Chapter 16 The Diversity of Life Flashcards
Anarobe
An organism whose respiration does not require oxygen.
Angiosperm
A flowering vascular plant.
Archaea
One of life’s three domans; consists of prokaryotes that are only distantly related to members of the doman Bacteria.
Bacteria
One of life’s three domans; consists of prokaryotes that are only distantly related to members of the domain Archaea.
Conifer
A member of a class of vascular plants (Coniferophyta) that reproduce by means of seeds formed inside cones and that retain their leaves throughout the year.
Endospore
A protective resting structure of some rod-shaped bacteria that withstands unfavorable enviromental conditions.
Eukarya
One of life’s three domains; consists of all eukaryotes (plants, animals, fungi, and protists).
Flagellum (plural flagella)
A long, hairlike extension of the plasma membrane; in eukaryotic cells, it contains microtubules arranged in a 9 + 2 pattern. The movement of flagella propel some cells through fluids.
Flower
The reproductive structure of an angriosperm plant.
Fruit
In flowering plants, the ripened ovary (plus, in some cases, other parts of the flower), which contains the seeds.
Gymnosperm
A nonflowering seed plant, such as a conifer, cycad, or gingko.
Hypha (plural, hyphae)
A threadlike structure that consists of elongated cells, typically with many haploid nuclei; many hyphae make up the fungal body.
Intertebrate
An animal that does not possess a vertebral column at any stage of its life.
Larva (plural, larvae)
An immature form of an organism with indirect development before metamorphisis into its adult form; includes caterpillars of moths and butterflies and the maggots of flies.
Metamorphosis
In animals with indirect development, a radical change in body form from larva to sexually mature adult, as seen in amphibians (tadpole to frog) and insects (ceterpillar to butterfly).
Molt
To shed an external body covering, such as an exoskeleton, skin, feathers, or fur.
Mycelium (plural, mycelia)
The body of a fungus, consisting of a mass of hyphae.
Nerve Cord
In most animals, the nervous tissue running lengthwise from the head toward the tail, connecting the brain or principal ganglia of the head with the rest of the body. In chordates, a hollow structure lying just beneath the dorsal surface of the body, connecting the brain with the rest of the body. In vertebrates, this is the spinal cord.
Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria
A bacterium that possesses the ability to remove nitrogen from the atmosphere and combine it with hydrogen to produce ammonium.
Nonvascular Plant
A plant that lacks conducting vessels; a bryophyte; mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are nonvascular plants.
Notochord
A stiff but somewhat flexible, supportive rod found in all members of the phylum Chordata at some stage of development.
Pathogenic
Capable of producing disease; refers to an organism with such a capability (a pathogen).
Pharyngeal Gill Slit
An opening, located just posterior to the mouth, that connects the digestive tube to the outside enviroment; present (at some stage of life) in all chordates.
Phytoplankton
Photosynthetic protists that are abundant in marine and freshwater enviroments.
Pollen
The male gametophyte of a seed plant.
Post-Anal Tail
A tail that extends beyond the anus; exhibited by al chordates at some stage of development.
Protist
A eukaryotic organism that is not a plant, animal, or fungus. The term ecompasses a diverse array of organisms and does not represent a monophyletic group. Algae, amoebas, slime molds, and clilates are examples of protists.
Pupa
A developmental stage in some insect species in which the organism stops moving and feeding and may be encased in a cocoon; occurs between the larval and the adult phases.
Seed
The reproductive structure of a seed plant; protected by a seed coat; contains an embryonic plant and a supply of food for it.
Spore
A haploid reproductive cell capable of developing into an adult without fusing with another cell; in the alternation of generation life cycle of plants, a haploid cell that is produced by meiosis and then undergoes repeated mitotic division and differentiation of daughter cells to produce the gametophyte, a multicellular, haploid organism.
Vascular Plant
A plant that has specialized structures (vessels) for transporting water and nutrients though its body, Horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants are examples of vascular plants.
Vertebral Column
A column of serially arranged skeletal units (the vertabrae) that enclose the nerve cord in vertebrates; the backbone.
Vertebrate
An animal that possesses a vertebral column.
