidarian
 the diffuse nervous system which is the most primitive
 no brain are found
 most cnidarians,of the genus Hydra, have a nerve
 nerve nets in cnidarians are bundled into groupings known as ganglia (singular: ganglion) - serve
as an intermediary point between sensory neurons
The Cnidarians Excretory System
 have few an excretory system responsible for removing wastes materials and fluids from an
animal's body.
3. Defensive structure in Cnidarian
 the defining cell type for the cnidarians is the Cnidocyte, or stinging cell.
 are located on the tentacles
 serve to capture prey or repel predators.
 have large stinging organelles called nematocysts that store a coiled thread and bar
 have a hair-like projection called a cnidocil, which is sensitive to tactile stimulation.
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  when the hair-like Cnidocil on the cell surface is touched, the thread, barb, and a toxin
(neurotoxins and pore-forming toxins that can lead to cell lysis) are fired from the organelle
immobilizing it or paralyzing the prey.
4 .Basic Units of Polymorphism in cnidarians
Polymorphism :-means “the existence of individuals (zooids) of a single species in more than one
forms and functions.”
 is due to the division of labour, diversification of forms and specialization
Two forms alternate with each other in the life history of a typical cnidarian:
i. the polyp- producing medusa asexually and
ii. the medusa- producing polyp sexually.
 Polyp form (L. Polypus = polyp):
(i) Sedentary tubular form with one end closed.
(ii) Free conical end (preoral end) bearing hypostome, mouth and tentacles.
(iii) Aboral end fixed.
(iv) Mouth situated on hypostome leading to coelenteron.
(v) Un-branched elongated tentacles surrounding the mouth.
(vi) The polyp may be encased by a transparent covering, the hydrotheca (e.g., Hydra).
(B) Medusoid form (Gk. Medousa = one who rules)
(i) Umbrella-shaped with convex exumbrella and ventral concave subumbrellar surface.
(ii) Subumbrellar surface with mouth and manubrium.
(iii) Radial and circular canals present.
(iv) Marginal tentacles are present.
(v) Presence of gonads.
(vi) A velum is often present.
(vii) Free-swimming forms.
5. Functions of different cells in Cnidaria
The followings are the 5 different types of cells of cnidaria that performs different functions
1. Nutritive muscle cells:
 called nutritive cells.
2. Glandular cells: the cells near the mouth will produce mucilage whereas cells in the inner side will
produce digestive juices.

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3 .Interstitial cells: are formative cells.
4. Nerve cells: look like nerve cells of ectoderm. Their number is less they may not form a net work.
5. Sensory cells: look like ectodermal cells and their function is not clearly known. They are few in
number. They are distributed among nutritive cells
6. Cnidoblasts : are confined to gastric filaments.
7. Germ cells: Interstitial cells will develop into ova or sperms.

6. Classification of Cnidaria
 Nematocyst-bearing, radial metazoans without organs.
 have a cellular inner endoderm and outer ectoderm, separated by non-cellular mesoglea.
 Polyp and medusa forms; either or both may be present in one life history
 have four major classes as Class Anthozoa, Cubozoa, Scyphozoan and Hydrozoa.
Class Anthozoa- example:- Sea anemone and Corals- are small
Class Cubozoa -example:- Box jellyfish
Class Hydrozoa - example :-hydra (exists only as polyps) and Obelia
Class Scyphozoans –example:- Very large Jelly Fish

3.8.3. PHYLUM CTENOPHORA

1. General Characters

 phylum derives its name (from the Greek ctene, or “comb,” and phora, or “bearer”) from the series
of vertical ciliary combs over the surface of the animal.
 are free-swimming, transparent, jelly-like, soft-bodied, marine animals having biradial symmetry,
comb-like ciliary plates for locomotion, the lasso cells but nematocysts are wanting.
 Free-swimming, marine, pelagic and solitary animals.
 Body gelatinous, transparent, pear-shaped, cylindrical or flat or ribbon-shaped.
 Biradially symmetrical body along an oral-aboral axis.
 Comb-like eight ciliary plates on the body for locomotion.
 Nematocysts absent; mesogloea cellular with muscular elements.
 Digestive system with mouth, pharynx and stomach; the stomach is highly branched to form a
complex system of gastro vascular canals.

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  The digestive system terminates out at anal pore.
 Colloblasts, also referred to as lasso cells, are special adhesive cells present on the tentacles which
help in food capture.
 Skeletal, circulatory, respiratory and excretory systems are absent.
 Nervous system is diffused type and the aboral end bears a sense organ, called statocyst.
 Most are Monoecious (hermaphrodite); gonads endodermal situated on the walls of gastric canals.
 are the largest animals to swim with the help of cilia
 Development direct with a characteristic- larva called cydippid.
 Regeneration and paedogenesis are of common occurrence.
 Alternation of generations not found.
 Produce light by bioluminescence
 Body organization cell-tissue grade.
2. Physiology of Phylum Ctenophora
Food Acquisition and processing
 uses colloblasts of tentacles (also known as lasson cells) to obtain food.
Breathing system (Gas exchange)- is by diffusion
Circulatory system - Nutrients transported by simple diffusion, cell transport, or osmosis.
Excretory system - takes place by simple diffusion.
Skeletal System
 Hydroskeleton: when water in the gastrovascular cavity holds the body form Endoskeleton:
The jelly in the mesoglea (layer of gelatinous material) is elastic and is therefore strengthened
by collagen fibers.
Nervous System
 have no brain or central nervous system but form nerve net around the mouth .
 has aboral sensory organ swhich has a statocyst - help with sensing orientation.
Reproduction and development
 adults of most species can regenerate tissues that are damaged or removed,
 only platyctenids reproduce by cloning, splitting off from the edges of their flat bodies fragments
that develop into new individuals.
 almost all species are hermaphrodites(each individual can function as both male and female).
 development of the fertilized eggs is direct(S there is no distinctive larval form)

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3. Classification
Class Tentaculata
 Adults nearly always with two long aboral tentacles.
Order:Cydippida e.g. Mertensia, Pleurobrachia and
Order :Lobata e.g. Mnemiopsis, Bolinopsis
Order: Cestida e.g. Cestum, Velamen.
Order :Platyctenea e.g. Ctenoplana, Coeloplana
Class Nuda
 Tentacles and oral lobes absent.
Order Beroida: Since class Nuda has only one order Beroida, hence, class characters are the characters
of the order. Example: Beroe.
Colors and bioluminescence
 most ctenophores are colourless, although :-
 most of the comb jellies - are bioluminescent
- they exhibit nocturnal displays of bluish or greenish light that are
among the most brilliant and beautiful known in the animal kingdom.
Ctenophore differ from cnidarian by having the following characteristics:
(1) the lack of the stinging cells (nematocysts) that are characteristic of cnidarians;
(2) the existence of a definite mesoderm in the ctenophores;
(3) fundamental differences in embryological development between the two groups; and
(4) the biradial symmetry of ctenophores.

3.8.4. PHYLUM PLATYHELMINTHES

1.General characteristics of Platy helminthes-

 Usually flattened dorsoventrally, triploblastic, acoelomate, bilaterally symmetrical

 Unsegmented worms( body soft and solid)
 Incomplete gut usually present (have mouth but no anus) gut absent in Cestoidea (tapeworm) and
usually longitudinal nerve cords
 Protonephridia as excretory/osmo-regulatory structures
 Hermaphroditic; complex reproductive systems
 Body cells exchange oxygen & carbon dioxide directly with environment by diffusion

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  Parasitic worms have thick cell layer called tegument covered with a nonliving cuticle covering
their bodies as protection inside hosts
 display cephalization
 contains about 20,000 species of soft-bodied
Example:- Planarians “

2. Classification of Phylum Platyhelminthes

 The phylum embraces four most common classes of worms

A. Class Turbellarian( Examples planaria
 free-living flat worms)
 are free living; primarily aquatic, and the great majority are marine

 spade-shaped at the anterior end & have two, light-sensitive eyespots

 are named for the turbulence that their beating cilia create in the water.

 Rhabdites are rod like cells that swell and form a protective mucous sheath around the body,
possibly in response to attempted predation or desiccation.
 Adhesive glands open to the epithelial surface and produce a chemical that attaches part of the
turbellarian to a substrate.
 the body is covered by a simple ciliated epidermis

 Reproduce asexually by fragmentation

3. Habitat
 Few pelagic species, most are bottom dwellers that live in sand or mud
 Some species have become terrestrial,
4. Nutrition and digestion
 are carnivores and some are herbivores
 Digestions are partially extracellular, complete digestion in gut and absorption occur.
5. Nervous system and Sense organ
 have central nervous system with neuron and brain, neuron organized into sensory, motor and
association neurons.
 have well developed sensory structures; including photoreceptors (eyespots called occellus,)
tactile receptors detect touch and water current, mechanoreceptors, and chemo-receptors.

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6. Reproduction in Turbellarians
 are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction(Fragmentation).
 have capable of regeneration
 many of them are hermaphrodites but usually exhibit cross-fertilization.
7. Excretion / Osmo-regulation/
 do not have respiratory organs.
 most metabolic wastes removed by diffusion through the body wall.
 has osmoregulatory system(protonephridia) especially in freshwater species with flame cells.

B. Class Cestoda (tapeworms)

 are commonly called tapeworms or cestodes
 two unique adaptations to a parasitic life style characterize tapeworms:
 lack a mouth and digestive tract in all of their life-cycle stages
 they absorb nutrients directly across their body wall.
 Most adult tapeworms consist of a long series of repeating units called proglottids.
 Each proglottid contains a complete set of reproductive structures(males and
females).
Tapeworms are monoecious, most tapeworms have uterus, where eggs accumulate.
 eggs are released when gravid proglottids break free from the end of the tapeworm and
pass from the host with the host’s feces.
 because proglottids are not continuously lost, adult tapeworms usually become very long.
 the outer body wall of tapeworms consists of a tegument
 play a vital role in nutrient absorption because tapeworms have no digestive system.
 A protonephridial system also runs the length of the tapeworm
 Cestodes that causes human diseases
 Taenia solium (pork tape worm)
 Taenia saginata (beef tape worm)
 The most common tape worm are Taenia species :
a). the pork tape worm -T. solium and
S b). beef tape worm- T. saginata
C. Class Trematodes (flukes)

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 The two common flukes are:-
 Liver flukes( Fasciola hepatica)- Commonly called the flukes of sheep, cattle and human
 Blood flukes Schistosoma |Bilarizia| causes diseases called schistosomiasis ( Bilharziasis
 has three larval stages (Miracidium, sporocyst and cercaria).

3.8.5. PHYLUM NEMATODA

1. General characteristics of nematodes
The Nematoda:-
 are triploblastic
 possess an embryonic mesoderm that is sandwiched between the ectoderm and endoderm.
 possess a pseudocoelom
 are bilaterally symmetrical.
 includes more than 28,000 species with an estimated 16,000 being parasitic in nature.
 the free-living nematode(Caenorhabditis elegans) used as a model system in laboratories all over
the world.
 are called unsegmented roundworms, to distinguish them from the: flat worms and segmented
annelids.
 are long, slender animals usually with a smooth and glistening surface and tapering
somewhat toward one or both ends.
Example: Round worms :-
 show the presence of a complete digestive system with a distinct mouth and anus.
 The muscles have a longitudinal layer only, which accounts for the whip-like motion of their
movement.
 commonly known as round worms
 primitive body cavity, have gut and anus
 no circulatory system and have nervous system
 body cylindrical and elongate; no cilia, sexes usually separate
 abundant on earth and terrestrial environment
 the number of species ranges 16,000-500,000spp.are estimated
 very successful- well adapted to every ecosystem
 many are parasites

36
2. Habitat - exist everywhere
3. Feeding- most of them are parasitic predaceous feed on DOM, feed on plant fluid
4. Locomotion- moves by using undulatory wave of muscular contraction and relaxation because of
hydro skeleton have elastic cuticles and
 some of the groups move by crawling.

5. Digestive system
• have complete digestive system consists of mouth and anus
• food passes through (mouth → Pharynx → Intestine →anus)

6. Excretory system- have gland cells to excrete salt

7.Nervous system - is made up of a nerve ring, which is made up of four ganglia, and nerve cords
8. Reproduction
 Separate sexes in most species and have internal fertilization

9. Some parasitic nematodes of human

 Ascaris lumbricodes- living in the intestine of pigs,horses, cattle and humans
 Hook worm - caused by Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale.

3.8.6. PHYLUM MOLLUSCA

1. General characteristics
 The name mollusks are derived from a Latin word Mollusks which means “soft body”.
 The study of mollusks is called Malacology.
 Mollusk is the second largest phylum of invertebrate animals.
 are the second largest and most diverse animal phylum next to Arthropod.
 includes animals like snails, slugs, chitons, oysters, squids, octopuses, tusk shells and nautiluses.
 most, but not all, molluscs have shells composed of calcium carbonate.
 the body consists of two main parts; the head-foot and the visceral mass.
 have a mantle that secrets a calcareous shell and covers the visceral mass.
 have a mantle cavity which functions in excretion, gas exchange, egestion and release of
reproductive products.
 Protostome characteristics including trochophore larvae, spiral cleavage, and schizocoelous
coelom formation.

37
  the coelom is reduced to cavities surrounding the heart, nephridia and gonads.
 have an open circulatory system (Except Cephalopods) with three-chambered heart.
 Radula used in scraping food.
2. Habitat
 Mollusks are the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all the named marine
organisms.
 Numerous mollusks also live in freshwater and terrestrial habitats.
3. Feeding and food habits
 Some family use intracellular digestion to function.
 Most molluscs have muscular mouths with radulae, "tongues", bearing many rows of chitinous
teeth, which are replaced from the rear as they wear out.
 The radula primarily functions to scrape bacteria and algae off rocks, and is associated with the
odontophore, a cartilaginous supporting organ.
 The radula is unique to the molluscs and has no equivalent in any other animal
 Molluscs' mouths also contain glands that secrete slimy mucus, to which the food sticks. Beating
cilia (tiny "hairs") drive the mucus towards the stomach, so the mucus forms a long string called a
"food string".
4. Body forms and functions
The hypothetical Ancestral Mollusk (HAM) has three features which are unique to the phylum;
• The Head-Foot
• The visceral mass
• The mantle:

The radula performs two functions which are;

 to scrape or rasp-off fine particles of food from hard surfaces.
 serves as a conveyer belt for carrying the scraped food particles towards the digestive tract.
 the teeth on the radula may be modified for scraping, piercing, tearing or cutting depending on
the feeding behaviour of the particular mollusc.
 the number of teeth in the radula is species specific and may be used in classification of
mollusks.

The Shell

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 • The molluscan shell, when present, is secreted by the mantle and is lined by it underneath.
• The shell appears fist in the Veligar larva and grows continuously throughout life.
• A typical molluscan shell consists of three layers;
 the Periostracum (outer layer),
 the prismatic layer (middle layer), and
 the nacreous layer (inner layer).
• The shell is composed of calcium carbonate derived from the environment and.
 providing protection against predators and dehydration,
 serves as a mineral store, providing calcium to the animal when supply from the
environment is insufficient.
5. Physiology of Mollusks

• Gas exchange:
• Occurs in gills and lungs as well as the body surface particularly the mantle.
• Circulatory system:
• Is open (except in cephalopods). It consists of a three chambered heart, blood vessels and
sinuses.
• The excretory system consists of a pair of metanephric kidneys. Ducts of the kidneys in many
molluscs also serve for discharge of eggs and sperm.
• The nervous system consists of several pairs of ganglia with connecting nerve cords but is
simpler than that of annelids and arthropods.
• Reproduction and Life History of Molluscs
• Most molluscs are gonochoric, only a few are hermaphroditic.
• The fertilized eggs of marine mollusks hatches into a ciliated free swimming larva called
trochophore.
• In many mollusc groups such as gastropods and bivalves, the trochophore larva is followed
by a unique molluscan larval stage called Veliger.
6. Classification of Mollusks
There are seven major classes of molluscs:
• Class Polyplacophora – the chitons
• Class Gastropoda – snails & slugs
• Class Bivalvia – clams, mussels, oysters

39
 • Class Cephalopoda – octopus & squid
• Monoplacophora _ segmented limpets
• Aplacophora– solenogasters
7. Advancement mollusks over Annelids:
(i) Shell is present in many individuals
(ii) In some forms, a lungs is present for pulmonary respiration, and
(iii) Better developed sense organs such as eyes, statocysts and osphradia.

3.8.7. PHYLUM ANNELIDS

1. General characteristics of annelids

 includes the segmented earthworms we typically mean of when we say ‘worm’ colloquially, but
polychaete worms and leeches belong to this group as well.
 are found in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater habitats, but a presence of water or humidity is a
critical factor for their survival, especially in terrestrial habitats.
 Animals in this phylum show parasitic and commensal symbioses with other species in their
habitat.
 show protostomic development in embryonic stages
 display bilateral symmetry.
 have a segmented body plan where in the internal and external morphological features are repeated
in each body segment.
 This feature allows animals to become bigger by adding ‘compartments’ while making their
movement more efficient
 the overall body can be divided into head, body, and pygidium (or tail)
 are triploblastic, coelomate protostome animals.
 have a hydrostatic skeleton
 Locomotion mostly aided by setae or chaetae.
 The nervous system is concentrated anteriorly (cephalization) into cerebral ganglia from which
arises a ventral nerve cord with segmental ganglia.
 The body is segmented (metameric) and bilaterally symmetrical
 Have paired epidermal setae or chaetae for movement (Setae absent in Leeches).

Although there are some exceptions, annelids generally possess many complex features

40
  Have true coelom, derived from embryonic mesoderm and protostomy
 A closed circulatory system
 A well-developed nervous system including a nerve ring and nerve
 Well-developed and complete digestive system is present with a mouth, muscular pharynx,
esophagus, crop, and gizzard being present (in oligochaetes and many others).
 The excretory system typically consists of a pair of nephridia for each metamere.
 Respiratory gases exchange through the skin, gills or parapodia.

2. Body structures and forms

 the body is divided into similar rings or segments arranged in linear series. The segments are
externally marked by circular rings called annuli (the characteristic to which the name of this
phylum refers).
 The division of the body into a series of segments, each of which contains similar components of all
major organ systems is called metamerism.
 In the evolutionary tree, annelida is the first group of animals to show metamerism. Metamerism
evolved independently in annelids, arthropods and vertebrates.
 body typically consists of an anterior Prostomium, followed by a segmented body, and a terminal
portion called Pygidium.
 During development, new segments differentiate just in front of the pygidium, thus the oldest
segments are at the anterior end whereas the youngest are at the posterior end.
 Anterior segments usually fuse with the prostomium to form the head. Annelids have a body
covered by an external cuticle that is never shed or molted.
 The body wall has strong circular and longitudinal muscles which work antagonistically.
 Metamerism increases the efficiency of body movement by allowing the effect of muscle
contraction to be extremely localized. Resultant localized changes in the shape of groups of
segments provide the basis for swimming, crawling, and burrowing. The repetition of body parts
provides safety to the organisms because if one segment fails, it may not necessarily lead to fatal
consequences as there are still other segments which can complement the functions of the failed
segment.

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  Metamerism permits modification of certain regions of the body for specialized functions such as
feeding, locomotion, and reproduction. The specialization of body regions in a metameric animal is
called tagmatization.
 Tagmatization is best developed in arthropods; annelids only show some advent of this regional
specialization of body segments.
3. Feeding and digestion of annelids
Polychaetes:-
 may be predators, herbivores, scavengers, filter feeders or deposit feeders.
 the anterior region of the polychaete digestive tract is modified into an eversible proboscis which
when everted; paired jaws are opened and may be used for seizing prey.
 digestion in polychaetes occurs extracellularly in the digestive system.
 inhabit substrates rich in dissolved organic matter can absorb as much as 20 – 40% of their energy
requirements across their body wall as sugars and other soluble organic compounds.
Oligochaetes:-
 most scavenge on fallen and decaying vegetation which they drag into their burrows at night.
During burrowing, earthworms swallow considerable quantities of soil which they ingest as soil
castes.
 Calciferous glands along the oesophagus secrete calcium ions into the gut and so reduce the
calcium ion concentration of their blood. The pharynx acts as a pump for forcing food down the
esophagus during ingestion.
 The oesophagus is narrow but expands at some portions to form a crop, gizzard or stomach. The
crop is a temporary store of food, the gizzard grinds the food. The intestine is a straight tube and is
the principal site for digestion and absorption. The wall of the intestine is in folded dorsally which
greatly increases the surface area for digestion and absorption.
Most leeches
 are predators of small invertebrates.
 swallow their prey whole, but some suck the soft parts from their victims.
 many leeches have a proboscis used for swallowing the prey or for sucking its fluids; others have
jaws for biting.

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  many parasitic leeches are able to parasitize a wide variety of hosts. The distinction between
predatory and parasitic leeches is not sharp as many predatory leeches take blood meals on
occasion.
 most parasitic leeches attach to the host only while feeding; a single meal may be 5 or 10 times the
weight of the leech and provide it with food for several months.
 the digestive tract of bloodsuckers produces an anticoagulant, hirudin, which keeps the engorged
blood from clotting. A few leeches attach permanently to the host, leaving only to reproduce.
Predatory leeches are active at night and hide by day.
4. Excretion and Water Balance
Annelids:
 excrete nitrogenous wastes in the form of ammonia most of which diffuses across the body wall
into the surrounding water.
 Most polychaetes possess metanephridia for excretion. A few primitive polychaetes possess
protonephridia. A metanephridium consists of an open, ciliated funnel called a nephrostome that
projects through an anterior septum into the coelom of an adjacent segment.
 A proto-nephridium consists of a tubule with a closed bulb at one end and a connection to the
outside of the body at the other end. A Proto-nephridium has a tuft of flagella at the bulbular end
that drives fluid through the tubule.
Oligochaetes:-
 excrete nitrogenous wastes in the form of ammonia and urea.
 have metanephridia for excretion and for ion and water balance.
 excrete copious amounts of very dilute urine, although they retain vital ions which are important
for organisms living in an environment where water is plentiful but essential ions are limited.
 Just as with polychaetes, the metanephridia of oligochaetes are associated with the segment just
anterior to the segment containing the tubule and the nephridiopore.
 Oligochaetes (as well as other annelids) possess Chloragogen tissue.
Chloragogen -is a substance in cells which serves as:-
 a center for glycogen and fat synthesis
 metabolism and the synthesis of hemoglobin
 an excretory function (example:-deaminates amino acids, converts ammonia to urea).
 a site for metabolism of amino acids and carbohydrates.

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  converts excess carbohydrates into glycogen and fat.
• Leeches excrete nitrogenous wastes by using 10-17 pairs of highly modified metanephridia.
• The leech metanephridium has a capsule believed to be involved in the production of
coelomic fluid.
5. Gas Exchange and Circulatory System
Polychaetes:-
• The respiratory gases in most polychaetes simply diffuse across the body wall and parapodia.
• Many polychaetes have parapodial gills which increase the surface area for gas exchange.
• All annelids (including polychaetes) have a closed circulatory system. Oxygen is carried with
molecules called respiratory pigments which are dissolved in the blood plasma rather than
contained in blood cells as in vertebrates.
• The annelid blood may be colourless, green, or red depending on the type of respiratory pigment
present.
• The blood vessels of polychaetes consist of a dorsal aorta that lies just above the digestive tract and
a ventral aorta which lies ventral to the gut. The dorsal aorta propels blood from rear to front and
the ventral aorta conveys blood from front to rear.
• Two or three sets of segmental blood vessels run between the dorsal and ventral aorta. These
segmental vessels receive blood from the ventral aorta and break into capillary beds in the gut and
the body wall before they coalesce again into segmental vessels that deliver blood to the dorsal
aorta.
• Earthworms have no respiratory organs. Gaseous exchange occurs by diffusion across the skin. The
skin is always moist to allow efficient exchange of respiratory gases.
Leeches:-
• The coelom of leeches differs from that of other annelids in that it is largely filled in with tissue
and lacks septa. Coelomic fluid is contained in a system of sinuses, which in some leeches
functions as a circulatory system; there is a tendency in this group toward the loss of true blood
vessels.
• The blood of some leeches is red. In others the blood lacks oxygen-carrying pigments and is
therefore colorless.
• Gas exchange occurs throughout the body surface of most leeches, although many fish-
parasitizing leeches have gills.

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6. The Nervous System
 The nervous system is similar in all annelids.
 It consists of a pair of supra-pharyngeal ganglia which connect to a pair of sub pharyngeal
ganglia by circum-pharyngeal connectives that run dorso-ventrally along either side of the
pharynx.
 The rest of the central nervous system is generally ladder-like, consisting of a pair of nerve
cords that run through the ventral part of the body and have in each segment paired ganglia
linked by a transverse connection.
 Lateral nerves emerge from each segmental ganglion, supplying the body wall musculature
and other structures in that segment.
Polychaetes
 have various sensory structures which include palps, antennae, eyes, statocysts, nuchal organs and
lateral organs. Palps and antennae are located on the head of many polychaetes.
 The palps are used for feeding. Nuchal organs are ciliated, paired, chemosensory structures,
innervated from the posterior part of the brain. Two or four pairs of eyes are on the surface of the
prostomium.
 They vary in complexity from a simple cup of photoreceptor cells (ocelli) to structures made up
of cornea, lens, and vitreous body. Most polychaetes react negatively to increased light intensities.
 The nervous system includes a pair of cephalic ganglia attached to a double nerve cord that run
the length of the animal along the ventral body wall, with ganglia and branches in each segment.

Oligocaetes:
. The ventral nerve cords and all ganglia in Oligochaetes have undergone a high degree of fusion. Other
aspects of the nervous system are the same as those of the polychaetes. However, most lack well
developed eyes due to their burrowing lifestyle.
.Oligochaetes are sensitive to a variety of chemical and mechanical stimuli as they have some combination
of tactile organs, chemoreceptors, balance receptors, and photoreceptors.
.The sense organs consist of sensory cells of various types, including photoreceptor cells, scattered over the
body surface. There are also 2 to 10 eyes, consisting of clusters of photoreceptor cells located toward the
front part of the body.

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7. Reproduction and Development
Polychaetes
• most are gonochoric (having the sexes separate) and reproduce sexually. However, some primitive
polychaetes reproduce asexually by budding or transverse fission
• In sexually reproducing worms, the gametes are shed to the coelom where they mature. Mature
female worms are often packed with eggs. Eggs exit the worm through the nephridiopores by
entering the nephrostomes of metanephridia or by rupturing of the mature worms.
• Fertilization in polychaetes is external, (only few species copulate).
• Spiral cleavage of the zygote results into planktonic trochophore larvae that later on settle and
metamorphose into juvenile worms.
• most polychaetes show a characteristic reproductive behaviour called epitoky. Epitoky is a mode of
reproduction unique to polychaetes in which the worm undergoes a partial or entire transition into a
pelagic, sexually reproductive form, known as an epitoke. In many cases, epitoky involves
degeneration of digestive structures and enhancement of swimming, sensory, and reproductive
structures.
• degeneration of the digestive system and other internal organs makes epitokes to have a short life
span. During the brief reproductive season, epitokes swarm in large numbers on the surface of water
bodies. Swarming of the epitokes has the following significances:
• Because the non-reproductive individuals remain safe below the surface waters, predators cannot
devastate the entire population.
• External fertilization requires that individuals become reproductively active at the same time and in
close proximity to one another in order to increase the chances for fertilization. Swarming of
epitokes ensures that large numbers of individuals are in the right place at the proper time.
• Swarming of many epitokes for a brief period of time provides safety against predation since
predators cannot consume them all. Predators will eat and satisfy their hunger and yet leave enough
epitokes to yield the next generation (there is safety in numbers).
Oligochaetes:
• Allare monoecious (Hermaphrodites) but copulate, with mutual exchange of sperm.

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 • the clitellum secretes mucus, after which the sperm leave the sperm ducts and travel to the seminal
receptacles of the partner. The clitellum later produces a slime tube, which is moved along over the
head of the worm by muscular contractions.
• Into this tube are deposited eggs from the oviducts and sperm from the seminal receptacles. The
slime tube forms a cocoon within which the miniature worms develop. There is no a larval stage.
Leeches:-
• are hermaphroditic and cross-fertilizing, but fertilization is internal.
• In some Leech species the sperm are enclosed in sacs, called spermatophores, that are attached to
the outside of the partner; the sperm pass through the body wall to the ovaries, where the eggs are
fertilized.
• In other species the sperm are not enclosed and are transferred directly into the body of the partner
during copulation.
• A courtship display is seen among some leeches at the time of mating. The fertilized eggs are
deposited in a cocoon, secreted by the clitellum; the cocoon is buried in mud or affixed to
submerged objects. The young emerge as small copies of the adults.

8. Classification of the Phylum Annelida

 The phylum annelida was traditionally divided into three classes;

i. Polychaeta("Many Bristles”) example Nereis, Arenicola, Sabela etc

ii. Oligochaeta example earthworms and their relatives

iii. Hirudinea example the leeches..
 However, recent cladistic analysis of the phylum resulted in other interpretations which suggest the
reduction of the number of classes into just two.

 Polychaeta("Many Bristles”)

 Both classe Oligochaeta and Hirudinea classified under class Clitellata.

 the presence of a clitellum which is used in cocoon formation, monoecious direct development and
a few or no setae are simple siomorphies for the clade containing the two former classes.
 The coelom is not subdivided by septa.

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9. Economic Importance of Annelids
• Earthworms - speeds the turnover of nutrients in the soil and increases productivity and their
burrows help to aerate the soil.
• are important source of food for larger invertebrates and fish.
• Annelids are commonly used by fishermen as fish bait.
• A few annelids are ectoparastic e.g. the leeches.

3.8.8. PHYLUM ARTHROPODA

1. General Characteristics of Phylum Arthropoda
• makes up 3/4's of all animal species
• Includes insects, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, crabs, lobsters, & crayfish
• Habitat: mostly terrestrial, also aquatic
• Arthropod means "jointed foot"
• Jointed appendages (legs, antenna, mouthparts)
• Insects are the most successful life form on the planet: they make up more than half of all living
things on Earth
• Body has three-part: head, thorax, and abdomen and it is metamerically segmented
• Three pairs of jointed legs (6 legs).
• Compound eyes which contain several thousand lenses leading to a larger field of vision.
• They possess two antennas.
• Symmetry: bilateral
• Germ layer: triploblastic
• Grade of organization: organ system grade of organization.
• Circulatory system: open type with dorsal heart.
• Excretion: through malpighian tubules or green gland
• Nervous system: dorsal brain with ventral nerve cord
• Respiratory system: by general body surface, by gills, tracheae or book lungs
• Sexes are separate. Sexually dimorphism is present
• Fertilization: internal.
• Development: direct or indirect with larval stages.
• Coelom: hoemocoel

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 • External exoskeleton made of chitin (carbohydrate) & protein for protection & support
• Exoskeleton has 3 layers --- outer waxy layer repels water, middle layer has calcium for extra
strength, & inner layer has flexible joints for movement
• Specialized sensory receptors & high degree of cephalization.

2. Reasons for arthropods to achieve great diversity and abundance

The most important reasons for great diversity of Arthropods are:
 A versatile Exoskeleton which is protective.
 The exoskeleton consists of a cuticle, inner pro-cuticle and an outer epi-cuticle.
 Exo-cuticle secreted after molt cuticle is made of chitin.
 Segmentation and appendages provides more efficient locomotion.
 Segments can fuse together to form specialized tagmata.
 Air piped directly to cells.
 Efficient tracheal system of air tubes delivering oxygen directly to skin.
 Highly developed sensory organs. They include: Compound eye, Touch, Smell, Balance
 Complex behavior patterns. High complexity of organization and of their interactions.
 Less competition through metamorphosis.
 Their larval forms are much different than adults.
 They do not have the same diet so there is less competition amongst the group.
 Short life span & high fecundity; allows higher rates of evolution

3. Physiological system of Arthropods

The exoskeleton and molting system

The success of arthropods derives in large part from the evolution jointed exoskeleton which is of their
unique, nonliving, organic, which functions in
• provides protection and,
• with the muscle system, contributes to efficient locomotion.
Exoskeleton is composed of two different cuticles:-
• a thin, outer protein layer is called the epicuticle- contains waxes that aid in reducing
evaporative water loss.
• a thick, inner, chitin–protein layer called the procuticle- consists of an outer exocuticle and
an inner endocuticle.

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  In the exocuticle there is cross-bonding of the chitin–protein chains (tanning), which provides
additional strength to the skeletal material.
 The hardness of various parts of the exoskeleton in different arthropods is related to the thickness
and degree of tanning of the exocuticle.
 In crustaceans, additional rigidity is achieved by having the exoskeleton impregnated with varying
amounts of calcium carbonate.
 The formation of an exoskeleton required the simultaneous solution of two functional problems in
the evolution of arthropods:
 The problem of growth is solved in arthropods by molting, or ecdysis, the periodic shedding
of the old exoskeleton.
 The underlying cells release enzymes that digest the base of the old exoskeleton (much of
the endocuticle) and then secrete a new exoskeleton beneath the old one. At the time of
actual shedding, the old skeleton splits along specific lines characteristic of the group, and
the animal pulls out of the old skeleton as from a suit of clothes.
• The old skeleton is usually abandoned but in some species is eaten. The new exoskeleton, which is
soft and flexible, is then stretched by localized, elevated blood pressure augmented by the intake of
water or air.
• Hardening occurs by stretching and especially by tanning within a number of hours of molting.
• In crustaceans, calcium carbonate is deposited into the new procuticle. (Soft-shell crabs are simply
newly molted crabs.)
• Additional endocuticle may be added to the exoskeleton for some days or weeks following molting.
Molting is under hormonal control, and there is a long preparatory phase that precedes the process.
• The steroid hormone ecdysone, secreted by specific endocrine centres and circulated in the blood,
is the direct initiator of molting.
• The actual timing of a molt, however, is regulated by other hormones and commonly by
environmental factors. The interval between molts is called an instar.
• Because of the frequency of molts, instars are short early in life but grow longer with increasing
age. Some arthropods, such as most spiders and insects, stop molting when they reach sexual
maturity; others, like lobsters and crabs, molt throughout their lives.

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 • Most of the larger spiders of temperate regions, for example, molt about 10 times before reaching
sexual maturity. As a result of molting, the length and volume of an arthropod display step like
increases over the life span, but internal tissue growth is continual as in other animals.
Loss of a limb is a common hazard in the life of many arthropods.
• Indeed, some arthropods, such as crabs, are capable of amputating an appendage if it is seized by a
predator.
• The limb is then regenerated from a small, nipple like rudiment formed at the site of the lost limb.
The new limb develops beneath the old exoskeleton during the premolt period and then appears
when the animal molts.
Digestive system and feeding
Arthropods
• exhibit every type of feeding mode.
• They include carnivores, herbivores, detritus feeders, filter feeders, and parasites, and there are
specializations within these major categories.
• Typically, paired appendages around the mouth are used for collecting and handling food and are
usually specialized in accordance with the particular diet of the animal.
• The front and back parts of the digestive tract (foregut and hindgut) are lined with the same
skeletal material that is found on the outside of the body and that is molted with the rest of
the skeleton.
• Only the relatively small middle section (midgut) lacks a chitinous lining. The digestive tract varies
greatly in structure, depending upon the diet and feeding mode of the animal. In general, however,
the midgut region is the principal site of enzyme production and absorption of digested food. The
enzymes may pass forward into the front part of the gut and even outside into the body of the prey,
in the case of spiders.
• For example, the insect family Aphididae has mouthparts adapted for piercing vegetation and
sucking out plant juices.
• The crustacean fiddler crabs, which emerge from burrows on sand flats at low tide, scoop up the
surface sand with their small claws (only one in the male) and place the sand within their
mouthparts, where it is sifted with fine hairs. The organic material is consumed, and the mineral
material is ejected as a small “spitball.” Where there is a large population of crabs, ejected material
may cover the surface of a flat by the end of the low-tide period. The crustacean mole crabs, or sand

51
 crabs, of surf beaches use their antennae to filter plankton from the receding waves after reburying
themselves.
Planktonic crustacean copepods only a few millimeters long can collect up to several hundred thousand
diatoms every 24 hours with certain appendages (maxillae) near the mouth. A number of carnivorous
arthropods, notably spiders, pseudo scorpions, and centipedes, capture prey with poison, which is usually
delivered with a pair of appendages; scorpions use a single stinger at the tip of the tail.
• In spiders, the poison is introduced through a pair of fangs (chelicerae) flanking the mouth, and in
centipedes the poison claws lie beneath the head. Few of these species have venom that is fatal to
humans (see myriapod).

Respiratory system
• Aquatic arthropods (crustaceans and the chelicerate horseshoe crabs) possess gills for respiration.
Although they vary in structure and location, the gills are always outgrowths of the integument
(skin) and are therefore covered by the exoskeleton, which is thin in this area and not a barrier to
the exchange of gases.
• Terrestrial arthropods possess tracheae and book lungs as respiratory organs. Tracheae are a system
of tiny tubes that permit passage of gases into the interior of the body.
• In some arthropods the tracheal tubes are bathed by blood, but in insects the minute terminal
endings (tracheoles) are embedded in the tissues, even within muscle cells.
• The tracheal tubes (but not the tracheoles) are molted along with the rest of the exoskeleton.
Tracheae are a unique arthropod invention and undoubtedly evolved numerous times in the phylum,
for they are found in myriapods, insects, and arachnids. Tracheal systems are highly efficient for
these small, terrestrial animals.
• The small, external openings (spiracles) reduce water loss, the chitinous lining prevents collapse,
and the small size of the arthropod and consequent short length of the tubule eliminates the need for
moving gases in and out by active ventilation (diffusion usually being sufficient).
• Book lungs are chitin-lined internal pockets containing many blood-filled plates over which air
circulates. Most spiders possess tracheae and book lungs, but large spiders (such as tarantulas) and
scorpions possess book lungs alone.

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• Circulatory system
Arthropods possess an open circulatory system consisting of a dorsal heart and a system of arteries that
may be very limited (as in insects) or extensive (as in crabs).
• The arteries deliver blood into tissue spaces (hemocoels), from which it eventually drains back to a
large pericardial sinus surrounding the heart. A varying number of paired openings (Ostia) are
located along the length of the heart and permit blood to flow in when the valves are open.
• When the heart is contracting, closed valves prohibit the blood from flowing back and force it into
the arteries of the tissues, from which it flows to other hemocoels. In the larger crustaceans, the
blood then passes through the gills (where it becomes oxygenated) on its return to the heart.
• The blood of large arachnids and crustaceans contains the blue, oxygen-carrying pigment
hemocyanin; insects lack a respiratory pigment since the tracheal system delivers oxygen directly
to the tissues. A few insect larvae and some small crustaceans have blood containing hemoglobin.

Excretory system and water balance

• Crustaceans and arachnids possess paired excretory organs (maxillary, antennal, or coxal glands)
that open at the bases of certain appendages.
• Myriapods, insects, and some arachnids, such as spiders and mites, possess another type of
excretory organ, Malpighian tubules, which open into the intestine. Thus in these animals both
excretory and digestive wastes exit from the anus.
• Water loss through evaporation is a major problem for animals that live on land, especially small
ones like arthropods and an array of defenses against desiccation have evolved.
• Both arachnids and insects possess waxy compounds in the epicuticle, the outer layer of
the exoskeleton, which greatly reduce evaporative water loss. Arthropods that lack a waxy
epicuticle, such as the pill bugs, and very small arthropods, such as mites, pseudo scorpions, and
collembolans, live in leaf mold and soil, beneath logs, under stones, and in other areas where the
danger of desiccation is reduced.
• The waxes in the epicuticle not only reduce water loss but can also act as a water repellent, reducing
the danger of submersion in droplets of rain or dew. This resistance to wetting enables aquatic
insects, such as beetles, to carry below the surface a film of air, which can then be used in
respiration. It also contributes to the ability of water striders to move over the surface of water
without breaking through the surface film.

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• Both insects and spiders eliminate their nitrogenous wastes as compounds insoluble in water (uric
acid, guanine), thereby not requiring that water be excreted. Insects share with birds and mammals
the ability to produce a urine that is saltier than the blood, which is of great value in conserving
water because it permits the production of a concentrated urine.

Nervous system and organs of sensation

• The arthropod nervous system consists of a dorsal brain and a ventral, ganglionated longitudinal
nerve cord (primitively paired) from which lateral nerves extend in each segment.
• The system is similar to that of annelid worms, from which arthropods may have evolved. The
neuromuscular organization of arthropods is quite different from that of vertebrates, in which one
neuron supplies a number of muscle cells, together forming a functional motor unit.
• The small size of the muscles prohibits such an organization in arthropods. Instead, the state of
contraction of an arthropod muscle is determined by which of several different types of neurons
supplying one muscle cell are fired.
• The sense organs (sensilla) on the body surface involve some specialization of the exoskeleton
barrier. The sensory nerve endings are lodged in cuticular hairs (setae), peglike projections, cones,
pits, or slits, which may occur in large numbers on antennae, mouthparts, joints, and leg tips.
Changes in the tension of the surrounding cuticle stimulate the nerve endings. For example, the legs
of spiders and scorpions possess slits in the exoskeleton that are covered by a thin membrane to
which a neuronal receptor is attached below.
• Tension changes in the exoskeleton cause slight movements in the cuticular membrane and
stimulate the receptors. Slits of varying length may be grouped together like the strings of a harp.
Slit sense organs enable spiders to detect web vibrations produced by trapped insects, and they
permit scorpions to detect ground vibrations produced by approaching prey.
• Chemoreceptive sensilla (taste and smell) have holes in the cuticle permitting the chemical
substances being monitored to enter.
• Most arthropods possess eyes, but in most species they function only to detect the intensity of light
and the direction of the light source. The ability to detect objects is more restricted. Among
arthropods the greatest visual acuity is found in the predaceous mantis shrimp, some crabs, and
many insects, all of which possess compound eyes. Compound eyes are extremely effective in
detecting motion. The eight eyes of spiders are not of the compound type, but in the case of the

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 cursorial (hunting) wolf spiders and jumping spiders they are effective in locating and tracking
prey.

Reproductive system and life cycle

• With few exceptions, the sexes are separate in arthropods; i.e., there are both male and female
individuals.
• The paired sex organs, or gonads, of each sex are connected directly to ducts that open onto the
ventral surface of the trunk, the precise location depending upon the arthropod group.
• In arthropods, sperm are commonly transferred to the female within sealed packets known
as spermatophores. In this method of transfer the sperm are not diluted by the surrounding
medium, in the case of aquatic forms, nor do they suffer from rapid desiccation on land.
• Among some arachnids, such as scorpions, pseudo scorpions, and some mites, the stalked
spermatophore is deposited on the ground. Either the female is attracted to the spermatophore
chemically or the deposition of the spermatophore occurs during the course of a nuptial dance, and
the male afterward maneuvers the female into a position in which she can take up the
spermatophore within her genital opening. Centipedes also utilize spermatophores with
accompanying courtship behaviour.
• Among insects there are some primitive wingless groups, such as collembolans and thysanurans, in
which the spermatophore is deposited on the ground, but in most insects the spermatophores are
placed directly into the female genital opening by the male during copulation.
• Many other invertebrates, including several gastropods and chaetognaths, also use spermatophores.
Many arthropods transfer free sperm rather than spermatophores. These include many crustaceans,
millipedes, some insects (such as dipterans and hemipterans), spiders, and some mites.
• Arthropod eggs are usually rich in yolk, but in all groups there are species whose eggs have little
yolk. Some specialized methods of reproduction found among certain arthropods include the
development of unfertilized eggs (parthenogenesis), the birth of living young (viviparity), and the
formation of several embryos from a single fertilized egg (polyembryo).
• The eggs of many crustaceans hatch into larvae which have fewer segments than the adult. The
earliest larval hatching stage is a minute nauplius larva, which possesses only the first three pairs of
appendages. Additional segments and appendages then appear at regular intervals with molting.
• There are several advantages of larval stages in the development of aquatic animals: Currents
disperse the larvae, enabling some to settle in different locations from the parents; because many

55
 larvae are capable of feeding, less yolk is required in the egg; and, moreover, planktonic larvae do
not compete with benthic adults.
• In most chelicerates and insects, almost all of the segments are present at hatching, although in
insects the body form may differ from that of the adult. Primitive insects, such as collembolans,
have the adult form on hatching. Many insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, and true bugs, hatch
as nymphs, which superficially resemble the adult but lack wings. They gradually acquire these
adult features during the nymphal instars.
• Other insects, such as beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, and wasps, hatch as larvae (grubs,
caterpillars, maggots) that differ markedly from the adult. The larvae inhabit
different environments and eat different foods than the adults. In these insects a pupal stage
with metamorphosis bridges the gap between the larva and the adult form.

4. Muscles, appendages, and locomotion

Arthropods:-
 they lack locomotory cilia, even as larvae. The problem that a rigid external covering imposes on
movement has been solved by having the exoskeleton divided into plates over the body and through
a series of cylinders around the appendages.
 Most arthropods move by means of their segmental appendages, and the exoskeleton and the
muscles, which attach to the inside of the skeleton, act together as a lever system, as is also true in
vertebrates.
 The external skeleton of arthropods is a highly efficient system for small animals.
 The exoskeleton provides a large surface area for the attachment of muscles and, in addition to
functioning in support and movement, also provides protection from the external environment.
 The cylindrical design resists bending, and only a relatively small amount of skeletal material need
be invested in thickness to prevent buckling. The external skeleton imposes limits on the maximum
size of an arthropod, especially in those that live on land.
 The largest arthropods live in the sea, where they gain considerable support from the buoyancy of
seawater. On land, an excessive amount of skeleton would be required to support a large bulk and,
in addition, the new soft skeleton might collapse following a molt.

Appendages of arthropods:-

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 • have been adapted for all types of locomotion—walking, pushing, running, swimming, and
burrowing.
• In most arthropods the legs move alternately on the two sides of the body; i.e., when one leg is in a
power stroke, its mate on the opposite side of the body is in the recovery stroke (the same is true
of mammals when walking). The legs in front or back are a little ahead or behind in the movement
sequence. Because of the lateral position of the legs, the body of an arthropod tends to hang
between them.
• Many arthropods are capable of walking on vertical surfaces. Some simply grip minute surface
irregularities with the claws at the end of the legs. Others, such as certain spiders and flies, have an
array of specialized gripping hairs at the ends of the legs.

5. Classification of Phylum Arthropoda

Based on their body organization and mouth part zoologists classified Phylum Arthropods in to four sub
phylas:
 Trilobita - extinct trilobites
 Crustacea - shrimps, lobsters, crayfish, & barnacles
 Chelicerata - spiders, scorpions, & tick
 Uniramia -centipedes, millipedes, & insects
Class Hexapoda (Insecta)
• Members of the class Hexapoda (hex_sah-pod_ah) (Gr. hexa, six _ podus, feet) are, in terms of
numbers of species and individuals, the most successful land animals.
• Many insects have wings and one pair of antennae, and virtually all adults have three pairs of legs.
Characteristics of Insects
• Largest arthropod group
• Legs, mouthparts, & antenna jointed
• Body segmented into three sections --- head, thorax, & abdomen
• Six legs & up to two pairs of wings located on thorax
• Have compound & simple eyes
• One pair of antennae on head
• Abdomen has 11 segments
• Exoskeleton, covering & protecting body, is made of chitin & must be molted to grow

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 • Elaborate mouth parts include:
* Mandibles - jaws
* Maxillae - paired sensory structures that move food to mouth
* Labium - lower lip
* Labrum - upper lip
* Palpi - used for tasting
• Known as mandibulates
• Spiracles on abdomen open into tracheal tubes for oxygen & carbon dioxide exchange
• Tympanic membranes on 1st abdominal segment aid in hearing
• Thorax divided into 3 sections --- prothorax, mesothorax, & metathorax
• One pair of legs on each thoracic segment
• Wings located on mesothorax & metathorax
• Ovipositor located on the end of the abdomen in female insects & used to dig hole& lay eggs.
10.6. Success of Insects and its environmental effect
• Found everywhere except in deep part of ocean
• Very short life span & rapidly adapt to new environments
• Small size helps minimize competition in habitats
• Flight helps escape predators & move into other environments

Concerning its environmental effect:--

• Pollinate almost 2/3's of all plants
• Serve as food for fish, birds, & mammals
• Help recycle materials (termites recycle wood)
• Make useful byproducts such as silk & honey
• Some spread disease
• Agricultural pests
Defense Mechanisms of Insects
• Bombardier beetle sprays noxious chemical
• Wasps & bees can sting
• Some insects use camouflage to blend into their environments
• Some insects taste bad & have warning colorations

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 • Mullerian mimicry - poisonous or dangerous species have similar patterns of warning coloration so
predators avoid all the species (black & yellow stripes on bees & wasps)
• Batesian mimicry - species that are nonpoisonous or not bad tasting have colorations that mimic
other poisonous or bad tasting species (Viceroy butterfly mimics bad tasting Monarch)
Insect Communication and their Behavior
• Insects may communicate with each other using sound (cricket chirps), light (firefly), or "dances"
(honeybee)
• Pheromones are chemicals released by some insects to attract mates or mark trails
• Insects may be solitary or social
• Social insects (bees, ants, & some wasps) live together in groups & share work (division of labor)
. Social insects have a caste system with different individuals doing different jobs

3.8.9. PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA

1. Characteristic Features of Phylum Echinodermata

 are exclusively marine animals.
 Known as spiny-skinned animals
 Includes sea stars, brittle stars, sand dollars, sea urchins, & sea cucumbers
 The larval forms show bilateral symmetry and adult forms show radial symmetry.
 are triploblastic.
 It exhibits organ system grade of organization.
 have a true coelom.
 The body is uniquely shaped. It can star like, elongated or spherical.
 The body is unsegmented without a head.
 The body surface is covered with calcareous spicules.
 Body cavity has the distinguishing water vascular system.
 Tube feet help in locomotion.
 The brain is absent but a nervous system is present with a nerve ring and radial nerve cords.
 No circulatory, respiratory, or excretory systems
 Capable of extensive regeneration. And have Sexes are separate.
 Undergo metamorphosis from bilateral, free-swimming larva to sessile or sedentary adult

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  Respiration occurs through tube feet and gills.
 Sense organs are poorly developed and include tactile organs, chemoreceptors, terminal tentacles etc.
 Fertilization is external.
 Lost parts can be regenerated.
2. Habitats and prays of food
 Their lifestyles vary depending on a species they belongs to.
 Sea stars are generally predators or detritivores, eating decomposing animal and plant material.
 Crinoids and some brittle stars are passive filter-feeders, absorbing suspended particles from
passing water; sea urchins are grazing herbivores and sea cucumbers deposit feeders removing
food particles from sand or mud.
 Crabs, sharks, eels and other fish, sea birds, octopuses and larger starfish are predators of
Echinoderms.
 Echinoderms use their skeletons, spines, toxins, and the discharge of sticky entangling threads
by sea cucumbers as defense mechanisms against predators.
3. Habitats

 Echinoderms are exclusively marine animals

 The behaviour of a large proportion of shallow-water species is regulated by light; i.e., individuals
remain concealed during the day and emerge from concealment at night for active feeding.
 Echinoderms frequently use other animals as homes; thousands of brittle stars, for example, may
live in some tropical sponges.
 On the other hand, echinoderms are also hosts to a wide variety of organisms. Various crustaceans
and barnacles, for example, cause the formation of galls, or tumourlike growths, in the skeletons of
sea urchins, and crinoids are hosts of specialized parasitic worms.

4. Predation and defense

Predation
• ophiuroids form a significant part of the diet of various fishes and some asteroids.
• Echinoids are frequently eaten by sharks, bony fishes, spider crabs, and gastropod mollusks;
• Asteroids are eaten by other asteroids, mollusks, and crustaceans.
• Some holothurians are eaten by fishes and by humans. Crinoids appear to have no consistent
predators.

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Defense
• Echinoderms can protect themselves from predation in a variety of ways, most of which are passive.
• The presence of a firm skeleton often deters predators; echinoids, for example, have
a formidable array of spines and, in some cases, highly poisonous stinging pincerlike organs
(pedicellariae), some of which may cause intense pain and fever in humans.
• Some asteroids use chemical secretions to stimulate violent escape responses in other animals,
particularly predatory mollusks.
• Some holothurians eject from the anus a sticky mass of white threads, known as cuvierian tubules,
which may entangle or distract predators;
• others produce holothurin, a toxin lethal to many would-be predators.

5. Physiology of Echinodermata

Digestive system
• Sea stars feed on snails, bivalves, crustaceans, polychaetes, corals, detritus, and a variety of other
food items.
• The stomach is divided into two regions.
I. The larger, oral stomach, sometimes called the cardiac stomach, receives ingested food . It
joins the smaller, aboral stomach, sometimes called the pyloric stomach.
II. The aboral (pyloric) stomach gives rise to ducts that connect to secretory and absorptive
structures called pyloric cecae. Two pyloric cecae extend into each arm.

Regeneration, Reproduction, and Development

• Sea stars are well known for their powers of regeneration.
• They can regenerate any part of a broken arm.
• Regeneration is a slow process, taking up to a year for complete regeneration.
• Asexual reproduction involves division of the central disk, followed by regeneration of each half.
• Sea stars are dioecious, but sexes are indistinguishable externally. Two gonads are present in each
arm, and these enlarge to nearly fill an arm during the reproductive periods.
• External fertilization is the rule. Because gametes cannot survive long in the ocean, maturation of
gametes and spawning must be coordinated if fertilization is to take place.

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 • Embryos are planktonic, and cilia are used in swimming After gastrulation, bands of cilia
differentiate, and a bilaterally symmetrical larva, called a bi-pinnaria larva, forms. The larva
usually feeds on planktonic protists. The development of larval arms results in a brachiolaria larva,
which settles to the substrate, attaches, and metamorphoses into a juvenile sea star.

Nervous system
 The nervous system of sea stars consists of a nerve ring that encircles the mouth and radial nerves
that extend into each arm.
 Radial nerves coordinate the functions of tube feet. Other nervous elements are in the form of a
nerve net associated with the body wall.
 Most sensory receptors are distributed over the surface of the body and tube feet. Sea stars respond
to light, chemicals, and various mechanical stimuli. They often have specialized photoreceptors at
the tips of their arms.
 Gas exchange and excretion of metabolic wastes(Principally ammonia) occur by diffusion across
dermal branchiae, tube feet, and other membranous structures.
6. Classification of Phylum Echinodermata

The phylum echinoderms is divided into five extant classes:

• Asteroidea (sea stars),
• Ophiuroidea (brittle stars),
• Echinoidea (sea urchins and sand dollars),
• Crinoidea (sea lilies or feather stars), and
• Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers).

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 UNIT FOUR
THE "LESSER DEUTEROSTOMES’’
PHYLUM CHAETOGNATHA, PHYLUM HEMICHORDATA AND PHYLUM
PROTOCHORDATES (LOWER CHORDATES)

4.1. Phylum Chaetognatha

• A common name for chaetognaths is arrowworms.
• are all marine animals and are highly specialized for their planktonic existence.
• Their relationship to other groups is obscure, although Embryological characters indicate
deuterostome affinities.
• The name Chaetognatha (ketog ´na-tha) (Gr. chaite, long flowing hair, + gnathos, jaw) refers to the
sickle-shaped bristles on each side of the mouth.
• only some 65 species are known.
• Arrowworms are all adapted for a planktonic existence, except for Spadella (Gr. spadix, palmfrond,
+ ella, dim. suffix), a benthic genus.
• They usually swim to the surface at night and descend during the day.
• Much of the time they drift passively, but they can dart forward in swift spurts, using the caudal fin
and longitudinal muscles— a fact that no doubt contributes to their success as plank tonic predators.
• Horizontal fins bordering the trunk are used in flotation rather than in active swimming.
A. Form and Function
 The body of an arrow worm is unsegmented and includes a head, trunk, and postanal tail.
 When the animal captures prey, it retracts the hood, and the teeth and raptorial spines
spread apart and then snap shut with startling speed.
 Arrow worms are voracious feeders, living on planktonic forms, especially copepods, and
even small fish.
 When they are abundant, as they often are, they may have a substantial ecological impact.
 They are nearly transparent, a characteristic of adaptive value in their role as planktonic
predators.
 A thin cuticle covers the body, and the epidermis is single layered except along the sides of
the body, where it is stratified in a thick layer. These are the only invertebrates with a
many-layered epidermis.

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  Arrow-worms have a complete digestive system, a well-developed coelom, and a nervous
system with a nerve ring containing large dorsal and ventral ganglia and a number of lateral
ganglia. Sense organs include eyes, sensory bristles, and a unique U-shaped ciliary loop
that extends over the neck from the back of the head. The ciliary loop may detect water
currents or may be chemosensory.
Biological Contributions
• A tubular dorsal nerve cord in the collar zone may represent an early stage of the condition in
chordates; a diffused net of nerve cells is similar to the uncentralized, subepithelial plexus of
echinoderms.
Gill slits in the pharynx, which are also characteristic of chordates, serve primarily for filter
feeding and only secondarily for breathing and are thus comparable to those in protochordat

Figure 4.1chordate and non-chordate

4.2. Phylum Hemichordates

Etymology:- From the Greek Hemi for half and the Latin Chorda a chord.

 is a phylum that contains marine deuterostome animals.

 are sometimes considered as the sister group of phylum Echinodermata.
 is a small phylum with only a 100 known species, with animals having a worm-like appearance.
 Some species may be solitary or some occur in colonies
 are probably derived from a common diploblastic or triploblastic ancestor with the members

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 of the phyla Echinodermata, Hemichordata, and Chordata.
 are enterocoelous coelomates with radial cleavage.
 A chordate plan of structure is suggested by gill slits and a restricted dorsal tubular nerve cord.
 Similarity to echinoderms is shown in larval characteristics.
 nowadays are placed with non-chordates because they lack a true notochord.
Characteristics of Hemichordata
1) Bilaterally symmetrical.
2) Body has more than two cell layers, tissues and organs.
3) Body Cavity- A true coelom.
4) Body possesses a through gut, straight or U-shaped, with an anus.
5) Body divided into three sections, a proboscis, a collar and a trunk.
6) Nervous system normally diffuse, but variable.
7) Has a partially open circulatory system.
8) Possesses glomerulus as an excretory organ.
9) Reproduction normally sexual and gonochoristic.
10) Feeds on fine particles in the water.
11) All live marine environments.
Phylum Hemichordata is divided into two classes
i. Enteropneusta and
ii. Pterobranchia
i. Class Enteropneusta
 are Acorn Worms.
 live in burrows in the substrate (mud or fine sand) or under rocks, in both shallow and deeper waters.
 Feeding is either filter feeding or substrate eating like Balanoglossus clavigerus.
 Filter feeders have mucous secreting glands and numerous cilia on their proboscis
 The proboscis is small in both types and the collar is very small.
 collar - cover their mouth with their collar and
- to avoid eating inorganic and undesirable materials

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 Figure4.2. Generalized Hemichordate
 deposit their wastes on the surface much like earthworm castes.
 have several openings at one end.
 seldom leave their burrows.
 The digestive system is a through gut ending in a terminal anus.
 possesses gill slits.
 are believed to be used primarily to assist gaseous exchange (respiration).
 an intestine is the main site of digestion , leads ultimately to the anus.
 Gaseous exchange across the body surface as well as in the pharyngeal slits.
 The blood is colorless and has no respiratory pigments
 The blood passes through two longitudinal blood vessels and a series of sinuses.
 The nervous system derives from a sub-epidermal net and is thickened in the mid-dorsal region of
the proboscis and the mid-ventral area of the trunk into hollow nerve cords.
 Reproduction can occur as a result of fragmentation of the adults’ body;
 however it normally involves the two sexes and egg fertilization.
 fertilization is external →The fertilized egg develops into a 'tornaria' larvae → undergoes
a metamorphosis
ii. Class Pterobranchia
 make up less than one fifth of the Hemichordates.
 are small animals ranging in size from 1 to 12 millimeters in length.
 live in much deeper water than the Enteropneusts,
 The proboscis
 is modified into a shield which secretes the collagenous burrow in those species that live
in one.

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  used as an organ of locomotion, much in the way a snail uses its foot, both for movement
inside and outside the burrow.
 The collar is modified to produce tentacles or lophophore arms.
 The tentacles secrete mucous.
 the digestive tract is U-shaped.
 Reproduction:
1. Asexual reproduction by budding
2. Sexual reproduction with external fertilisation.
 has only a single gonad and the larvae is believed not to be a tornaria,
 differ from the Enteropneusts in the possession of only one, or in some species no pharyngeal
slits (Cephalodiscus sp.= 1, Rhabdopleura sp. = 0).
 respiration occurring simply across the body surface.

Figure 4.3 Generalized Pterobranchia

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 4.3. Phylum Protochordates(Lower chordates)
The organisms belonging to the Protochordata are generally known as the lower chordates. They don’t
form a “proper” taxonomic group and are only classified as such for convenience purposes. However, they
do form a major group of Chordata. They are also known as Acraniata because they lack a true skull.
4.3.1. General characters of phylum Protochordates (Lower chordates):

 They are generally found in marine water.

 Their body is bilaterally symmetrical, triploblastic, and coelomated.

 At a certain stage of their lives, their body develops a long, rod-like structure for support called the
notochord.

 They exhibit organ system level of organization.

 are simple and aberrant chordates.

 the true brain or skull is absent.
 are all marine and small sized animals.
 head and exoskeleton are not found.
 coelom is enterocoelic.
 Pharyngeal gill-clefts are permanent.
 Endostyle is present.
4. 3.2. Classification of Protochordata:
The phylum is divided into two sub-phyla
A. Sub- phylum Urochordata
B. Sub-phylum cephalochordate
A. Sub- phylum Urochordata
Subphylum Urochordata (u'ro-kor-da'ta) (Gr. oura, tail, + L. chorda, cord)
 are Tunicata (about 2000 species) and sea squirts( about 2000 species)
 the name "tunicate" due to tough, nonliving tunic, or test, around the animal that contains
cellulose
 Only larval forms have all chordate characteristics;
 adults sessile, without notochord and dorsal nerve cord; body enclosed

Example: Molgula, a sea squirt

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The Subphylum Urochordata is divided into three classes:

1. Class Ascidiace(Gr. askiolion, little bag, + acea, suffix) = most common and diverse
2. Class Larvacea (L. larva, ghost + acea, suffix)
3. Class Thaliacea (Gr. thalia, luxuriance, acea suffix)
1. Ascidian Tunicates
 may be solitary, colonial (have own test), or compound (share a test with other individuals)
 solitary ascidians usually spherical or cylindrical
 incurrent or oral (anterior) and excurrent or atrial (dorsal) siphons project to outside
 water enters the incurrent siphon (used to draws in water) into the pharynx that is divided by gill
slits to form a basket-like net
 larval forms
 resemble a microscopic tadpole
 bears all chordate hallmarks
 During adult metamorphosis,
 the notochord (which, in the larva, is restricted to the tail, hence the name Urochordata)
and
 tail disappear
 the dorsal nerve cord becomes reduced to a single ganglion
Sea squirts:
 adult sea squirts have only two characteristics of chordates: pharyngeal slits and endostyle.
 the larval form
 reveals the secret of their true relationship;
 the tadpole larva is an elongate, transparent form with all five chordate characteristics:
 notochord, hollow dorsal nerve cord, propulsive postanal tail, and a large pharynx
with endostyle and pharyngeal slits;
 the larva does not feed but swims for some hours before fastening itself vertically by
adhesive papillae to a solid object;
 undergoes metamorphosis to become a sessile adult,
 the circulatory system consists of a ventral heart and two large vessels, one on either side of the
heart;
 vessels connected to pharyngeal basket (where respiratory exchange occurs)

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  the heart drives the blood first in one direction for a few beats, then pauses, reverses its action, and
drives the blood in the opposite direction for a few beats (no other chordate heart does this)
 high amounts of rare elements in the blood, such as vanadium and niobium
 the nervous system is restricted to a nerve ganglion
 are hermaphroditic, with usually a single ovary and a single testis in the same animal.
 germ cells (gametes) are carried by ducts into the atrial cavity, and then into the surrounding water
where fertilization occurs
2. Thaliacean tunicates
 are known as salps
 are barrel- or lemonshaped pelagic forms with transparent, gelatinous bodies
 occur singly or in colonial
 the cylindrical body is surrounded by bands of circular muscle, with incurrent and excurrent
siphons at opposite ends;
 water pumped through the body by muscular contraction (rather than by cilia as in
ascidians) is used for locomotion by a sort of jet propulsion, for respiration, and as a source
of particulate food that is filtered on mucous surfaces;
 many are provided with luminous organs, which give a brilliant light at night;
 most of the body is hollow, with the viscera forming a compact mass on the ventral side.
 have complex life forms
 reproduced by an alternation of sexual and asexual generations (Doliolum and Salpa).
3. Larvacean tunicate (Appendicularia in some classifications)
 are larva-like pelagic creatures shaped like a bent tadpole
 their resemblance to the larval stages of other tunicates has given them their class name of
Larvacea.
 are feed feeders
 the larvacean abandons its house and builds a new house, a process that takes only a few minutes
 like thaliaceans, larvaceans can quickly build up dense populations when food is abundant
 larvaceans are paedomorphic;
 are sexually mature animals that have retained the larval body form of their evolutionary
ancestors.
B. Sub-phylum cephalochordate (lancelets; Branchiostoma/Amphioxus)

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  are lancelets: slender, laterally compressed, translucent animals
 originally bore the generic name Amphioxus (Gr. amphi, both ends, + oxys, sharp), later
surrendered by priority to Bran. chiostoma (Gr. branchia, gills, + stoma, mouth).
 four species of amphioxus occur in North American coastal waters
Amphioxus :
 has the five distinctive characteristics of chordates in simple form
 no other chordate shows the basic diagnostic chordate characteristics as clearly as amphioxus
 also possesses several structural features that suggest the vertebrate plan
Example:
 are a hepatic cecum,
 a diverticulum that resembles the vertebrate pancreas in secreting digestive
enzymes
 segmented trunk musculature,
 the basic circulatory plan of more advanced chordates
Water enters the mouth→ driven by cilia in the buccal cavity, → passes through numerous pharyngeal
slits (where food is trapped in mucus),→ moved by cilia into the intestine( the smallest food particles are
separated from the mucus) → passed into the hepatic cecum (where they are phagocytized and digested
intracellularly)→ filtered water passes first into an atrium, → leaves the body by an atriopore (equivalent
to the excurrent siphon of tunicates).
 the closed circulatory system is complex for so simple a chordate; flow pattern is remarkably
similar to that of primitive fishes, although there is
 no heart
 the nervous system is centered around a hollow nerve cord
 sense organs are simple, unpaired bipolar receptors located in various parts of the body
 the "brain" is a simple vesicle at the anterior end of the nerve cord.
 dioecious; gametes are set free in the atrial cavity, then pass out the atriopore to the outside
where fertilization occurs
 cleavage is total (holoblastic) and a gastrula is formed by invagination
larvae hatch soon after egg deposition and gradually assume the shape of adults

UNIT FIVE

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 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

The animal kingdom is divided into two sub-kingdoms:

1) Chordata and
2) Non-Chordata
5.1. General characteristics of Chordates
 appear in the developmental stage will persist in the adult or modified in the adult or disappeared
in the adult.
They are,
1. Presence of notochord:
 is an elastic, longitudinal stiff rod present between the nerve cord and alimentary canal.
 is covered by an outer chodal sheath and inner elastic sheath or elastic-internal.
 Below it vacuolated, non-nucleated cells are present
 is present in the embryos of the vertebrates and replaced by vertebral column.
 is present throughout the life in less-developed vertebrates.
2. Presence of pharyngeal gill slits:
Gill slits
 are present on either side of the pharynx.
 each develops in the embryonic stage by evaginations of endoderm in pharynx with a
corresponding invagination of ectoderm on the outside of the body.
 are useful for respiration.
 are several pairs in embryonic life of reptiles, birds and mammals,but are not functional hence
they are closed.
3. Presence of dorsal tubular nerve cord:
The nerve cord
 is non-ganglionated, single, dorsal (to the alimentary canal and the notochord )and hollow
tube
 develops from the ectoderm.
 Its cavity is called neurocoel.
In addition to these the following are also characters seen in all most all chordates.
i. Triploblastic nature : They possess three germ layers,
1. Ectoderm, 2. Mesoderm, 3. Endoderm

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ii. Development of true coelome:
 It develops from mesoderm.
 is developed by enterocoelic method.
iii. Presence of bilateral symmetry:
 No chordate animal possesses ideal bilateral symmetry, but they are near to such condition.
iv. Reduction of Metameric Segmentation:
Metamerism is seen in the internal structures of chordates permits modification of certain regions of
the body for specialized functions such as feeding, locomotion, and reproduction..
Tagmatization-the specialization of body regions in a metameric anima
- is best developed in arthropods; annelids only show some advent of this regional
specialization of body segments
The myomeres are seen in lower chordates and
Segmentation is seen in the embryonic condition of higher vertebrates.

5.2. Difference between Chordates and Non- chordates

Chordates Non-chordates

Notochord is present at least in some stage of

Notochord is absent
life cycle

Nerve cord is non-ganglionated, single, Nerve cord is ganglionated, double ventral and
dorsal and hollow solid

Pharyngeal gill slits are present Absent

A post anal tail is present in some stages or

Post anal tail is absent
throughout life

Ventral heart is present Dorsal heart is present

Haemoglobin when present is in the blood

Haemoglobin is present in RBC
plasma

Endoskeleton and exoskeleton are present Generally exoskeleton alone is present

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 Hepatic portal system is present Hepatic portal system absent

Eyes are derived from brain Eyes are derived from the skin

10. Blood flow is forward in ventral vessel and Blood flow is back ward in ventral vessel and
backward in dorsal vessel forward in dorsal vessel

5.3. Sub-Phylum of chordata

Phylum of chordata is divided into two groups:-
1. Acraniata
 include those chordates which lack cranium, jaws, vertebral column and paired appendages.
 are generally referred to as Sub-phylum Protochordates or Lower chordates
2. Craniata(Sub-phylum vertebrata).
Subphylum Vertebrata or Craniata (vertebrates) Trends in the Evolution of Vertebrate
1. Shift from notochord to vertebral column
2. Nerve cord expanded into brain
3. Evolution of jaws
4. Paired fins evolved, gave rise to limbs
5. Gills evolved, gave rise to lungs
 this monophyletic group shares the basic chordate characteristics with the other two subphyla
 the alternative name of the subphylum, Craniata, more accurately describes the group since all have
a cranium (bony or cartilaginous braincase) but some jawless fishes lack vertebrae
Increased speed and mobility resulted from modifications of the skeleton and muscles.

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5.4. Major classes of chordates
5.4.1. Class Pices
A. Sub Class Agnatha
The Agnatha, or jawless fishes, are the oldest known vertebrates. The only surviving members of this class
are the hagfish and lampreys, known as cyclostomes. Cyclostomes have long, slender bodies with dorsal,
ventral, and caudal (tail) fins, all in the median plane. Both hagfish and lamprey lack scales and plates and
have slimy skin. They are exothermic or cold blooded, do not have to warm themselves through eating,
have a slow metabolism, and have to eat relatively small quantities of food.Types and function of fins

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Dorsal fins
 are located on the back.
 Most fishes have one dorsal fin, but some fishes have two or three.
 The dorsal fins serve to protect the fish against rolling, and assist in sudden turns and stops.
 In anglerfish, the anterior of the dorsal fin is modified into an illicium and esca, a biological
equivalent to a fishing rod and lure.
 The bones that support the dorsal fin are called Pterygiophore.
 There are two to three of them: "proximal", "middle", and "distal". In spinous fins the distal is often
fused to the middle, or not present at all.
The caudal fin

 is the tail fin, located at the end of the caudal peduncle and is used for propulsion.
 The caudal peduncle is the narrow part of the fish's body to which the caudal or tail fin is attached.
 The hypural joint is the joint between the caudal fin and the last of the vertebrae. The hypural is
often fan-shaped. The tail is called:
 Heterocercal if the vertebrae extend into the upper lobe of the tail, making it longer (as in
sharks)
 Reversed heterocercal if the vertebrae extend into the lower lobe of the tail, making it longer (as
in the Anaspida)
 Protocercal if the vertebrae extend to the tip of the tail and the tail is symmetrical but not
expanded (as in amphioxus)
 Diphycercal if the vertebrae extend to the tip of the tail and the tail is symmetrical and expanded
(as in the bichir, lungfish, lamprey and coelacanth. Most Palaeozoic fishes had a diphycercal,
heterocercal tail.
 Most fish have a homocercal tail, where the fin appears superficially symmetric but the
vertebrae extend for a very short distance into the upper lobe of the fin. This can be expressed in
a variety of shapes. The tail fin can be:
 rounded at the end
 truncated: or end in a more-or-less vertical edge, such as in salmon
 forked: or end in two prongs
 emarginated: or with a slight inward curve.
 continuous: with dorsal, caudal and anal fins attached, such as in eels

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The anal fin

 is located on the ventral surface behind the anus.

 This fin is used to stabilize the fish while swimming.

The paired pectoral fins

 are located on each side, usually just behind the operculum, and are homologous to the forelimbs of
tetra pods.
 A peculiar function of pectoral fins, highly developed in some fish, is the creation of the dynamic
lifting force that assists some fish, such as sharks, in maintaining depth and also enables the "flight"
for flying fish. In many fish, the pectoral fins aid in walking, especially in the lobe-like fins of some
anglerfish and in the mudskipper.

The paired pelvic or ventral fins

 are located ventrally below the pectoral fins.

 They are homologous to the hind limbs of tetra pods.
 The pelvic fin assists the fish in going up or down through the water, turning sharply, and stopping
quickly. Scales

The outer body of many fish is covered with scales, which are part of the fish's integumentary system. The
scales originate from the mesoderm (skin), and may be similar in structure to teeth. Some species are
covered instead by scutes. Others have no outer covering on the skin. Most fish are covered in a protective
layer of slime (mucus).

2. There are four principal types of fish scales

1. Placoid scales, also called dermal denticles, are similar to teeth in that they are made of dentin covered
by enamel. They are typical of sharks and rays.
2. Ganoid scales are flat, basal-looking scales that cover a fish body with little overlapping. They are
typical of gar and bichirs.
3. Cycloid scales are small oval-shaped scales with growth rings. Bowfin and remora have cycloid scales.
4. Ctenoid scales are similar to the cycloid scales, with growth rings. They are distinguished by spines that
cover one edge. Halibut have this type of scale.
Another, less common, type of scale is the scute, which is:
 an external shield-like bony plate, or

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 a modified, thickened scale that often is keeled or spiny, or
 a projecting, modified (rough and strongly ridged) scale, usually associated with the lateral line, or
on the caudal peduncle forming caudal keels, or along the ventral profile. Some fish, such as
pinecone fish, are completely or partially covered in scutes.

 Agnatha include hagfish & lamprey with long, eel-like bodies without jaws or paired fins &
cartilage skeletons
 Chondrichthyes include sharks, rays, & skates with cartilage skeletons, paired fins, & jaws
 Osteichthyes are bony fish with jaws, paired fins, & bone and cartilage in their skeletons
 Amphibia include frogs, toads, & salamanders that go through an aquatic larval or tadpole stage
 Reptilia include snakes, turtles, lizards, & alligators that live on land, are covered with scales, & lay
a tough, protective amniote egg
 Aves are birds covered with feathers, adapted for flying, & with hollow bones
 Mammalia have hair or fur & females have mammary or milk-producing glands
3. Characteristics of Fish:
 Streamlined body & muscular tail for swimming

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 Most with paired fins for maneuvering
 Body covered with protective scales & mucus layer to reduce friction when swimming
 Have less dense body tissues & store less dense lipids to help them float
 Respire through gills
 Most have a lateral line system or a row of sensory structures running down each side of the
organism to detect changes in water temperature, pressure, current, etc.

A. Agnatha (Jawless Fish):

 Hagfish (live in oceans) & lampreys (found in marine & freshwater)
 Circular mouths
 Sharp teeth & strong rasp-like tongue to tear hole in prey & suck out blood & body fluids

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 
 Known as cyclostomes

 Eel-shaped body

 Mucus covers body

 Skeleton made of cartilage

 No paired fins

 Gills without bony cover (called operculum)

 Retain their notochord throughout their life

 Hagfish are bottom dwellers in cold marine waters that burrow in mud, scavenge on dead &

dying fish, & have tentacles around their mouth

 Lampreys are usually parasites with a keen sense of smell to locate prey, lay their eggs

 Fast swimmers

 Large, oily liver (20% of body weight) makes them buoyant

Tough, leathery skin
 Fierce predators
 Whale shark is largest & filter feeds on plankton
 Ventral mouth with 6-20 rows of sharp, replaceable teeth
 Short, straight intestine with spiral valve to slow food movement
 5-7 pairs of gills for gas exchange
 Kidneys remove wastes & maintain water balance
 Electroreceptors on head help find prey & navigate
 Lateral line along side of body contains sensory cells to detect vibrations & pressure
 Separate sexes with external fertilization
Ray & Skate Characteristics:
 Usually harmless to humans
 Broad, wing-like pectoral fins used to glide through water
 Flattened bodies with ventral mouth
 Both eyes on top of head
 Have protective coloration (darker on top & lighter on bottom)
 Feed on fish & invertebrates
 Stingray with poison spine by tip of tail

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  Electric ray gives off strong, electric shock
 Manta ray is largest

B. Traits of Bony Fish (Osteichthyes)

 Skeleton made of bone
 Have hinged jaws
 Have paired fins
 Gills for gas exchange
 Have lateral line
 Body covered with scales & mucus coating
 Includes lobe-finned, ray-finned, and lung fish
Lobe-finned Fish:
 Muscular, paddle-like fins supported by bone
 Have gills
 Known as coelacanths
 Thought to be extinct until 1938 when species found in Africa
 Live in deep oceans

Lungfish: Lungfish (also known as salamander fish)

 Use lungs & gills & are freshwater fish belonging to the subclass Dipnoi.

 Eel-shaped body
 Live in shallow, tropical rivers of Africa, Australia, & South America
 Come to surface & gulp air when oxygen level is low
 Form mud cocoon & become dormant if stream dries up
The lung(s) connect to the pharynx and are subdivided into numerous smaller air sacs, maximizing the
surface area available for gas exchange.

Ray-finned Fish: Fan-like

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  fins supported by rays
 Includes salmon, perch, catfish, tuna, etc.
 Body covered with round, overlapping cycloid or ctenoid scales & mucus
 Four sets of gills covered by bony operculum

 Have movable fins

 Dorsal fin(s) located on top keep fish upright & used for defense
 Caudal fin or tail moves side to side to help steer
 Pectoral fins (paired) on each side behind the operculum
 Pelvic fins (paired) on ventral surface near the head
 Anal fin (single) behind anus
 Swim bladder is thin-walled sac in abdomen that creates buoyancy from diffusion of dissolved
gas from blood
 Kidneys filter the blood & help maintain water balance
 Exothermic - body temperature regulated by the environment
 Keen sense of smell (nostrils) & have chemical receptors over the body
 Can detect the earth's magnetic field as a guide to navigate oceans
 Have separate sexes with external fertilization

 Eggs hatch into fry

Salmon Life Cycle:

 Migrate up to 3200 kilometers following magnetic cues in the ocean

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  Follow mucus trails when navigating rivers
 Return to birthplace to spawn
 Males change color & jaw lengthens & develops a hook
 Female uses her tail to build gravel nest & lays up to 10,000 eggs
 Male deposits sperm over eggs
 Adults usually die after spawning
 Pacific salmon return to sea when 15 cm long; while Atlantic salmon may stay in river up to 7 years
 Secrete mucus coating in river as return to sea
 May stay in ocean 6 months to 5 years

4. Evolution:
 Fossil record shows jawless fish without paired fins appeared first about 550 million years ago
 Ostracoderm was a jawless, bottom-feeding ancestor to the agnathans (modern jawless fish)
 Development of jaws & paired fins allowed better movement & increased ability to capture prey
 Extinct acanthodians or spiny fish were first jawed fish with paired fins
 Jaws probably developed from gill arches (bone that supports the pharynx)

5.4.2. Class Amphibian

1. Amphibian Evolution:

 Arose from lobe-fined ancestor called Crossopterygians

 Land plants & insects provided new food source
 Had primitive lungs & short, limb like fins for short periods on land
 Appeared during late Devonian
 Icthyostega early amphibian with 4 limbs, lungs, & a tail for swimming
Adaptations:
 Four limbs with claws on digits (toes)
 Lungs instead of gills
 Both internal & external nares (nostrils)
 Three chambered heart (two atria & one ventricle)
 Double loop blood circulation to lungs & rest of body cells

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 Skin with keratin (protein) to prevent water loss
 Necks to more easily see & feed
 Most with smooth, moist skin to take in dissolved oxygen
 Some with oral glands to moisten food they eat
 Webbed toes without claws
 Ectothermic - body temperature changes with environment
 Show dormancy or torpor (state of inactivity during unfavorable environmental conditions)
 Hibernate in winter and aestivate in summer
 Aquatic larva called tadpole goes through metamorphosis to adult
 External fertilization with amplexus (male clasps back of female as sperm & eggs deposited into
water)
 Metamorphosis controlled by hormone called thyroxine
 Eggs coated with sticky, jelly like material so they attach to objects in water & do not float away

 Eggs hatch into tadpoles in about 12 days Eggs

 Males with vocal sacs to croak
 Digested system adapted to swallow prey whole
 Well developed muscular system

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2. Classification:
 Anura - frogs & toads
 Urodela - salamanders & newts
 Apoda – caecilians
 Trachystoma - sirens or mud eels
A. Anuran Characteristics:
 Both terrestrial & freshwater species
 Tadpole with tail, gills, & two-chambered heart
 Adults without a tail, four limbs, & lungs
 Frog skin smooth & moist for cutaneous respiration, while toads is rough & warty (poison
glands)

Frog

 Long hind limbs for jumping

 Long, forked tongue hinged at front of mouth

B. Urodela Characteristics
 Includes salamanders & newts
 Have elongated bodies with a tail & four limbs
 Smooth, moist skin for cutaneous respiration
 Less able to stay on dry land than anurans

Spotted Salamander

 Size from a few centimeters long to 1.5 meters

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 Nocturnal when live in drier areas
 Newts are aquatic species

Red Spotted Newt

 Lay eggs in water or damp soil

 Some bear live young
 May or may not go through tadpole stage (some hatch & look like small adult)

C. Apodan Characteristics:
 Includes caecilians
 Tropical, burrowing, worm like amphibian
 Legless
 Small eyes & often blind
 Eat worms & other invertebrates
 Average length 30 centimeters, but can grow up to 1.3 meters
 internal fertilization
 Female bear live young

Caecilian

D. Trachystoma Characteristics
 Includes mud eels or sirens
 Known as "rough mouth" amphibians
 Found in eastern U.S. & southern Europe

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  Have minute forelimbs & no hindlimbs

Mud Eel or Siren

3. Anatomy of frogs
1. External Frog Anatomy:
 Live double life on land & water
 Powerful hind legs for jumping & swimming fold under body when at rest
 Bulging eyes to stay submerged but still see predators
 Blinking eyelids protect eyes from dust & dehydration
 Nictitating membranes clear to moisten eye & see underwater
 Internal nostrils or nares allow frog to breathe underwater
 Tympanic membranes or eardrums behind each eye transmit sound through bone called columella
to inner ear
 Eustachian tubes connect mouth & middle ear to equalize pressure

 Males croak or make sound to attract females & ward off other males
 Have protective coloration from cells called chromatophores
 Granular glands secrete foul tasting or poisonous substance
 Mucus glands lubricate skin for oxygen to be dissolved & absorb

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 2. Internal Frog Anatomy:
Skeletal System
 Nine spinal vertebrae (1 cervical in neck, 7 trunk, & 1 sacral supporting hind legs)
 Urostyle long, slim bone connecting sacral vertebrae & trunk
 No rib cage, but pectoral girdle forms shoulders & connects front legs

 Pelvic girdle connects to hind legs

Digestive System

 Tongue sticky, forked, & hinged at front of mouth so can be extended out to catch insects
 Can pull eyes inward to help swallow food
 Two, sharp, backward-pointing vomerine teeth in roof of mouth help prevent prey from escaping
 Maxillary teeth line the edge of the upper jaw
 Alimentary canal (mouth, esophagus, stomach, small & large intestines, and cloaca) is where food
is digested, absorbed & wastes eliminated
 Stomach makes gastric juices to break down food
 Pyloric sphincter muscle controls movement of food from stomach into first part of small intestine
called duodenum
 Liver makes bile to digest fats; stored in gall bladder
 Pancreas makes pancreatic juice to digest food in small intestine
 Ileum is coiled mid portion of small intestine
 Mesentery is a fanlike membrane holding the intestine in place
 Wastes collect in large intestine & then move into cloaca along with eggs, sperm, & urine until they
leave body through the anus

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Circulatory System
 Need more oxygen to burn increased amount of food needed to live on land
 3 chambered heart (right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from body, left atrium receives
oxygenated blood from lungs, & ventricle pumps blood to lungs & rest of the body)
 Double loop blood circulation (pulmonary from heart to lungs & systemic from heart to rest of
body)
 Conus arteriosus carries blood from ventricle to body cells

Respiratory System

 Tadpoles use gills to breathe

 Adult frogs breathe through lungs & moist skin (cutaneous respiration)
 Glottis is the opening into throat & lungs

Excretory System

 Carbon dioxide excreted through skin & lungs

 Kidneys filter blood & store urine in urinary bladder until leaves cloaca
Nervous System

 Olfactory lobes at base of brain detect smells

 Cerebrum behind olfactory lobes controls muscles
 Optic lobes detect sight
 Cerebellum controls balance & coordination
 Medulla oblongata controls heart rate & breathing

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  Cranial nerves connect brain & spinal cord, while spinal nerves branch off the spinal cord to
muscles & sensory receptors
More on Animal Development – Terms Relevant to Classification
 blastomere = an early cleavage cell in a developing embryo
 Cleavage = early embryonic cell divisions (mitosis)
 determinate cleavage = the type of cleavage, usually spiral, in which the fate of the blastomeres is
determined very early in development; mosaic cleavage
 mosaic cleavage = embryonic development characterized by independent differentiation of each
part of the embryo
 indeterminate cleavage/development = the type of embryonic development in which the fate of
blastomeres is not determined very early as to tissues or organs (cell differentiation);regulative
cleavage
 regulative cleavage/development = embryonic development determined by interactions among
neighboring cells; cell fates are not fixed early in development

Coelom Formation
 schizocoelic coelom and mesoderm formation = formation of a coelom by splitting of the
embryonic mesoderm; embryonic formation of the mesoderm as cords of cells between ectoderm
and endoderm; splitting of these cords results in the coelomic space
 enterocoelic coelom and mesoderm formation = formation of a coelom by out pouching of the
mesodermal sac from the endoderm of the primitive gut; embryonic formation of the mesoderm by
a pouch like out folding from the archenteron, which then expands and obliterates the blastocoels,
thus forming a large cavity, the coelom, lined with mesoderm
 archenteron = the main cavity of an embryo in the gastrula stage; it is lined with endodermand
represents the future digestive cavity

5.4.3. Class Reptilian

1. Evolution of Reptiles:
 Reptiles were 1st vertebrates to make a
complete transition to life on land (more food &
space)

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  This class of 6000 species includes the snakes,
lizards, turtles, alligators, and crocodiles.
 Arose from ancestral reptile group called
cotylosaurs (small, lizard like reptile)
 Cotylosaurs adapted to other environments in
Permian period
1.Pterosaurs-flying reptiles
2. Ichthyosaurs & plesiosaurs - marine reptiles
3. Thecodonts - small, land reptiles that walked on
back legs
Mesozoic Era called "age of reptiles

 Dinosaurs dominated life on land for 160 million years

 Brachiosaurs were largest dinosaurs
 Herbivores included Brontosaurus & Diplodocus, while Tyrannosaurus were carnivores
 Dinosaurs became extinct at end of Cretaceous period
 Mass extinction of many animal species possibly due to impact of huge asteroid with earth;
Asteroid Impact Theory
 Amniote (shelled) egg allowed reptiles to live & reproduce on land

Amniote Egg:

 Egg had protective membranes & porous shell enclosing the embryo
 Has 4 specialized membranes --- amnion, yolk sac, allantois, & chorion

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  Amnion is a thin membrane surrounding a salty fluid in which the embryo "floats"
 Yolk sac encloses the yolk or protein-rich food supply for embryo
 Allantois stores nitrogenous wastes made by embryo until egg hatches
 Chorion lines the inside of the shell & regulates oxygen & carbon dioxide exchange
 Shell leathery & waterproof
 Internal fertilization occurs in female before shell is formed

Terrestrial Adaptations:

 Dry, watertight skin covered by scales made of a protein called keratin to prevent desiccation (water
loss)
 Toes with claws to dig & climb
 Geckos have toes modified into suction cups to aid climbing
 Snakes use scales & well developed muscular & skeletal systems to move
 Lungs for respiration
 Double circulation of blood through heart to increase oxygen to cells
 Partial separation in ventricle to separate oxygenated & deoxygenated blood
 Ectothermic - body temperature controlled by environment
 May bask or lie in sun to raise body temperature or seek shade to lower body temperature; known
as thermoregulation
 Water conserved as nitrogen wastes excreted in dry, paste like form of uric acid crystals

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2. General Characteristics of (Class Reptilia)

 Body covered with keratinized epidermal scales and sometimes bony dermal plates; integument
with few glands
 Two paired limbs, usually with five toes, and adapted for climbing, running, or paddling; limbs
vestigial or absent in snakes and some lizards
 Skeleton well ossified; ribs with sternum (sternum absent in snakes) forming a complete thoracic
basket; skull with one occipital condyle
 Respiration primarily by lungs, which have high surface area and filled by aspiration; no gills;
cloaca, pharynx, or skin used for respiration by some
 Circulatory system functionally divided into pulmonary and systemic circuits; heart typically
consisting of a sinus venosus, an atrium completely divided into two chambers, and a ventricle
incompletely divided into three chambers; crocodilians with a sinus venosus, two atria, and two
ventricles
 Ectothermic; many thermoregulate behaviorally
 Metanephric kidney (paired); uric acid main nitrogenous waste
 Nervous system with optic lobes on dorsal side of brain; 12 pairs of cranial nerves in addition to
nervus terminalis; enlarged cerebrum
 Sexes separate; fertilization internal; copulatory organ a penis, hemipenes, or rarely absent
 Eggs covered with calcareous or leathery shells; extraembryonic membranes (amnion, chorion, yolk
sac, and allantois) present during embryonic life; no aquatic larval stages

3. Classification of Class Reptilia

Modern Reptiles:

 Only 4 living orders remain

 Found worldwide except in coldest ecosystems
 Orders include ----- Rhyncocephalia (tuatara lizard), Chelonia (turtles & tortoises), Squamata
(lizards & snakes), & Crocodilia (alligators, caimans, and crocodiles)

Order Rhyncocephalia:

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  Only one living species, Spenodon punctatus, (tuatara lizard)
 Live on islands off the coast of New Zealand

Tuatara
 Spiny crest running down back
 Grows up to 60 cm in length
 Has 3rd eye on top of head (parietal eye) that acts as a thermostat
 Most active when temperatures are low (nocturnal)
 Often burrow during the day
 Feed on insects, worms, & small animals at night
Order Chelonia:
 Includes turtles and tortoises
 Aquatic, but lay eggs on land
 Body covered with shell composed of hard plates & tough, leathery skin
 Carapace or dorsal surface of shell fused with vertebrae & ribs
 Plastron is ventral shell surface
 Shape of shell modified for habitat
 Dome shaped shell helps to retract head & limbs in tortoises

Galapagos Tortoise

 Water-dwelling turtles have streamline, disk shaped shell to rapidly move in water

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Spotted Turtle

 Forelimbs of marine turtles modified into flippers

Marine Turtle

 River & sea turtles migrate to breeding areas where they hatched to lay their eggs on land

Order Crocodilia:

 Includes crocodiles, alligators, caimans, & gavials

 Direct descendants of Archosaurs
 Carnivorous (wait for prey to come near & then aggressively attack)
 Eyes located on top of head so they can see when submerged
 Nostrils on top of snout to breathe in water
 Valve in back of mouth prevents water from entering airway when feeding underwater
 No parental care of young in most species except Nile crocodile that carry young in their jaws &
guards nest
 Crocodiles are tropical or subtropical, usually nocturnal, reptiles found in Africa, Asia, South
America, & southern Florida

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Australian Crocodile

 Alligators are found in China & the southern United States

American Alligator

 Caimans are native to Central America & resemble alligators

Black Caiman

 Gavials, living only in India & Burma, are fish eating reptiles with very slender, long snouts

Gavial

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Order Squamata:

 Includes snakes & lizards

 Snakes probably evolved from lizards during the Cretaceous period
 Snakes have 100-400 vertebrae each with a pair of ribs & attached muscles for movement
 Interaction of bone, muscles, & skin of snakes allows them 3 ways to move --- lateral, rectilinear, &
side winding
a. Lateral undulations:
1. Most common
2. Head moves side to side causing wave of muscular contractions
3. Snake uses sides of its body to push off of ground
4. Snake moves forward in S-shaped path
b. Rectilinear Movements:
1. Muscular force applied to belly & not sides of snake
2. Scutes or scales on belly catch on rough surfaces
3. Body relaxes & then moves forward slowly
c. Side winding:
1. Used by some desert snakes
2. Sideways movement of body
3. Head vigorously flung from side to side
4. Whiplike motion moves body along
 Do not hear or see well but locate prey using forked tongue that gathers chemical scents
 Swallow prey whole:
1. Jaws unhinge for mouth to stretch
2. Small teeth used to hold prey in mouth
3. Windpipe thrust into throat while swallowing so snake can swallow & breathe
4. Swallowing may take several hours
5. Saliva begins digestion during swallowing
 Constrictors wrap body around prey & squeeze them to death (boas, pythons, etc.)

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  Snakes may inject venom or poison:
1. Hemotoxin - poisonous proteins attacking red blood cells (water moccasin & rattlesnake)
2. Neurotoxin - poison that works on nervous system affecting heart rate & breathing (copperhead)
 Venomous snakes with 3 types of fangs --- rear-fanged, front-fanged, & hinge- fanged snakes
 Rear-fanged snakes bite prey & use grooved back teeth to guide venom into puncture (boomslang)
 Front-fanged snakes inject poison through 2 small front fangs that act like a hypodermic needle

(cobra) Spitting Cobra

 Hinged- fang snakes have hinged fangs in roof of mouth that swing forward to inject poison
(rattlesnake, water moccasin, copperhead)

Rattlesnake Water Moccasin

 Often camouflaged for defense

 May use signals such as cobra expanding its hood, rattlesnake shaking its rattle, or hissing for
defense
 Most snakes locate females by scent
 Internal fertilization with no parental care
 May be oviparous (eggs hatch outside body) or ovoviviparous (eggs held inside body until hatch)
 Lizards:
1. Four limbs
2. Includes iguanas, geckos, skinks, chameleons, etc.
3. Rely on speed, agility, & camouflage to catch prey

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 4. Feed on insects & small worms
5. Some, such as anole & chameleon, can change colors for protection
6. May use active displays such as squirting blood, hissing, or inflating bodies
7. Some show autotomy (breaking off tail to escape predators)
8. Two poisonous U.S. species include Gila Monster & Beaded Lizard

Gila Monster

 Komodo dragon of Indonesia is largest lizard reaching 3 meters in length

4. Economic importance of Reptiles

 Reptiles consist mainly of snakes, tortoises, crocodiles. Snakes are consumed as food eg. Boa.
 Snakes are used for preparing antivenim. Snake skin is used for making bags, purses etc. Pain
killers are prepared from neurotoxin in venom.
 Powerful enzymes in venom is used by researchers to study biochemical studies in breaking
complex molecules. Snake bite can cause death due to anaphylaxis attack, neurotoxicity or
hemotoxicity.
 Crocodile skin is used for making bags, belts etc. Tortoise shell is of ornamental use. Tortoise flesh
& food is consumed as food. Varanus is used for climbing. Courtship behaviour can be studied
using Chamaeleon sp. Calotes also help in controlling many insect population. Chamaeleon helps in
learning the basics of life so as to adjust to the existing situation.

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 5.4.4. Class Aves (Birds)
5.4.4..1. The most Common features of Class Aves
 Well adapted to marine, freshwater, & terrestrial habitats
 Bodies adapted for flight
 Endothermic - body temperature controlled by metabolism

 Body covered with feathers made of protein called keratin

 Thin, hollow bones
 Some bones fused for extra strength
 Forelimbs modified into wings for flight
 Two hind limbs with claws to support upright body
 Scales on legs
 Toothless, horny beak
 Additional air sacs with lungs for more oxygen
 Endotherms (40 to 41 degrees Celsius body temperature)
 Four chambered heart with single, right aortic arch
 Amniote egg with calcium carbonate shell
 Oviparity with both parents often caring for eggs
 Eggs usually incubated within a nest

Body usually spindle-shaped, with four divisions: head, neck,

trunk, and tail; neck elongate and S-shaped
 Forelimbs modified as wings; hind limbs adapted for perching, walking, or swimming; foot with
four toes (2 or 3 toes in some)
 Epidermal covering of feathers and leg scales; thin integument of epidermis and dermis; no sweat
glands; oil or preen gland at base of tail; pinna of ear rudimentary
 Fully ossified skeleton with air cavities; skull bones fused with one occipital condyle; skull diapsid
with antorbital fenestra; each jaw covered with a keratinized sheath, forming
a beak; no teeth; ribs with strengthening processes, the uncinate process attaching ribs with one
another; tail not elongate, reduced to pygostyle; sternum usually well developed with keel; single
bone in middle ear

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  Nervous system well developed, with 12 pairs of cranial nerves and brain with large cerebellum and
optic lobes
 Circulatory system of four-chambered heart with two atria and two ventricles; separate pulmonary
and systemic circuits; right aortic arch persisting; nucleated red blood cells
 Endothermic
Respiration by slightly expansible lungs (parabronchi), with thin air sacs among the visceral organs
and skeleton; syrinx (voice box) near junction of trachea and bronchi
Excretory system of metanephric kidney; ureters open into cloaca; no bladder; semisolid urine; uric
acid main nitrogenous waste
 Sexes separate; testes paired, with the vas deferens opening into the cloaca; females with functional
left ovary and oviduct only; copulatory organ (penis) in ducks, geese,
paleognathids, and a few others
 Fertilization internal; amniotic eggs with much yolk and hard calcareous shells; incubation external;
young active at hatching (precocial) or helpless and naked (altricial); sex determination by
chromosomes (females heterogametic)

Feathers:

 Modified scales
 Function to provide lift for flight & help conserve body heat
 Five kinds of feathers ----- down, contour, flight, filoplume, & bristles

Types of Feathers

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  Down feathers:
1.Soft & fluffy
2. Cover the body of nestlings
3. Provide an undercoat insulating adult birds

 Contour Feathers:
1. Give streamline shape to body
2. Provide coloration to adult birds
3. Give additional insulation to body
 Flight Feathers:
1. Specialized contour feathers

2. Found on wings & tail

 Filoplumes:
1. Called pin feathers
2. Hairlike feathers under contour feathers on body

Parts of a feather:

 Develop from tiny pits in the skin called follicles

 Shaft emerges from the follicle
 Two vanes develop on either side of shaft
 Barbs branch off of each vane & have projections called barbules
 Barbules have microscopic hooks to hold barbules together

Parts of a Flight Feather

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Microscopic Hooks on Barbules

 Birds preen their feathers to clean them & coat them with oil
 Preen glands - oil glands located at the base of the tail
 Birds shed or molt feathers periodically:
1. Molting usually in late summer between breeding & migration
2. Flight feathers replaced
3. Some birds molt before courtship

Beaks and Feet:

 Adapted to habitat & feeding

 Hawks & eagles have hooked beaks & talons for tearing meat

Talons Hooked Beak Penguin Flippers

 Swifts have tiny beaks that open wide to catch insects in midair
 Flightless birds like ostriches have legs & feet modified for running & walking
 Penguins have wings modified into flippers for swimming
 Ducks & geese with webbed feet

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Running Legs of Ostrich Webbed Feet on Duck

 Legs of some birds such as herons & egrets turn vivid colors to attract mates; caused by hormones

Skeleton and Muscles:

 Pelvic & pectoral girdles fused for strength

 Bones thin & hollow so bird lighter

Hollow Bones

 Furculum or wishbone is a fused collarbone that stabilizes bird in flight

 Lighter beak replaces heavy teeth & jaws
 Lower vertebrae fused so no heavy ligaments needed
 Enlarged eye sockets reduce skull weight
 Keeled sternum for attachment of large flight muscles
 Pygostyle - terminal vertebrae support tail & aids in flight (lift, steering, & braking)
 Two digits in forelimbs lost & other three digits fused to form wings
 Wings shaped like air foils (thicker in front & tapering to back) so air moves faster on top causing
lift

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  Powerful muscles make up 50% of body weight
 each wing movement uses different set of muscles
 Flight muscles called pectorals & are attached to wing & keeled sternum
 When large pectorals contract, wings move down
 When large pectorals relax & small pectorals contract, wings move upward

5.4.4.2. Physiology of class Aves

Body Temperature:
 Metabolism generates body heat (endothermic)

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  Enables birds to survive in warm & cold environments
 Rapid breathing & increased air sacs in lungs bring in more oxygen

Air Sacs in Bird Lungs

 Ingest large amounts of food for energy

 Fluff out feathers to trap air for insulation
 Aquatic birds have thin layer of fat for insulation

Digestive System:

 Fast & efficient digestion (mouse digested in 3 hours)

 No chewing
 Crop for temporary food storage
 Two part stomach --- proventriculus & gizzard
 Proventriculus is 1st chamber where digestive juices added
 Gizzard is 2nd part for crushing food
 Small stones & gravel eaten by birds aids grinding in gizzard
 Pyloric sphincter valve at lower end of gizzard controls food movement into intestines
 Duodenum - beginning of small intestine where bile (digests fats) & pancreatic juice are added &
digested food is absorbed

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Excretory System:

 Paired kidneys filter nitrogen wastes (uric acid) from blood

 No urinary bladder to store liquid wastes
 Uric acid travels down ureters to cloaca where intestinal wastes & reproductive products added
 Uric acid secreted in white, semi solid mass
 Shorebirds have salt secreting glands above the eyes & secrete excess salt through their nostrils

Respiratory System:

 Fly at high altitudes where there is less oxygen so need efficient respiratory system
 High metabolic rate requires large amount of oxygen
 Nine air sacs associated with lungs increase oxygen level & decrease density
 Air sacs connected to air spaces in hollow bones
 One way flow of air in lungs & air sacs so more oxygen is removed
 Air pathway:
air enters body through nostrils on beak trachea (windpipe) syrinx (voice box) 2
primary bronchi 75% of air into two posterior air sacs and 25% of air into lungs air from
lungs into other seven air sacs

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  When carbon dioxide exhaled, oxygen from posterior air sacs moves into lungs to always keep
fresh oxygen supply

Circulatory System:

 Four chambered heart

 Right side of heart pumps deoxygenated blood from body cells to lungs
 Left side of heart receives oxygenated blood from lungs & pumps it to the body cells
 Single aortic arch
 Rapid heartbeat (hummingbird 600X/minute & chickadee 1000X/minute)
 Less active birds such as ostrich have slower heart rates (70X/minute)

Nervous System:

 Large brains relative to size of bird

 Most highly developed brain areas control flight
 Cerebellum coordinates movement
 Cerebrum controls navigation, mating, nest building, & care of young
 Optic lobes receive & interpret visual stimuli
 Keen vision
 Have color vision for locating food
 Large eyes located on side of head for wide field of vision in most birds
 Some birds such as owls with eyes on front of head for binocular vision (depth perception)
 No external ears, but have feathers around ear openings to direct sounds into ear canals
 Tympanic membrane or eardrum for picking up sound vibrations
 Semicircular canals in inner ear regulate balance
 Poorly developed sense of smell except in ducks & flightless birds
 Sense of taste helps avoid bitter tasting or toxic foods

Reproductive System:

 Testes in males produces sperm that travels by the vas deferens to cloaca
 Females have single ovary that makes eggs

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  Eggs are fertilized in the oviducts
 Shell added by shell gland & then egg moves into
 In mating, male presses cloaca to female to transfer sperm (internal fertilization)
 Lay an amniote egg:
 1. Embryo suspended in fluid called albumen (white of egg)
 2. Chalaza - rope like strands suspending embryo in albumen
 3. Chorion is membrane inside of shell
 4. Yolk is stored food surrounded by yolk sac

Bird Egg

Incubation & development of Egg:

 Eggs incubated by one or both parents

 Brood patch - thickened, featherless patch of skin on abdomen of bird used to warm eggs
 Membranes grow out of embryo's digestive tract & surround yolk
 Membranes make digestive enzymes to dissolve proteins & lipids in yolk
 Yolk sac has blood vessels to carry food to embryo
 Wastes from embryo collect in membrane called allantois
 Chorion membrane lines the shell & allows gas exchange
 Young birds may be precocial or altricial
 Precocial young:
1. Have longer incubations

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 2. More eggs laid
3. Active as soon as hatch
4. Nestlings can swim, walk, & feed themselves
5. Need some parental care
6. Includes ducks, geese, & swans
 Altricial young:
1.Lay fewer eggs
2. Hatch quickly
3. Hatchlings are blind, naked, & helpless
4. Depend on parents for warmth & food for several weeks
5. Includes songbirds, woodpeckers, hawks, pigeons, doves, raptors

Altricial Young Precocial Young

Behavior:

 Longer parental care allows more complex learning (courtship, nesting, migration, etc.)
 Territoriality allows males to establish & defend breeding areas
 Courtship behaviors are used by males to attract mates:
1. Brightly colored feathers
2. Flight displays
3. Songs
Male Scarlet Tanager Breeding Plumage

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  Nest building holds eggs, conceals & shelters young birds, may help attract mates
 Nests are built in sheltered, well-hidden spots in trees, on the ground, etc. & are made of twigs,
mud, grass, feathers...

 Migration to new areas is triggered by dropping temperatures & dwindling food supplies
 Birds use migration clues including:
1. Position of sun & stars
2. Topographical landmarks
3. Magnetic clues
4.Air pressure changes
5. Low frequency sounds

5.4.4.3. Classification of Class Aves

Class Aves
27 orders
 Gaviiformes – loons
 Pelecaniformes - pelicans & cormorants
 Ciconiiformes - wading birds like ibises & herons
 Anseriformes - ducks, geese, & swans

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  Falconiformes - falcons, eagles, hawks, vultures
 Galliformes - turkey, quail, pheasants
 Gruiformes - cranes, coots, & rails
 Charadriiformes - snipes, sandpipers, gulls, terns
 Columbiformes - pigeons & doves
 Psittaciformes - parrots, parakeets, & macaws
 Cucluiformes - cuckoos & roadrunners
 Strigiformes – owls
 Caprimulgiformes - whippoorwill & nighthawk
 Apodiformes - hummingbird & swifts
 Coraciiformes – kingfishers
 Piciformes - woodpeckers, sapsuckers, & flickers
 Passeriformes - perching birds like robins, cardinals, blue jays

Pygmy Owl Brown Pelican

Macaw Female Cardinal

Food & Habitat Adaptations:

 Anseriformes (ducks, geese, & swans) have webbed feet for swimming & flattened bills; young are
precocial but need some parental care
 Strigiformes (owls) have sharp, hooked beaks & talons (claws) for meat eating, keen hearing &
eyesight, & forward facing eyes

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  Apodiformes (hummingbirds) are small, fast-flying birds with tiny feet & long tongues for drinking
nectar; found only in western hemisphere
 Psittaciformes (parrots, cockatoos, parakeets...) have a strong, hooked beak for seed opening & two
forward & two rear facing toes for perching & climbing
 Piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans, & flickers) have two rear facing toes for dwelling in tree
cavities & sharp, chisel like bills for drilling into trees
 Falconiformes or raptors ( hawks, eagles, vultures) have hooked beaks & talons & keen vision for
seeing prey
 Passeriformes or songbirds (blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, robins ...) have enlarged rear facing toe
to grip branches, a syrinx or voice box in males to produce songs, & a variety of beak shapes to
feed on seeds, nectar, fruits, & insects; known as passerines or perching birds
 Columbiformes (pigeons & doves) have small heads & bills, a crop that makes "pigeon's milk" for
feeding young, short incubation period (2 weeks)
 Ciconiiformes (herons, ibises, & egrets) have long legs for wading & sharp pointed bills for
piercing frogs & fish
 Galliformes (turkeys, quail, pheasants, & chickens) have plump bodies with limited flying &a large
gizzard for grinding grains
 Sphenisciformes (penguins) have wings modified into flippers, an extra layer of body fat for
insulation, & webbed feet for swimming

Struthioniformes (ostrich) are the largest birds that can't fly but have long legs with only

5.4.4.4. Economic Importance of Class Birds

As Source of Food:
Flesh – Chicken, duck, quail, partridge. Eggs – Chicken, duck, quail.
Use in Agriculture, Horticulture & Forestry:
It plays role directly or indirectly. 85% of the birds are insectivorous which are pests of crops – eg. Stork,
drongo, night jar. Birds help in cross pollination and dispersal of seeds – eg. Humming bird, parakeets,
pigeon. Destroy large amounts of cultivated fruit crops – eg. Parrot, bulbul. 132 species of birds predate on
crops – eg. Sparrow, Baya.

Birds with Medicinal Use:

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Birds have been used in medicine in various forms like Poultry eggs (Chicken, duck) Bird flesh (Peacock,
cuckoo, pheasant, pigeon) Oil (Pelican, peacock, great pied hornbill) Feathers (Grey hornbill, peacock)
Nests (Collocalia spp. [Swiftlet])

Miscellaneous Aspects:

- Role in fishery management - Aquatic birds like herons, gulls, king fishers causes serious reduction of
edible fishes.
- Role in Apiculture, Sericulture, etc. – Wood pecker, crow, cause damage to apiculture. Lesser spotted
eagle, Himalayan tree pie causes damage to sericulture.
- Role in poultry-, etc. – Birds of prey like eagle, buzzard rob chicken, ducklings, etc.
- Role in Problems of health, sanitation, etc. – Crows, pigeon, myna, sparrow spreads diseases.
- Role in communication – Pigeons are used in communication.
- Role in Research activities – Pigeons, Quail, Guano birds are used in research studies.
- Role in control of vector mosquito– e. g Sand martin and sand piper feed on mosquita larvae. Myna
feeds on pupae of house fly.
- They also very important for biological researches , source of income
- They are used for the production of drugs
- They play a great role in pollination

5.4.5. Class Animalia

1. Main Characteristics of mammals:
 Endothermy - maintain high, constant body temperature through their metabolism
 Pelage - hair or fur made of protein called keratin covering all or part of the body for insulation &
camouflage
 Four chambered heart ( two atria & two ventricles) keep oxygenated & deoxygenated blood from
mixing; double circulation

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Mammal Heart
 Mammary glands in females are modified sweat glands that make milk containing sugars, proteins,
& fats to nourish young
 Single jawbone
 Specialized teeth for biting, cutting, & chewing
 Highly developed brain (large cerebrum)

 Diaphragm - muscle below lungs that aids respiration

 Most are viviparous (live birth)
 Uterus in females where young develop
 Placenta lines uterus & provides nutrients and gas & waste exchange for developing young
 Have sweat glands for cooling & scent glands for attracting mates & marking territories

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  Evolution of class Mammalia
 Evolution of class Mammalia

2. Physiology of class Mammalia

Specializations of the mouth & digestive system:

 Single jawbone
 Incisors - specialized, chisel like front teeth for biting & chewing
 Canines - pointed teeth or fangs behind incisors to help grip, puncture, & tear prey
 Bicuspids - teeth with two points behind the canines used to shear & shred food
 Molars - flattened back teeth to grind & crush
 Baleen - thin plates in the roof of the mouth of some whales that strain food from water
 Microorganisms living in the gut help some mammals digest cellulose from plants
 Hoofed mammals (cows, sheep, giraffes...) have a four-chambered stomach with bacteria living in
the first chamber or rumen
 Cud - digested food in the rumen that is regurgitated, swallowed, & then chewed again to break
down plant cellulose
 Caecum - stomach chamber in elephants, horses, & rabbits that contains bacteria to digest cellulose.

Adaptations for Endothermic:

 High demand for oxygen

 Right & left sides of heart separated by septum so oxygenated & deoxygenated blood don't mix
 Left side of heart pumps blood to lungs & back (pulmonary circulation)
 Right side of blood pumps oxygenated blood to body cells (systemic circulation)
 Diaphragm - sheet of muscle below lungs that moves up & down in chest to change air pressure so
gas moves into & out of the lungs
 Alveoli or air sacs in the lungs are surrounded by capillaries and increase the surface area for the
absorption of oxygen
 Hair or fur and a fat layer insulates and prevents heat loss

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Nervous System Adaptations:

 Largest vertebrate brain

 Cerebrum surface is folded to increase surface area without increasing volume
 Cerebrum controls sensory organs, coordinates movement, regulates behavior, & is responsible for
memory & learning
 Have five major senses --- vision, hearing, olfaction (smell), touch, & taste
 Bats, whales, dolphins, porpoises use echolocation (bouncing off of high frequency sounds) to
navigate & find prey

3. Classification of class Mammalia

 Each of the 3 mammal groups --- monotremes, marsupials, & placentals--- has a unique
reproductive pattern
 Monotreme females lay 1-2 leathery-shelled eggs containing yolk & incubates them with her body
heat

The egg of Monotremes

 Young monotremes are small & partially developed at hatching so depend on mother for protection
and milk from mammary glands

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  Marsupials have short development period inside of the mother & newborns must crawl to the
mother's pouch or marsupium after birth, attach to a nipple for milk, and finish developing

Mother Kangaroo & "Joey"

 Placentals are the largest group of mammals

 Gestation (period of development inside mother) is longer in placental mammals
 Nutrients, wastes, gases exchanged through membrane lining uterus called the placenta

 Oviparous
 Not completely endothermic (lower body temperature & it fluctuates)
 Have a cloaca where wastes, eggs, & sperm are emptied
 Includes duck-billed platypus & spiny anteaters or echidna

5. Evolution of class Mammalia

Mammal Ancestors:

 Fossil records show mammals arose from group of reptiles called therapsids at the end of the
Paleozoic era
 Therapsids were endotherms with specialized teeth like mammals

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Therapsid

Early Mammals:

 First mammalian fossil found in Mesozoic era (hair, single jawbone, specialized teeth, &
endothermic)
 Early mammals were small, shrew like, insect eaters that had large eye sockets making them
probably nocturnal
 When dinosaurs became extinct, new habitats & food supplies opened up for mammals
 "Age of mammals" occurred during Cenozoic era
 Oviparous (egg laying) monotremes evolved first

 Viviparous (live birth) marsupials with incomplete uterine development appeared next & then
placental mammals

Tasmanian Devil Armadillo

Marsupial Placental

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6. Economic importance of class Mammalia

Benefits from animals to man:

Animals are useful and beneficial to human beings in many ways but some animals are harmful also.

1. Food material - Animal provide various types of food material i.e. meat, eggs, milk, honey etc.

2. Cloth - Raw silk and wool are obtained from the animals which are used in the production of cloth
(woolen and silken).

3. Medicines - Liver oil and liver extracts are obtained from the liver of fishes and other animals. Some
hormones are also extracted from certain organs of the animals.

4. Fuel - Cow dung when dried is used as fuel.

5. Manure - Compost (manure) is made by decomposition of animals excreta and commonly used in
agriculture fields.

6. Tilling of soil - This is done by the earthworms which expose out the under soil while feeding and
burrowing.

7. Transport - Horses, camels, mules, donkeys, bulls and buffaloes are used as pack animals and for pulling
carts etc for transportation.

8. Ornaments - Ivory (elephants), pearls (Oysters) and corals which are used in making ornaments are
obtained from different animals.

9. Industry - Leather, honey, wax, lac are industrial products obtained from animals.

10. Other uses - Bristles of pigs are used in brushes. Some birds are useful in a way that they eat many
insect pests of crops, fruits and grains. Insects and birds help in pollination and dispersal of seeds of plants.

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