Lab #7: Introduction to the Kingdom Animalia

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In general, members of Kingdom Animalia are eukaryotic, multicellular, motile (at least during certain developmental stages), heterotrophic and unlike plants, lack a cell wall. Additionally, most animals reproduce sexually and have a characteristic pattern of embryonic development. Similar to alternation of generations observed in previous phyla, organisms in the Animal kingdom undergo stages of development, starting from the fusion of an egg and a sperm and ending with a multicellular adult phase. While the morphology of the adult organism is highly species-specific, the genes that regulate organismal development are often conserved across species. In addition, the life cycles of members of Kingdom Animalia vary considerably, i.e., the stages may look completely different from each other (metamorphosis), they may last for different periods of time (hours vs. years) and can occur in different habitats (e.g. dragonflies - adults live in air while larvae are aquatic). Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree of members of Kingdom Animalia ______________________________________________________________________________ Task 1: Understanding the hierarchical organization of animal complexity The common descent of animals within Kingdom Animalia can be observed in the organization of body plans and the fundamental building blocks that all animals share. Unique and shared characteristics among members of the animal kingdom are convincing evidence that the group is monophyletic (i.e. a group that shared a common ancestor and all its members). The 2
hierarchiral level of organization of animals is cell, tissue, organ and organ system. Animalia is divided into two main branches—the Parazoa and the Eumetazoa. Parazoans, like sponges, mostly lack any true symmetry and tissues. Eumetazoans, on the other hand, have definite symmetry and tissues. Most eumetazoans have complex arrangements of cells and tissues into organs and organ systems. The nerve net of jellyfish is a good example of cell-tissue organization (Fig. 6.3). Following in complexity is the tissue-organ level of organization, produced when different types of tissues combine to form organs. In general, organs perform more specialized and complex functions than tissues and can be composed of different tissue types (e.g. the heart, which is composed of cardiac muscle, epithelial, connective and nervous tissues). This level of organization is observed exclusively in eumetazoans, most of which also exhibit an organ-system level of organization, where multiple organs operate together, forming a system that has a specific function (Fig. 3). In eumetazoans, there are eleven organ systems: skeletal, muscular, integumentary, digestive, respiratory, circulatory, excretory, nervous, endocrine, immune and reproductive. We will examine some of these systems in greater depth during Labs 8-11. Figure 3. Hierarchical organization 3
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Page 5 and 6: Questions: 1. Can you suggest why,
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Lab #7: Introduction to the Kingdom Animalia

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