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Animalia

(Kingdom)

Overview

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Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.

Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago.

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The word "animal" comes from the Latin word animalis, meaning "having breath".[1] In everyday colloquial usage, the word often refers to non-human members of kingdom Animalia. Sometimes, only closer relatives of humans such as mammals and other vertebrates are meant in colloquial use.[2] The biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects and humans.[3]

Characteristics

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Animals have several characteristics that set them apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and mostly multicellular,[4] which separates them from bacteria and most protists. They are heterotrophic,[5] generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae.[6] They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking rigid cell walls.[7] All animals are motile,[8] if only at certain life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a blastula stage,[9] which is a characteristic exclusive to animals.

Structure

With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera) and Placozoa, animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals. Typically, there is also an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings.[10] Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general.[11]

All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins.[12] This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules.[13] During development, it forms a relatively flexible framework[14] upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms, like plants and fungi, have cells held in place by cell walls, and so develop by progressive growth.[10] Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.[15]

Reproduction and development

A newt lung cell stained with fluorescent dyes undergoing the early anaphase stage of mitosis

Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction.[16] They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller, motile spermatozoa or larger, non-motile ova.[17] These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals.[18]

Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction.[19] This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, budding, or fragmentation.[20]

A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula,[21] which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge.[22] In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement.[23] It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers ? an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm.[24] In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them.[25] These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs.[26]

Food and energy sourcing

Main article: Animal nutrition

All animals are heterotrophs, meaning that they feed directly or indirectly on other living things.[27] They are often further subdivided into groups such as carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, and parasites.[28]

Predation is a biological interaction where a predator (a heterotroph that is hunting) feeds on its prey (the organism that is attacked).[29] Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey.[30] The other main category of consumption is detritivory, the consumption of dead organic matter.[31] It can at times be difficult to separate the two feeding behaviours, for example, where parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on its decaying corpse. Selective pressures imposed on one another has led to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations.[32]

Most animals indirectly use the energy of sunlight by eating plants or plant-eating animals. Most plants use light to convert inorganic molecules in their environment into organic molecules, such as simple sugars, in photosynthesis. Starting with the molecules carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O), photosynthesis converts the energy of sunlight into chemical energy stored as reduced carbon (e.g., glucose) and releases molecular oxygen. These sugars are then used as the building blocks for plant growth.[10] When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal.[33] They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion.[34] This process is known as glycolysis.[35]

Animals living close to hydrothermal vents and cold seeps on the ocean floor are not dependent on the energy of sunlight.[36] Instead chemosynthetic archaea and bacteria form the base of the food chain.[37]

Origin and fossil record

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Dunkleosteus was a gigantic, 10-metre-long (33 ft) prehistoric fish.[38]
Vernanimalcula guizhouena is a fossil believed by some to represent the earliest known member of the Bilateria.

Animals are generally considered to have evolved from a flagellated eukaryote.[39] Their closest known living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have a morphology similar to the choanocytes of certain sponges.[40] Molecular studies place animals in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the choanoflagellates, fungi and a few small parasitic protists.[41] The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal spermatozoa, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella.[42]

The first fossils that might represent animals appear in the Trezona Formation at Trezona Bore, West Central Flinders, South Australia.[43] These fossils are interpreted as being early sponges. They were found in 665-million-year-old rock.[43]

The next oldest possible animal fossils are found towards the end of the Precambrian, around 610 million years ago, and are known as the Ediacaran or Vendian biota.[44] These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all.[45]

Aside from them, most known animal phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 542 million years ago.[46] It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible.

Some paleontologists suggest that animals appeared much earlier than the Cambrian explosion, possibly as early as 1 billion years ago.[47] Trace fossils such as tracks and burrows found in the Tonian era indicate the presence of triploblastic worms, like metazoans, roughly as large (about 5 mm wide) and complex as earthworms.[48] During the beginning of the Tonian period around 1 billion years ago, there was a decrease in Stromatolite diversity, which may indicate the appearance of grazing animals, since stromatolite diversity increased when grazing animals went extinct at the End Permian and End Ordovician extinction events, and decreased shortly after the grazer populations recovered. However the discovery that tracks very similar to these early trace fossils are produced today by the giant single-celled protist Gromia sphaerica casts doubt on their interpretation as evidence of early animal evolution.[49][50]

Groups of animals

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The relative number of species contributed to the total by each phylum of animals.

Porifera, Radiata and basal Bilateria

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the Porifera and Ctenophora diverged before a clade that gave rise to the Bilateria, Cnidaria and Placozoa.[51]

Orange elephant ear sponge, Agelas clathrodes, in foreground. Two corals in the background: a sea fan, Iciligorgia schrammi, and a sea rod, .

The sponges (Porifera) were long thought to have diverged from other animals early.[52] They lack the complex organization found in most other phyla.[53] Their cells are differentiated, but in most cases not organized into distinct tissues.[54] Sponges typically feed by drawing in water through pores.[55] Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum.[56] However, a phylogenomic study in 2008 of 150 genes in 29 animals across 21 phyla revealed that it is the Ctenophora or comb jellies which are the basal lineage of animals, at least among those 21 phyla. The authors speculate that sponges?or at least those lines of sponges they investigated?are not so primitive, but may instead be secondarily simplified.[57]

Among the other phyla, the Ctenophora and the Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones, corals, and jellyfish, are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus.[58] Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs.[59] There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic.[60] The tiny placozoans are similar, but they do not have a permanent digestive chamber.

The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however ? for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures.

Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to two major lineages: the deuterostomes and the protostomes, the latter of which includes the Ecdysozoa, Platyzoa, and Lophotrochozoa. In addition, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Medusozoa as well.

Deuterostomes

Superb Fairy-wren, Malurus cyaneus

Deuterostomes differ from the other Bilateria, called protostomes, in several ways. In both cases there is a complete digestive tract. However, in protostomes, the first opening of the gut to appear in embryological development (the archenteron) develops into the mouth, with the anus forming secondarily. In deuterostomes the anus forms first, with the mouth developing secondarily.[61] In most protostomes, cells simply fill in the interior of the gastrula to form the mesoderm, called schizocoelous development, but in deuterostomes, it forms through invagination of the endoderm, called enterocoelic pouching.[62] Deuterostome embryos undergo radial cleavage during cell division, while protostomes undergo spiral cleavage.[63]

All this suggests the deuterostomes and protostomes are separate, monophyletic lineages. The main phyla of deuterostomes are the Echinodermata and Chordata.[64] The former are radially symmetric and exclusively marine, such as starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.[65] The latter are dominated by the vertebrates, animals with backbones.[66] These include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.[67]

In addition to these, the deuterostomes also include the Hemichordata, or acorn worms.[68] Although they are not especially prominent today, the important fossil graptolites may belong to this group.[69]

The Chaetognatha or arrow worms may also be deuterostomes, but more recent studies suggest protostome affinities.

Ecdysozoa

Yellow-winged darter, Sympetrum flaveolum

The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after the common trait of growth by moulting or ecdysis.[70] The largest animal phylum belongs here, the Arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin. All these organisms have a body divided into repeating segments, typically with paired appendages. Two smaller phyla, the Onychophora and Tardigrada, are close relatives of the arthropods and share these traits.

The ecdysozoans also include the Nematoda or roundworms, perhaps the second largest animal phylum. Roundworms are typically microscopic, and occur in nearly every environment where there is water.[71] A number are important parasites.[72] Smaller phyla related to them are the Nematomorpha or horsehair worms, and the Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera. These groups have a reduced coelom, called a pseudocoelom.

The remaining two groups of protostomes are sometimes grouped together as the Spiralia, since in both embryos develop with spiral cleavage.

Platyzoa

Pseudobiceros bedfordi, (Bedford's flatworm)

The Platyzoa include the phylum Platyhelminthes, the flatworms.[73] These were originally considered some of the most primitive Bilateria, but it now appears they developed from more complex ancestors.[74] A number of parasites are included in this group, such as the flukes and tapeworms.[73] Flatworms are acoelomates, lacking a body cavity, as are their closest relatives, the microscopic Gastrotricha.[75]

The other platyzoan phyla are mostly microscopic and pseudocoelomate. The most prominent are the Rotifera or rotifers, which are common in aqueous environments. They also include the Acanthocephala or spiny-headed worms, the Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, and possibly the Cycliophora.[76] These groups share the presence of complex jaws, from which they are called the Gnathifera.

Lophotrochozoa

Roman snail, Helix pomatia

The Lophotrochozoa include two of the most successful animal phyla, the Mollusca and Annelida.[77][78] The former, which is the second-largest animal phylum by number of described species, includes animals such as snails, clams, and squids, and the latter comprises the segmented worms, such as earthworms and leeches. These two groups have long been considered close relatives because of the common presence of trochophore larvae, but the annelids were considered closer to the arthropods because they are both segmented.[79] Now, this is generally considered convergent evolution, owing to many morphological and genetic differences between the two phyla.[80]

The Lophotrochozoa also include the Nemertea or ribbon worms, the Sipuncula, and several phyla that have a ring of ciliated tentacles around the mouth, called a lophophore.[81] These were traditionally grouped together as the lophophorates.[82] but it now appears that the lophophorate group may be paraphyletic,[83] with some closer to the nemerteans and some to the molluscs and annelids.[84][85] They include the Brachiopoda or lamp shells, which are prominent in the fossil record, the Entoprocta, the Phoronida, and possibly the Bryozoa or moss animals.[86]

Model organisms

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Main articles: Model organism and Animal testing

Because of the great diversity found in animals, it is more economical for scientists to study a small number of chosen species so that connections can be drawn from their work and conclusions extrapolated about how animals function in general. Because they are easy to keep and breed, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have long been the most intensively studied metazoan model organisms, and were among the first life-forms to be genetically sequenced. This was facilitated by the severely reduced state of their genomes, but as many genes, introns, and linkages lost, these ecdysozoans can teach us little about the origins of animals in general. The extent of this type of evolution within the superphylum will be revealed by the crustacean, annelid, and molluscan genome projects currently in progress. Analysis of the starlet sea anemone genome has emphasised the importance of sponges, placozoans, and choanoflagellates, also being sequenced, in explaining the arrival of 1500 ancestral genes unique to the Eumetazoa.[87]

An analysis of the homoscleromorph sponge Oscarella carmela also suggests that the last common ancestor of sponges and the eumetazoan animals was more complex than previously assumed.[88]

Other model organisms belonging to the animal kingdom include the house mouse (Mus musculus) and zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Carolus Linnaeus, known as the father of modern taxonomy

History of classification

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Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linn?), in the first hierarchical classification.[89] Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately.

In Linnaeus's original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

See also

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2>

Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linn?), in the first hierarchical classification.[89] Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately.

In Linnaeus's original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

See also

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References

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Bibliography

External links

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Photos

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Taxonomy

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The Kingdom Animalia is a member of the Domain Eukaryota. Here is the complete "parentage" of Animalia:

The Kingdom Animalia is further organized into finer groupings including:

Phyla

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Acanthocephala

Acanthocephala (Greek , akanthos, thorn + ?efa??, kephale, head) is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephales, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an evertable proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to pierce and hold the gut wall of its host. Acanthocephalans typically have complex life cycles, involving a number of hosts, including invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals. About 1150 species have been described.[citation needed] [more]

Acoelomorpha

[more]

Annelida

The annelids (also called "ringed worms"), formally called Annelida (from French annel?s "ringed ones", ultimately from Latin anellus "little ring"), are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches. They are found in marine environments from tidal zones to hydrothermal vents, in freshwater, and in moist terrestrial environments. Although most textbooks still use the traditional division into polychaetes (almost all marine), oligochaetes (which include earthworms) and leech-like species, research since 1997 has radically changed this scheme, viewing leeches as a sub-group of oligochaetes and oligochaetes as a sub-group of polychaetes. In addition, the Pogonophora, Echiura and Sipuncula, previously regarded as separate phyla, are now regarded as sub-groups of polychaetes. Annelids are considered members of the Lophotrochozoa, a "super-phylum" of protostomes that also includes molluscs, brachiopods, flatworms and nemerteans. [more]

Arthropoda

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton (external skeleton), a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ?rthron, "joint", and p?d?? pod?s "foot", which together mean "jointed feet"), and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others. Arthropods are characterized by their jointed limbs and cuticles, which are mainly made of a-chitin; the cuticles of crustaceans are also biomineralized with calcium carbonate. The rigid cuticle inhibits growth, so arthropods replace it periodically by molting. The arthropod body plan consists of repeated segments, each with a pair of appendages. It is so versatile that they have been compared to Swiss Army knives, and it has enabled them to become the most species-rich members of all ecological guilds in most environments. They have over a million described species, making up more than 80% of all described living animal species, and are one of only two animal groups that are very successful in dry environments ? the other being the amniotes. They range in size from microscopic plankton up to forms a few meters long. [more]

Brachiopoda

Brachiopods, phylum Brachiopoda, are marine animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection. Two major groups are recognized, articulate and inarticulate. Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple opening and closing muscles, while inarticulate brachiopods have untoothed hinges and a more complex system of muscles used to keep the two halves aligned. In a typical brachiopod a stalk-like pedicle projects from an opening in one of the valves, known as the pedicle valve, attaching the animal to the seabed but clear of silt that would obstruct the opening. [more]

Bryozoa

The Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals[], are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest colonial. [more]

Cephalorhyncha

Scalidophora is a group of marine pseudocoelomate invertebrates, consisting of the three phyla Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera. The members of the group share a number of characteristics, including introvert larvae and moulting of the cuticle (ecdysis). Their closest relatives are thought to be the Panarthropoda, Nematoda and Nematomorpha; they are thus placed in the group Ecdysozoa. [more]

Chaetognatha

Chaetognatha, meaning hair-jaws, and commonly known as arrow worms, are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. About 20% of the known species are benthic, that is belonging to the lowest zone of the ocean, or benthic zone, and can attach to algae and rocks. They are found in all marine waters, from surface tropical waters and shallow tide pools to the deep sea and polar regions. Most chaetognaths are transparent and are torpedo shaped, but some deep-sea species are orange. They range in size from 2 to 120 millimetres (0.079 to 4.7 in). [more]

Chordata

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail. The phylum Chordata consists of three subphyla: Tunicata, represented by tunicates; Cephalochordata, represented by lancelets; and Craniata, which includes Vertebrata. The Hemichordata have been presented as a fourth chordate subphylum, but they are now usually treated as a separate phylum. Tunicate larvae have both a notochord and a nerve cord which are lost in adulthood. Cephalochordates have a notochord and a nerve cord (but no brain or specialist sensory organs) and a very simple circulatory system. Craniates are the only sub-phylum whose members have skulls. In all craniates except for hagfish, the dorsal hollow nerve cord is surrounded with cartilaginous or bony vertebrae and the notochord is generally reduced; hence, hagfish are not regarded as vertebrates. The chordates and three sister phyla, the Hemichordata, the Echinodermata and the Xenoturbellida, make up the deuterostomes, one of the two superphyla that encompass all fairly complex animals. [more]

Cnidaria

Cnidaria ( with a silent c) is a phylum containing over 10,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. They have two basic body forms: swimming medusae and sessile polyps, both of which are radially symmetrical with mouths surrounded by tentacles that bear cnidocytes. Both forms have a single orifice and body cavity that are used for digestion and respiration. Many cnidarian species produce colonies that are single organisms composed of medusa-like or polyp-like zooids, or both. Cnidarians' activities are coordinated by a decentralized nerve net and simple receptors. Several free-swimming Cubozoa and Scyphozoa possess balance-sensing statocysts, and some have simple eyes. Not all cnidarians reproduce sexually. Many have complex lifecycles with asexual polyp stages and sexual medusae, but some omit either the polyp or the medusa stage. [more]

Coelenterata

Coelenterata is an obsolete term encompassing two animal phyla, the Ctenophora (comb jellies) and the Cnidaria (coral animals, true jellies, sea anemones, sea pens, and their allies). The name comes from the Greek "koilos" ("full bellied"), referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla. They have very simple tissue organization, with only two layers of cells, external and internal. [more]

Ctenophora

The Ctenophora (; singular ctenophore, /'t?n?f??r/ or /'ti?n?f??r/; from the Greek ?te?? kteis 'comb' and f??? phero 'carry'; commonly known as comb jellies) are a phylum of animals that live in marine waters worldwide. Their most distinctive feature is the "combs", groups of cilia they use for swimming, and they are the largest animals that swim by means of cilia ? adults of various species range from a few millimeters to 1.5 meters (59 in) in size. Like cnidarians, their bodies consist of a mass of jelly, with one layer of cells on the outside and another lining the internal cavity. In ctenophores, these layers are two cells deep, while those in cnidarians are only one cell deep. Ctenophores also resemble cnidarians in having a decentralized nerve net rather than a brain. Some authors combined ctenophores and cnidarians in one phylum, Coelenterata, as both groups rely on water flow through the body cavity for both digestion and respiration. Increasing awareness of the differences persuaded more recent authors to classify them in separate phyla. [more]

Cycliophora

Symbion is the name of a genus of aquatic animals, less than ? mm wide, found living attached to the bodies of cold-water lobsters. They have sac-like bodies, and three distinctly different forms in different parts of their two-stage life-cycle. They appear so different from other animals that they were assigned their own, new phylum Cycliophora shortly after they were discovered in 1995. This was the first new phylum of multicelled organism to be discovered since the Loricifera in 1983. [more]

Dicyemida

[more]

Echinodermata

Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata) are a phylum of marine animals. Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone. Aside from the hard-to-classify Arkarua, the first definitive members of the phylum appeared near the start of the Cambrian period. [more]

Echiura

The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of marine animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum. However, phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences place echiurans and pogonophorans within the Annelida. The Echiura fossilise poorly and the earliest known specimen is from the Upper Carboniferous (called the Pennsylvanian in North America). However, U-shaped fossil burrows that could be Echiuran have been found dating back to the Cambrian. [more]

Ectoprocta

The Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals[], are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest colonial. [more]

Entoprocta

Entoprocta, whose name means "anus inside", is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from 0.1 to 7 millimetres (0.0039 to 0.28 in) long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth, and both the mouth and anus lie inside the "crown". The superficially similar Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) have the anus outside a "crown" of hollow tentacles. Most families of entoprocts are colonial, and all but 2 of the 150 species are marine. A few solitary species can move slowly. [more]

Euglenophycota

[more]

Gastrotricha

The gastrotrichs (from Greek ?ast??, gaster ["stomach"], and ????, thrix ["hair"]), often called hairy backs, are a phylum of microscopic (0.06-3.0 mm) animals abundant in fresh water and marine environments. Most fresh water species are part of the periphyton and benthos. Marine species are found mostly interstitially in between sediment particles, while terrestrial species live in the water films around grains of soil. [more]

Gnathostomulida

Gnathostomulids, or jaw worms, are a small phylum of nearly microscopic marine animals. They inhabit sand and mud beneath shallow coastal waters and can survive in relatively anoxic environments. They were first recognised and described in 1956. [more]

Haptophyta

The haptophytes, classified either as the Prymnesiophyta or Haptophyta, are a division of algae. [more]

Hemichordata

Hemichordata is a phylum of marine deuterostome animals, generally considered the sister group of the echinoderms. They date back to the Lower or Middle Cambrian and include two main classes: Enteropneusta (acorn worms), and Pterobranchia. A third class, Planctosphaeroidea, is known only from the larva of a single species. The extinct class Graptolithina is closely related to the pterobranchs. [more]

Kinorhyncha

Kinorhyncha (Gr. ?????, kineo 'move' + ??????, rhynchos 'snout') is a phylum of small (1 mm or less) marine pseudocoelomate invertebrates that are widespread in mud or sand at all depths as part of the meiobenthos. They are also called mud dragons. [more]

Loricifera

[more]

Mandibulata

The Mandibulata or mandibulates is a clade of arthropods that comprises the extant subphyla Myriapoda (millipedes and others), Crustacea and Hexapoda (insects and others). Mandibulata is currently believed to be the sister group of the clade Arachnomorpha, which comprises the rest of arthropods (Chelicerata+Trilobita). The mandibulates constitute the largest and most varied arthropod group. [more]

Mollusca

The Mollusca (pronounced ), common name molluscs or mollusks (pronounced /'m?l?sks/), is a large phylum of invertebrate animals. There are around 85,000 recognized extant species of molluscs. Mollusca is the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all the named marine organisms. Numerous molluscs also live in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Molluscs are highly diverse, not only in size and in anatomical structure, but also in behaviour and in habitat. The phylum is typically divided into nine or ten taxonomic classes, of which two are entirely extinct. Cephalopod molluscs such as squid, cuttlefish and octopus are among the most neurologically advanced of all invertebrates ? and either the giant squid or the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate species. The gastropods (snails and slugs) are by far the most numerous molluscs in terms of classified species, and account for 80% of the total. [more]

Myxozoa

The Myxozoa (etymology: Greek: ??? myx- "slime" or "mucus" + ??a zoa "animals") are a group of parasitic animals of aquatic environments. Over 1300 species have been described and many have a two-host lifecycle, involving a fish and an annelid worm or bryozoan. The average size of a myxosporean spore usually ranges from 10 ?m to 20 ?m whereas that of a spore can be up to 2 mm. Infection occurs through valved spores. These contain one or two sporoblast cells and one or more polar capsules that contain filaments which anchor the spore to its host. The sporoblasts are then released as a motile form, called an amoebula, which penetrates the host tissues and develops into one or more multinucleate plasmodia. Certain nuclei later pair up, one engulfing another, to form new spores. [more]

Nemata

The nematodes () or roundworms (phylum Nematoda) are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. The total number of nematode species has been estimated to be about 1,000,000. Unlike cnidarians or flatworms, roundworms have tubular digestive systems with openings at both ends. [more]

Nematoda

The nematodes () or roundworms (phylum Nematoda) are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. The total number of nematode species has been estimated to be about 1,000,000. Unlike cnidarians or flatworms, roundworms have tubular digestive systems with openings at both ends. [more]

Nematomorpha

Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms or Gordian worms) is a phylum of parasitic animals that are superficially morphologically similar to nematode worms, hence the name. They range in size in most species from 50 to 100 centimetres (20 to 39 in) long and can reach in extreme cases up to 2 metres, and 1 to 3 millimetres (0.039 to 0.12 in) in diameter. Horsehair worms can be discovered in damp areas such as watering troughs, streams, puddles, and cisterns. The adult worms are free living, but the larvae are parasitic on beetles, cockroaches, orthopterans, and crustaceans. About 351 species are known and a conservative estimate suggests that there may be about 2000 species worldwide. The name "Gordian" stems from the legendary Gordian knot. This relates to the fact that nematomorpha often tie themselves in knots. [more]

Nemertea

Nemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as "ribbon worms" or "proboscis worms". Alternative names for the phylum have included Nemertini, Nemertinea and Rhynchocoela. Although most are less than 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, one specimen has been estimated at 54 metres (177 ft), which would make it the longest animal ever found. Most are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many have patterns of yellow, orange, red and green coloration. [more]

Onychophora

The velvet worms (Onychophora ? literally "claw bearers", also known as Protracheata) are a minor ecdysozoan phylum. These obscurely segmented organisms have tiny eyes, antennae, multiple pairs of legs and slime glands. They have variously been compared to worms with legs, caterpillars and slugs. Most common in tropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere, they prey on smaller animals such as insects, which they catch by squirting an adhesive slime. In modern zoology, they are particularly renowned for their curious mating behaviour and for bearing live young. They are becoming increasingly popular as pets due to their bizarre appearance and eating habits.[] [more]

Orthonectida

[more]

Phoronida

Phoronids (scientific name Phoronida) are a phylum of marine animals that filter-feed with a lophophore (a "crown" of tentacles), and build upright tubes of chitin to support and protect their soft bodies. They live in all the oceans and seas including the Arctic Ocean but excluding the Antarctic Ocean, and between the intertidal zone and about 400 meters down. Most adult phoronids are 2 cm long and about 1.5 mm wide, although the largest are 50 cm long. [more]

Placozoa

The Placozoa are a basal form of invertebrate. They are the simplest in structure of all non-parasitic multicellular animals (Metazoa). They are generally classified as a single species, Trichoplax adhaerens, although there is enough genetic diversity that it is likely that there are multiple, morphologically similar species. Although they were first discovered in 1883, a common name does not yet exist for the taxon; the scientific name literally means "flat animals". [more]

Platyhelminthes

The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes or Plathelminthes (from the Greek p?at?, platy, meaning "flat" and ?????? (root: ??????-), helminth-, meaning worm) are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrate animals. Unlike other bilaterians, they have no body cavity, and no specialized circulatory and respiratory organs, which restricts them to flattened shapes that allow oxygen and nutrients to pass through their bodies by diffusion. [more]

Porifera

Sponges are animals of the phylum Porifera (; meaning "pore bearer").They are multicellular organisms which have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consist of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells, but can also have specialized cells that can transform into other types, often migrating between the main cell layers and the mesohyl in the process. Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead, most rely on maintaining a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food, oxygen and remove wastes. The shapes of their bodies are adapted for maximal efficiency of water flow. Water enters through the central cavity, deposits nutrients, and leaves through a hole called the osculum. All sponges are sessile aquatic animals. Although there are freshwater species, the great majority are marine (salt water) species, ranging from tidal zones to depths exceeding 8,800 metres (5.5 mi). [more]

Prasinophyta

[more]

Priapulida

Priapulida (priapulid worms or penis worms, from Gr. p???p??, priapos 'Priapus' + Lat. -ul-, diminutive) is a phylum of marine worms. They are named for their extensible spiny proboscis, which, in some species, may have a shape like that of a human penis. They live in the mud, which they eat, in comparatively shallow waters up to 90 metres (300 ft). [more]

Protozoa

Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile. Originally, protozoa had been defined as unicellular protists with animal-like behavior, e.g., movement. Protozoa were regarded as the partner group of protists to protophyta, which have plant-like behaviour, e.g., photosynthesis. [more]

Rotifera

The rotifers (Rotifera, commonly called wheel animals) make up a phylum of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John Harris in 1696, and other forms were described by Anton van Leeuwenhoek in 1703. Most rotifers are around 0.1?0.5 mm long (although their size can range from 50 ?m to over 2 millimeters), and are common in freshwater environments throughout the world with a few saltwater species; for example, those of genus . Some rotifers are free swimming and truly planktonic, others move by inchworming along a substrate, and some are sessile, living inside tubes or gelatinous holdfasts that are attached to a substrate. About 25 species are colonial (e.g., Sinantherina semibullata), either sessile or planktonic. Rotifers are an important part of the freshwater zooplankton, being a major foodsource and with many species also contributing to the decomposition of soil organic matter. Most species of the rotifers are cosmopolitan, but there are also some endemic species, like Cephalodella vittata to Lake Baikal. Recent barcoding evidence, however, suggests that some 'cosmopolitan' species, such as Brachionus plicatilis, B. calyciflorus, Lecane bulla, among others, are actually species complexes. [more]

Sarcomastigophora

The phylum Sarcomastigophora belongs to the Protist kingdom and it includes many unicellular or colonial, autotrophic, or heterotrophic organisms. [more]

Sipuncula

The Sipuncula or Sipunculida (common names sipunculid worms or peanut worms) is a group containing 144-320 species (estimates vary) of bilaterally symmetrical, unsegmented marine worms. Traditionally considered a phylum, molecular work suggests that they might be a subgroup of phylum Annelida. [more]

Tardigrada

Tardigrades (commonly known as waterbears or moss piglets) form the phylum Tardigrada, part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa. They are small, water-dwelling, segmented animals with eight legs. Tardigrades were first described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773 (kleiner Wasserb?r = little water bear). The name Tardigrada means "slow walker" and was given by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777. The name water bear comes from the way they walk, reminiscent of a bear's gait. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in), the smallest below 0.1 mm. Freshly hatched larvae may be smaller than 0.05 mm. [more]

Tentaculata

Tentaculata is a class of comb jellies. The common feature of this class is a pair of long, feathery, contractile tentacles, which can be retracted into specialised ciliated sheaths. In some species, the primary tentacles are reduced and they have smaller, secondary tentacles. The tentacles have colloblasts, which are sticky-tipped cells that trap small prey. [more]

Trilobozoa

[more]

Vendobionta

[more]

Vetulicolia

[more]

Xenoturbellida

[more]

More info about the Phylum Xenoturbellida may be found here.

References

[ Back to top ]
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Footnotes

[ Back to top ]
  1. ^ "Animal". The American Heritage Dictionary (Forth ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 2006. 
  2. ^ National Zoo. "Panda Classroom" (in English). http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandasForKids/classification/classification.htm. Retrieved on September 30 2007. 
  3. ^ Jennifer Bergman. "Heterotrophs" (in English). http://www.windows.u car.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/heterotrophs.html&edu=high. Retrieved on September 30 2007. 
  4. ^ Douglas AE, Raven JA (January 2003). "Genomes at the interface between bacteria and organelles". Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 358 (1429): 5–17; discussion 517–8. doi:10.1098/rstb.2002.1188. PMID 12594915. 
  5. ^ Davidson, Michael W.. "Animal Cell Structure" (in English). http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/animalcell.html. Retrieved on September 20 2007. 
  6. ^ Saupe, S.G. "Concepts of Biology" (in English). http://employees.csbsju.edu/SSAUPE/biol116/Zoology/digestion.htm. Retrieved on September 30 2007. 
  7. ^ Monster fish crushed opposition with strongest bite ever, smh.com.au
  8. ^ Seilacher, A., Bose, P.K. and Pflüger, F. (1998). "Animals More Than 1 Billion Years Ago: Trace Fossil Evidence from India". Science 282 (5386): 80–83. doi:10.1126/science.282.5386.80. PMID 9756480. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/282/5386/80. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. 
  9. ^ Matz, Mikhail V.; Tamara M. Frank, N. Justin Marshall, Edith A. Widder and Sonke Johnsen (2008-12-09). "Giant Deep-Sea Protist Produces Bilaterian-like Traces". Current Biology (Elsevier Ltd) 18 (18): 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.028. http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/pdfs/pubs/sea%20grapes%202008.pdf. Retrieved on 20 08-12-05. 
  10. ^ Reilly, Michael (2008-11-20). "Single-celled giant upends early evolution". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27827279/. Retrieved on 2008-12-05. 
  11. ^ Dunn et al. 2008. "Broad phylogenomic sampling improves resolution of the animal tree of life". Nature 06614.
  12. ^ Ruiz-Trillo, I.; Ruiz-Trillo, Iñaki; Riutort, Marta; Littlewood, D. Timothy J.; Herniou, Elisabeth A.; Baguñà, Jaume (March 1999). "Acoel Flatworms: Earliest Extant Bilaterian Metazoans, Not Members of Platyhelminthes". Science 283 (5409): 1919–1923. doi:10.1126/science.283.5409.1919. PMID 10082465. 
  13. ^ Todaro, Antonio. "Gastrotricha: Overview". Gastrotricha: World Portal. University of Modena & Reggio Emilia. http://www.gastrotricha.unimore.it/overview.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  14. ^ Kristensen, Reinhardt Møbjerg (July 2002). "An Introduction to Loricifera, Cycliophora, and Micrognathozoa". Integrative and Comparative Biology (Oxford Journals) 42 (3): 641–651. doi:10.1093/icb/42.3.641. http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/42/3/641. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  15. ^ "Biodiversity: Mollusca". The Scottish Association for Marine Science. http://www.lophelia.org/lophelia/biodiv_6.htm. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. 
  16. ^ Russell, Bruce J. (Writer), Denning, David (Writer). (2000). Branches on the Tree of Life: Annelids. [VHS]. BioMEDIA ASSOCIATES. 
  17. ^ Eernisse, Douglas J.; Eernisse, Douglas J.; Albert, James S.; Ander son , Frank E. (1992). "Annelida and Arthropoda are not sister taxa: A phylogenetic analysis of spiralean metazoan morphology". Systematic Biology 41 (3): 305–330. doi:10.2307/2992569. 
  18. ^ Eernisse, Douglas J.; Kim, Chang Bae; Moon, Seung Yeo; Gelder, Stuart R.; Kim, Won (September 1996). "Phylogenetic Relationships of Annelids, Molluscs, and Arthropods Evidenced from Molecules and Morphology" ([dead link]–Scholar search). Journal of Molecular Evolution (New York: Springer) 43 (3): 207–215. doi:10.1007/PL00006079. http://www.springerlink.com/content/xptr6ga3ettxnmb9/. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. 
  19. ^ [|Collins, Allen G.] (1995), The Lophophore, University of California Museum of Paleontology, http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss7/lophophore.html 
  20. ^ Adoutte, A.; Adoutte, André; Balavoine, Guillaume; Lartillot, Nicolas; Lespinet, Olivier; Prud'homme, Benjamin; de Rosa, Renaud (April, 25 2000). "The new animal phylogeny: Reliability and implications". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97 (9): 4453–4456. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.9.4453. PMID 10781043. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/97/9/4453. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. 
  21. ^ Passamaneck, Yale J. (2003), "Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution" (PDF), Molecular Phylogenetics of the Metazoan Clade Lophotrochozoa, pp. 124, http:/ /handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA417356 
  22. ^ Adoutte, A.; Sundberg, Per; Turbevilleb, J. M.; Lindha, Susanne (September 2001). "Phylogenetic relationships among higher nemertean (Nemertea) taxa inferred from 18S rDNA sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20 (3): 327–334. doi:10.1006/mpev.2001.0982. 
  23. ^ "The mitochondrial genome of the Sipunculid Phascolopsis gouldii supports its association with Annelida rather than Mollusca" (PDF). Molecular Biology and Evolution 19 (2): 127–137. February 2002. ISSN 0022-2844. PMID 11801741. http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/2/127.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. 
  24. ^ Nielsen, Claus (April 20 01). "Bryozoa (Ectoprocta: ‘Moss’ Animals)". Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd). doi:10.1038/npg.els.0001613. http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0001613/current/abstract. Retrieved on 2008-01-19. 
  25. ^ N.H. Putnam, et al. (July 2007). "Sea anemone genome reveals ancestral eumetazoan gene repertoire and genomic organization". Science 317 (5834): 86–94. doi:10.1126/science.1139158. PMID 17615350. 
  26. ^ Wang, X.; Wang, Xiujuan; Lavrov Dennis V. (2006-10-27). "Mitochondrial Genome of the Homoscleromorph Oscarella carmela (Porifera, Demospongiae) Reveals Unexpected Complexity in the Common Ancestor of Sponges and Other Animals". Molecular Biology and Evolution (Oxford Journals) 24 (2): 363–373. doi:10.1093/molbev/msl167. PMID 17090697. http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/2/363. Retrieved on 2008-0 1-19. 

Further Reading

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Sources

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2012/02/23 08:36:04