Rabriel+Etier

= ANIMAL WEEKLY NEWS = BY RABRIEL ETIER

__GENERAL KINGDOM INFORMATION__
All animals are members of the Kingdom Animalia, also called Metazoa. This Kingdom does not contain the prokaryotes or the protists. All members of the Animalia are multicellular, and all are heterotrophs (that is, they rely directly or indirectly on other organisms for their nourishment). Most ingest food and digest it in an internal cavity. Animal cells lack the rigid cell walls that characterize plant cells. The bodies of most animals (all except sponges) are made up of cells organized into tissues, each tissue specialized to some degree to perform specific functions. In most, tissues are organized into even more specialized organs. Most animals are capable of complex and relatively rapid movement compared to plants and other organisms. Most reproduce sexually, by means of differentiated eggs and sperm. Most animals are diploid, meaning that the cells of adults contain two copies of the genetic material. The development of most animals is characterized by distinctive stages, including a zygote, formed by the product of the first few division of cells following fertilization; a blastula, which is a hollow ball of cells formed by the developing zygote; and a gastrula, which is formed when the blastula folds in on itself to form a double-walled structure with an opening to the outside, the blastopore. Somewhere around 9 or 10 million species of animals inhabit the earth; the exact number is not known and even our estimates are very rough. Animals range in size from no more than a few cells to organisms weighing many tons, such as blue whales and giant squid. By far most species of animals are insects, with groups such as mollusks and nematodes also being especially diverse. By this measure our own group, the vertebrates, is relatively inconsequential. Research continues on the evolutionary relationships of the major groups of animals.

==** __ ﻿ENVIRONMENT SAFETY __ **

== === **Go green by: ** ** 1. Turning off equipment when it's not being used. This can reduce the energy used by 25 percent; turning off the computers at the end of the day can save an additional 50 percent. ** ** 2. Encouraging communications by email, and reading email messages onscreen to determine whether it's necessary to print them. If it's not, don't! ** ** 3. Reducing fax-related paper waste by using a fax-modem and by using a fax cover sheet only when necessary. Fax-modems allow documents to be sent directly from a computer, without requiring a printed hard copy. ** ** 4. Producing double-sided documents whenever possible. ** ** 5. Not leaving taps dripping; always close them tightly after use. (One drop wasted per second wastes 10,000 litres per year.) ** ** 6. Installing displacement toilet dams in toilet reservoirs. Placing one or two plastic containers filled with stones (not bricks) in the toilet's reservoir will displace about 4 litres of water per flush - a huge reduction of water use over the course of a year. ** ** 7. Finding a supply of paper with maximum available recycled content. ** ** 8. Choosing suppliers who take back packaging for reuse. ** ** 9. Instigating an ongoing search for "greener" products and services in the local community. The further your supplies or service providers have to travel, the more energy will be used to get them to you. ** ** 10. Before deciding whether you need to purchase new office furniture, see if your existing office furniture can be refurbished. It's less expensive than buying new and better for the environment. ** ===

__MULLUSKS__


A mollusk is another name for a shellfish. There are three groupings of shellfish. They include: Shellfish are not all fish and many of them live on land. Not all of them have shells. They are not fish, although many of them live in the water.
 * Hatchet-footed - These live inside of two shells that are connected by a muscular hinge which can open and close the shell. They are referred to as bivalves. Lines on the shell tell how old the mollusk is as the shell gets bigger, the older the shellfish gets. Clams, scallops, oysters and mussels are bivalves.
 * Belly-footed - These have just one spiral shell and carry their shells on their backs. They are called univalves. The snail, slug, periwinkle and conch belong to this group.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Head-footed - These have a definite head surrounded by tentacles. The squid and octopus are two in this group.


 * System Type || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mollusks System ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Muscular-Skeletal || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has an outer shell. It has a soft body. It has a muscular foot that it uses for movement. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Digestion || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has food brought in through a siphon system and then to its mouth. It then goes to a digestive gland and to its intestine. Wastes leave via the anus. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nervous || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has no formal nervous system, but has a series of ganglia that conduct impulses. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Circulation || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has a heart, blood and blood vessels. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Respiration || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has tubes called siphons that bring water in and out of their bodies so that they can get oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. They have gills that help with this. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reproduction || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk is either male or female and reproduces sexually with a large organ called a gonad. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Excretion || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has an excretory system with an anus. It has an organ called the nephridium that gets rid of wastes. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Symmetry || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has bilateral symmetry. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Appearance || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Mollusk has a soft, thick, fleshy body. It can be very small or as big as six feet across. ||

__ARTHROPODS__
==<span style="clear: both; color: #005596; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The Largest Animal Group == <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding: 0px;"> **A** rthropods are __** animal **__with segmented bodies and six or more jointed legs. They are the largest animal group on Earth. In fact, more than three out of four of all animals are arthropods. They are found everywhere - on land, in trees, in freshwater and saltwater, and even underground. Arthropods are generally small. Most are less than ** 1 cm **long. Some arthropods, however, are quite large. The giant king crab, for example, measures over ** 3.2 m ** from the tip of one outstretched leg to another.

Grasshoppers, butterflies, beetles, ants, etc. 1,000,000 described world species
 * **Class Distinctions** **Insects**

Spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, etc. 65,000 described world species
 * three body regions: head, thorax, abdomen
 * six legs attached to the thorax (which has 3 segments)
 * adults with one or two pairs of wings attached to the thorax (some have none)
 * two antennae
 * lateral compound eyes ||  ||
 * **Arachnids**

Classes include crabs, shrimps, lobsters, barnacles, isopods etc. 44,000 described world species Centipedes. 2,800 described world species Millipedes. 10,000 described world species
 * two body regions: cephalothorax, abdomen
 * eight legs
 * no antennae
 * Mouth parts are chelicerae(modified appendages) which in spiders are fangs ||  ||
 * **Crustaceans** (technically a subphylum)
 * two body regions
 * two pairs of antennae
 * 5 or more pairs of legs
 * primarily aquatic, few terrestrial ||  ||
 * **Chilopods**
 * well-defined head
 * first pair of legs modified for envenomation
 * flattened top to bottom
 * one pair of legs per segment
 * one pair of antennae ||  ||
 * **Diplopods**
 * two pairs of legs per segments, first four segments have 1 pair legs
 * one pair of antennae
 * well-defined head
 * usually cylindrical ||
 * __ ECHINODERMS __**



Characteristics of Echinoderms
Echinoderms are characterized by radial symmetry, several arms (5 or more, mostly grouped 2 left - 1 middle - 2 right) radiating from a central body (= pentamerous). The body actually consists of five equal segments, each containing a duplicate set of various internal organs. They have no heart, brain, nor eyes, but some brittle stars seem to have light sensitive parts on their arms. Their mouth is situated on the underside and their anus on top (except feather stars, sea cucumbers and some urchins). Echinoderms have tentacle-like structures called tube feet with suction pads situated at their extremities. These tube feet are hydraulically controlled by a remarkable vascular system. This system supplies water through canals of small muscular tubes to the tube feet (= ambulacral feet). As the tube feet press against a moving object, water is withdrawn from them, resulting in a suction effect. When water returns to the canals, suction is released. The resulting locomotion is generally very slow.

Ecology and range of
Echinoderms are exclusively marine. They occur in various habitats from the intertidal zone down to the bottom of the deep sea trenches and from sand to rubble to coral reefs and in cold and tropical seas.

Behavior of Echinoderms
Some echinoderms are carnivorous (for example starfish) others are detritus foragers (for example some sea cucumbers) or planktonic feeders (for example basket stars). Reproduction is carried out by the release of sperm and eggs into the water. Most species produce pelagic (= free floating) planktonic larvae which feed on plankton. These larvae are bilaterally symmetrical, unlike their parents (illustration of a larvae of a sea star below). When they settle to the bottom they change to the typical echinoderm features.

The following classes are types of echinoderms:

(2) **Class**: //Ophiuroidea//--[|Brittle Stars] (Daisy Brittle Star--//Ophiopholis aculeata//) Another picture of a [|Brittle Star (*)]--found in all oceans (but mainly in the tropics). The group includes about 2000 species, varying in color. They eat decaying matter and microscopic organisms that are found on soft muddy bottoms. (3) **Class**: //Echinoidea//--[|(*) Sea Urchins]--they locomote using short to long, movable spines. Between their spines are small, pincerlike organs called**pedicellariae** which they use to clean and defend themselves. The pedicellariae also contain a powerful toxin. (4) **Class**: //Crinoidea//--[|Feather Stars] (//Florometra serratissima//)--feather stars will swim if they are disturbed. (5) **Class**: //Holothuroidea//--Sea Cucumbers
 * Class**//Asteroidea//[|Starfish or Sea Star]//Leptasterias hexactis//

The vertebrate class Aves includes the birds, an extremely distinctive and successful clade, with an estimated 9000 species worldwide, including the snowy owl pictured here. Although descended from the dinosaurs, birds have evolved remarkable specializations for flight: a unique "one-way" breathing system, light yet strong hollow bones, a skeleton in which many bones are fused or lost, powerful flight muscles, and -- most importantly -- feathers. ====<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Aves evolved from reptiles during the Mesazoic Era about 150 million years ago. Today, an estimated 300 billion birds belonging to more than 9000 species inhabit virtually every terrestrial habitat on the planet. There are even many species of birds that are at home in the water as skilled swimmers and divers. Birds range in size from the massive ostrich to the minute bee hummingbird. ====
 * __AVES__ **

====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Birds possess distinct characteristics that make them one of the most distinguishable group of vertebrates. The following characteristics are unique to birds: ====

<span style="display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">feathers - provide insulation and enable flight; feathers are modifications of a bird's epidermis (outer skin)
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">bills - birds do not possess teeth or the heavy jawbones seen in other vertebrates; instead, birds have a pair of toothless mandibles covered with a horny sheath of keratin (also called ramphotheca).
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">furcula - also known as the 'wishbone', the furcula is a bone located in the bird's chest that prevents compression of the chest cavity during the downstroke of a wingbeat.

Birds also exhibit the following characteristics:
<span style="color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 35px;">WORK CITED
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Fused bones in pelvis, feet, hands, and head ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Lightweight bones (bones that are either hollow or spongy/strutted) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">No teeth or maxillary bones of the jaw (reduces anterior weight) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Endothermic ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Possess a four-chambered heart and in general exhibit high metabolic rates ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Produce large, richly provisioned external eggs ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Adept navigational abilities in many species ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit;">Extraordinary communication and song production ====
 * [[image:weblogo2.gif]]


 * <span style="color: #3b3b3b; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">Mye rs, P. 2001. "Animalia" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 10, 2011 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Animalia.html.


 * <span style="color: #3b3b3b; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;">http://www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Mollusks.html


 * ====== PHYLA GRAPH BY Mark Blaxter ======

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> Contact:CISEO <span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> http://insected.arizona.edu <span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> All contents copyright © 1997. <span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> All rights reserved.
 * <span style="font-family: Times,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;">The University of Arizona

<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 1em; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">By <span style="color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">[|Laura Klappenbach], About.com Guide
 * =Birds=

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,'Franklin Gothic Medium',Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;">http:// [|www.starfish.ch] < [|reef] < [|echinoderms.html] <span style="font-family: Tahoma,'Franklin Gothic Medium',Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;"> was last modified on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:08:10 GMT. Copyright Teresa Zubi ==<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="color: #4d4a42; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: normal normal normal 14px/1.3 Verdana; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">Green Business is Good for the Bottom Line ** == <span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 1em; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">By <span style="color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Susan War, About.com Guide
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS','Arial Rounded MT Bold',Arial; font-size: 27px; line-height: 39px;">Invertebrates Multi-celled animals (Metazoa)
 * =<span style="color: #3e3e3e; font-family: Georgia,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 26px;">10 Easy Ways Your Business Can Go Green =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Lucida,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 12px;"> //http://tolweb.org/Aves/15721/1999.01.01// //in// The Tree of Life Web Project, //http://tolweb.org///
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Lucida,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 12px;">Tree of Life Web Project. 1999. Aves. Birds. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary).

<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; border-top-color: #ff3300; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 3px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; width: 930px;">