This essay is a draft and may be incomplete in areas.
- Pandinus imperator (scorpion)
- Pheretima praepinguis (Earthworm)
- Chordates (tiger)
Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris)
Characteristics: Common earthworms are in the phylum Annelid, and their scientific name is . All earthworms are eukaryotic, and they are heterotrophs meaning that they cannot make their own food. This mean that they must eat or absorb it, known as consumers. Earthworms are invertebrates and bilaterally symmetrical. They are only capable of sexual reproduction, they are not able to self fertilize. Most commonly, Earthworms are found in moist areas with dead plant material. Earthworms are most abundant in rainy forests, but are very diverse and can be found in many habitats on land and in freshwater. Something that all earthworms have in common is that the need moist soil conditions to survive. They exist in almost every palace in the world, except in the polar climates. They are most commonly known to be a pinkish-brown colour, but can also be blue, green, and red. The most apparent characteristic of the earthworm is their segmented body. They have what looks like small rings across their entire body, ranging from 100-150 segments.
Scientific Name:
Anatomy: Earthworms are classified in the phylum Annelids, or Annelida. Annelida in Latin translates to “little rings’. The bodies of earthworms are segmented, which makes the appearance of earthworm have many little right fused together. It is made up of approximately 100-150 segments. The segmentation allows it to move, making it a very important part of the Earthworm. On each segment of the earthworm, there are muscles and bristles called setae. The setae help anchor and control the worm when moving through the soil. The bristles are used to hold a section of the earthworm stably on the ground, while the their part of the body pushes the worm forward. The segmentation is used to contract or relax independently, pushing sections forward and lengthening its body to move it whenever it wants to go. The body symmetry of the common earthworm is bilateral symmetry.
Physiology: Earthworms uses diffusion for its respiratory system, by absorbing oxygen, and also release carbon dioxide (Kroger, David. “Diffusion: Allowing Earthworms to Breathe”). The earthworm will absorb the oxygen, once all the oxygen is used up it will turn into carbon dioxide and be real eased from the organism. Oxygen will then re-enter the system because their is now less concentration of oxygen inside the organism (diffusion consists of a substance going from a high concentration to a low concentration). The worms skin is protected by a thin cuticle and is kept moist by slime mucus. This is what is allow it to absorb oxygen, and expel carbon dioxide. The reason that you would find an earthworm dried up on the sidewalk is because the sun dried out the worm, not allow air to pass through. Earthworms cells consist of a cell membrane, which is semipermeable, allowing the oxygen and carbon dioxide through when needed.
The digestive system in an earthworm is broken down into many different regions, each with their own specific function. The digestive system of a worm consists of a pharynx, the crop, an esophagus, the intestines and the gizzard. Food, such as soil, enters the worms mouth, to be swallowed by the pharynx. The food will then pass through the esophagus. The esophagus contains calciferol glands that release calcium carbonate.this will get rid of the excess calcium in the worms body. After, the food moves to the crop, this is where it is stored, but eventually moved into the gizzard. The gizzard will use the stones that the worm had eaten the grind the rest of the food up completely. The food will then move into the intestine, this is where gland cells will release fluid to help improve the digestive process. The intestine walls have blood vessels where the remaining food is absorbed and transported into the rest of the worms body.
This photo contains the different parts of the earthworms digestive system
An important system in the earthworm is the circulatory system. Earthworms have what is known as a closed circulatory system. This means that is circulates blood only through vessels. The earthworm has three main vessels that provide the earthworm with blood in its organs. These vessels are known as the aortic arches, ventral blood vessels, and the dorsal blood vessels. The aortic arches can be contained to a human heart, which both function very similar. There are five pair of aortic arches. These are responsible for pumping blood into the two other major blood vessels (the ventral blood vessels ad the dorsal blood vessels). The dorsal blood vessels are responsible for carrying blood to the front of the earthworms body, while the ventral blood vessels are responsible for providing blood to the back of the worm.
This is a diagram of the parts of the earthworm used in their circulatory system.
The earthworms nervous system could be considered segmented just like the rest of its body. The enlarged ganglion (acts as a simple brain), is located just above the pharynx, it is connected to the first ventral ganglion. Earthworms The enlarged ganglion is very important in the earthworm because it controls movement. If the enlarged ganglion of an earthworm is removed, the earthworm will still continue to move, but it is uncontrollable. If the first ventral ganglion is removed, the earthworm will not dig underground or even eat. Each segmentation of the ganglion gets sensory imagery from that specific local region of its body. Controlling only the muscles in that region. On the surface of the earthworm, they have light, tough, vibration, and chemical receptors all across its entire body surface.
This photo shows a side view of the earthworms nervous system.
The immune system of an earthworm consists of defence strategies to protect the earthworm against parasite invasions and bacterial infections. There is a natural immunity that is formed by a chemical and anatomical (structure of its body) barriers that are meant to prevent the tissues underneath the worms surface to become damaged. It also prevents body fluid loss, and microbial infection of the body cavity. There is also an internal defence system that earthworms have formed that involve phagocytosis (“cell eating”), blood coagulation (blood changes from a liquid to a gel), wound repair, encapsulation, and antibacterial immune proteins. There is antibacterial activity in the coelomic fluid that is associated with lysozyme-like substances, that induce hormonal molecules to provide aid to the haemolytic reactions.
Life cycle: including basic embryological development.
The earthworms life cycle consists of the creation of a fertilized egg (after the mating of two other worms). The fertilized egg is held within a protective cocoon, where the baby worms will hatch after approximately three weeks after its been created. Where the baby worms will submerge themselves underneath the soil, where they will grow into mature worms. Once they become mature worms, they will be able to mate with another worms to restart the cycle.
This photo is showing the life cycle of an earthworm. They hatch from their cocoon, grow into an adult (taking about three months), mate with another earthworm, and reproduce to continue the cycle
Earthworms contain both female, and male sex organs, making them hermaphrodites. The male sex organ produces sperm, while the female organ produces eggs in every earthworm. Even though one earthworm can produce both male and female sex organs, they aren’t capable of self-fertilization, they require a mate to be able to reproduce. When they mate, the two worms line up os that they are inverted from each other, allowing the sperm to be exchanged. Both earthworms have two male openings and two sperm receptacles. They will then take in the sperm from the other earthworm. They also have a pair of ovaries that produce eggs. The clitellum (a raised band that surrounds a section of the worm, made of reproductive segments) will then form a slime tube surrounding them, which will then begin to fill with albuminous fluid. The earthworms will then move forward out of the slime tube. While the earthworm is moving out of the slime tube, the tube will pass over its female pore, which will pick up eggs. The earthworm will continue to move Dow the tube, where it will then ass over the male pore (also known as the spermatheca) which contains stored sperm call spermatozoa. The eggs will fertilize, which will allow the slime tube to close once the worms have completely exited the tube. This will create what is known as an “egg cocoon” , and will be put into the soil, developing into a young earthworm.
The first diagram, is showing how the earthworms are positioned beside each other during mating. The second photo gives us an idea on what it looks like while the worms are moving out of the “egg cocoon”.
Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris)
Characteristics: the Siberian tiger belongs in the phylum Chortdata. Since they are in the phylum Chartdata, this means that they have a notochord. They are multicellular, heterotrophic, and are bilaterally symmetrical. They are also Coelmates, which means that they have a body cavity between the mesoderm and the endoderm). They also are deuterostomes, meaning that the embryo developed at the anus first. 80% of Siberian tigers live in the Primorski Krai region of Russia, which is in Southeastern Russia. The rest of the 20% are usually found in northeast China and northern North Korea. Siberian tigers are only capable of sexual reproduction. They will range from about 3.3 meters in height, and males can weigh up to 320 kg, while female only weigh up to 180 kg. The tail of a Siberian tiger is approximately 1 meter long.
The red area shows where Primorski Krai is located on the map.
Scientific Name:
Anatomy:
The Siberian tigers are vertebrates, meaning that they have a backbone supporting their body, running from the tip of its tail to its skull. This is meant to be a central support for the limbs and rib cage. Siberian tigers are also bilaterally symmetrical. They have a big skull and a rounded shape with a powerful jaw, for catching prey. The tigers lower jaw is actually almost straight. They also have a thick fur coat, that helps to maintain their body temperatures during extreme climates. The Siberian tiger has more prominent stripes compared to other tigers due to its
This picture shows you the very prominent vertical stripes on the Siberian tiger. habitat being in Southeast Asia.
Physiology:
A Siberian tigers respiratory system is very similar to a humans, the only difference is that it is also used as a cooling system for the tiger. Just like all mammals, they breath into their mouth or nose, and its their lungs. Once the air is inside of its lungs, it absorbs all the oxygen and exhales the carbon dioxide. Their diaphragm shifts towards the abdomen. This will create a negative pressure to pull fresh air in. The heart will now be able to obtain oxygen, to pump oxygenated blood throughout their body and a fast speed (ranging from 56-97 beats per minute). Their chest cavity (that surrounds the lungs) is meant to act as if it s a vacuum. But when muscles moves upwards, (towards its head), it forces the lungs to compress and force air out.
The main components of the digestive track of a Siberian tiger consists of a mouth, stomach, small intestine, and a large intestine. The mouth is wear the tiger jaw, containing incisors, molar teeth, and canines in both jaws, to grind down the meat. The saliva in its mouth is just there for the purpose of lubrication because it does not contain any enzymes to break down the food. The food will the pass through the esophagus, ad its the stomach. The stomach is wear the food will liquefy. The stomach is considered quite small compared to the body mass of the tiger, but it is enough for a carnivore, due to the meat and fat based diet. The food can take hours to digest. The food is dissolved by a concentrated solution called hydrochloric acid. The stomach actually only does a very small amount of digestion, unlike the small intestine which is essential to this process. The liquified food from the stomach, also known as chyme, enter the small intestine. The liver and pancreas supply and deliver enzymes that are required to break down the proteins and fats into their components (fatty acids ad amino acids). This is the only way for the nutrients to pass through the gut wall into the bloodstream. The pancreatic enzymes are used to break down the liquified food and pass it into the caecum. The caecum is located between the small intestine and the large intestine (a small appendage that’s usually two or three inches). There is no use the the caecum in carnivores. Once the liquified food passes through the caecum, it enters the large intestine. The large intestine allows the water to escape, to enter the colon, and the rest of the waste products is stored in the rectum until it is released through the anus.
The photo displays the digestive organs of a Siberian tiger, and where they are located inside their body.
The Siberian tigers circulatory mimics a humans circulatory system, with very minimal differences. The tiger heart consists of four chambers, and there are two different hear chambers. One of the chambers is used for transporting blood throughout the body, and the other is used for receiving the blood. Their ventricles are a lot bigger than the atria, and they have thick, muscular walls that are used to quickly and efficiently pump blood from the heart to all throughout the tigers body. Their circulatory system also consists of a four chambered hear with two atria and two ventricles. When the heat is pumping blood throughout the body, it does not allow extenuated blood and deoxygenated blood to mix. The four chamber are used to ensure that the rapid movement of oxygenated blood, doesn’t not come in contact with the blood that is deoxygenated. This allows the tiger in sustained muscle movements, and thermal regulation.
The main components of tigers nervous system consists of a brain, vertebrae, and a spinal cord. The vertebrae main purpose is to be used as protection for the spinal cord. The nervous system can be broken down into two parts; the central nervous system (made up of the spinal cord an the brain, and the peripheral nervous system (consisting of the cranial nerves from the brain, the sense organs, and the spinal nerves from the spinal cord. The sense organs are sued to receive stimuli, known a receptors. They are able to provide the central nervous system of any changes in the surroundings. They do this by initiating nervous messages which are know as impulses, to then transmit them to the central nervous. A nervous impulse (sort of like an electric current) travels to the tigers brain almost immediately to know if something had hit it. It is transmitted within a fraction of a second, to ensure that it would get a signal to your brain almost immediately. When you want to move, there will be a response in stimulus to the central nervous system that is able to send impulses to muscles, to make them contract and move.
The immune system of a tiger is very similar o a humans. It’s a bodies defence system to fight off infection and other harmful diseases. This is done through a series of step called an immune response. The immune system attacks organisms and substances that invade the body to cause sickness. It is made up of a network f tissues, cell and organs that work together to protect the body. One of the main components of the immune system is white blood cells (known as leukocytes). Leukocytes come in two basic types that combine, and work together to seek out and destroy harmful substances. Leukocytes can be stored and produces in places throughout the body of tigers, including the spleen, thymus and bone marrow. This is what gives them the name lymphoid organs. Clumps of lymphoid tissue located throughout the body, are where leukocytes are stored. They circulate the body to search out disease-causing bacteria to destroy it.
Life cycle:
There are three main stages in a tigers life, when they are a new born, a child, and an adult. When a tiger is a new born it is known as a cub. An adult tiger takes care of its cub from eight weeks to two months after they are born. The mother will usually have a litter of 2 or 3 cubs. A new born tiger relies on its mother for all of its food and water. Once the tiger grows up, it starts to wonder and follow its mother. The mother tiger shows he cubs how they hunt to find the essentials needed to survive. This will usually take around 2 or 3 years. After those three years are up, the mother leaves her young tigers to fend for them selves in the wild.
Reproduction between tigers happens when a female tiger is receptive and easily conceived (known as an oestrus). The female tiger will enter this state once every three to nine weeks. During the oestrus, the female and male tigers will mate often to ensure that her eggs will fertilize. Ovulation is only stimulated by mating (hence why they have to mate multiple times during the oestrus). After this process, the male tiger will most likely leave the female tiger and have nothing to do with the cubs once they are born. It take approximately sixteen weeks for the eggs to be born. The cubs are incubated inside of the uterus, and are given the needed nutrients to survive by an umbilical cord (similar to humans).
Characteristics of the organism that result in it being placed in that particular phylum – Characteristics would include things like whether they are prokaryotic or eukaryotic, are they autotrophs or heterotrophs, do they reproduce sexually or asexually, what type of environment do they live in, key physical features, etc.
– Full scientific name – Full scientific name would include Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus Species and where possible, translations or definitions as to what each word means or represents.
– Describe the anatomy of that organism. Anatomy would include things like specialized body parts or structures, body symmetry, body segmentation, cephalization, etc.
Describe the physiology of that organism – Physiology would include things like how the organism performs basic necessities for life. For example, how does it obtain nutrients, how does it circulate compounds around the body, etc. Think major body systems like respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive system, nervous system, immune system, etc.
Analyze and explain the life cycle of that organism – Life cycle would include all of the different stages of life, including basic embryological development. If the organism is capable of both sexually and asexual reproduction, both must be explained.
written report with embedded images. Full sentences, proper paragraphs and appropriate titles and headings should be used. A page of references of reliable sources. Any key terms must be defined and clearly explained and important images should be included to help with explanation and understanding. Any image included should be well explained.
Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator)
Characteristics:
Scorpions are put into the phylum Arthropoda, and they are considered Chelicerata because they have princers. They are eukaryotic, and are heterotrophs. Scorpions are only capable of sexual reproduction, they cannot self fertilize. Scorpions live in both tropical forests and open savannas, where is will burrow itself beneath the rocks, soil, termite mounds, and debris. They most commonly are found in West Africa, living for around 6-8 years. Despite the bad reputation that these scorpions have put up, their poison is actually not lethal to humans. Scientist have detected some molecules inside of their venom that could have traces of malaria and other harmful bacteria inside of it, but nothing has been confirmed.
Scientific name:
Anatomy:
The emperor scorpion has sensory hairs that covert heir princers (***wher****) and their tail give them the ability to find prey by detecting vibrations on the ground and even in the air. They also have pectins (sensory organs) that help that track where their prey hav previously walked, this is more prominent in males. Scorpions grow to a length of approximately 7.9 inches and a weight of 30 grams. Usually a dark blue or a bright black colour. The lateral part fo their body have a white strip the goes from the tail to its head. The tip of its tail (known as the latter or the telson) its a vibrant red colour. The emperor scorpion in bilaterally symmetrical.
Physiology:
(notes on zoology)
The respiratory system in an emperor scorpion consists of four pairs of book-lungs. These are placed within chambers known as pulmonary sacs. Each book-lung has two parts; a ventral atrial chamber, and a pulmonary chamber. Each book-lung has nearly 140 vertically folded lamellae (respiratory surfaces) with chitinous lining. Each lamella has a empty cavity where blood is able to flow through. All of this communicates with a central chamber known as the atrium. There are cuticular bars between two lamellae to prevent them from collapsing. The respiratory system works but the relaxation and contraction of a certain type of muscles known as the atrial muscles and the dorsoventral to allow air to flow through the book-lungs. When the book-lungs are relaxed, air is able to flow in through the stigmata, to the atrial chamber. The muscles contract, which forces the book-lungs to release the air.
Scorpions have what is considered an open circulatory system, this means that blood is pumped by the heart through the body. Scorpions tissue are surrounded by oxygenated blood. Due to the fact that the emperor scorpion is an invertebrate, it doesn’t use the protein hemoglobin to move oxygen throughout the body, and instead it uses the protein hemocyanin. Hemocyanin is found in the hemolymph, which is a fluid in the scorpion circulatory system that provides majority of the same components as blood would in the tissue fluid in vertebrates. This would include hormones, sugars, and water.
Excretory
The central nervous system of a scorpion is made up of a brain, and a ventral nerve cord. The brain is made up of two large ganglia, the surround the esophagus.
Digestive
Life cycle:
The life cycle of an emperor scorpion begins will the reproduction of a male and a female scorpion (explained down below). The mother will give birth to between 2 and 100 baby scorpions. For protection in their young ages, the scorpions will crawl onto their mother back for weeks until their exoskeleton hardens. On rare occasions, the mother will eat her offspring if food is scarce. Otherwise, the mother will spend a lot of time taking care of her babies.as the baby scorpions grow, they shed their skin (also known as most) and will leave their mother back to roam freely themselves.this will lead to them growing and becoming adults within the next few months. Once they are adults, they will reproduce with another scorpion to continue the cycle.
The emperor scorpion reproduces by the male scorpion embodying a chemical attraction cell pheromones, giving off bodily vibrations to attract the female. When a female is found, the male uses its pedipalps. The pedipalps is legs that visually look like claws. While grabbing onto each other, than conduct what is considered a “dance”. The male scorpion will lead the female to a place where he can place his sperm. The sperm is surrounded by a structure known as a spermatophore. The female will then bring the sperm into her genital pore to fertilize the eggs. The process of mating can last over 24 hours. Fertilized eggs develop inside of the female body, and it can take from a few months to a year.