Highest_priority_cards_9_-_all_duplicates

Question 1

Q: Describe invertebrates (general characteristics)

Answer 1

Animals without backbones.
Invertebrates may have some type of internal or external support.

Question 2

Q: Typical reproductive strategy for invertebrates

Answer 2

Have mass numbers of offspring all at once, maybe only once in their life

Question 3

Q: Examples of invertebrates

Answer 3

Jellyfish, octopi, mollusks, worms, spiders, insects

Question 4

Q: Largest Phylum of invertebrates

Answer 4

Arthropods

Question 5

Q: Meaning of Arthropoda

Answer 5

“jointed feet”

Question 6

Q: Five major classes of arthropods

Answer 6

Arachnids, millipedes, centipedes, crustaceans, and insects.

Question 7

Q: Arthropod characteristics

Answer 7

Bilateral symmetry
Hard exoskeleton
Segmented body
Paired, jointed appendages

Question 8

Q: Exoskeleton

Answer 8

External skeleton that supports and protects an animal’s body.

Question 9

Q: What are arthropod exoskeletons made of?

Answer 9

Chitin (pronounced kīt′n)

Question 10

Q: Function of exoskeleton

Answer 10

Armored protection
Site for muscle attachment
Allows adjacent segments and joints to act as levers, thus improving locomotion
Has waxy coating which makes it impermeable to water and provides a resistance to water loss.
Jointed legs, acting like hinges, provide flexibility and allow for movement much like that in a medieval suit of armor.

Question 11

Q: How do animals with exoskeletons grow?

Answer 11

Exoskeleton is hard and rigid, unable to expand and grow once formed.
Arthropods must molt (ecdysis) or shed their exoskeleton periodically.
Insects grow in spurts.
Molting is a time of vulnerability and danger and is one disadvantage of arthropod design as the new shell takes time to dry.

Question 12

Q: Ecdysis

Answer 12

“ek-duh-suhs”
the molting or shedding of an outer layer of skin, as by insects, crustaceans, and snakes.

Question 13

Q: Why are invertebrates small? (except some large marine organisms) How has this affected their adaptability to niches?

Answer 13

There is an upper limit to the efficient size of an exoskeleton.
Due to the lack of a sturdy, internal supportive structure, most invertebrates are small.
Small size allowed them to inhabit many more types of specialized niches than were available to a larger organism.

Question 14

Q: Which animals were the first to come ashore from the oceans?

Answer 14

Arthropods

Question 15

Q: Which animals were the first to fly?

Answer 15

Arthropods

Question 16

Q: Features of arthropods that helped them as they evolved for life out of the water?

Answer 16

Hard exoskeleton prevented them from drying out
Evolved a way of getting oxygen without water by breathing air

Question 17

Q: Key roles of arthropods, and especially insects in ecosystems

Answer 17

Vital role as decomposers of organic matter, recycling nutrients.
- Termites break down dead trees
- Many beetles help to decompose decaying animals, plants, and fungi
- Dung beetles (widespread): ground cleanup crew, fertilizes the soil, improves nutrient recycling and soil structure
Pollination of plants. (>80% of flowering plants depend on insects for pollination.)
Vital to soil aeration.
Vital role in food webs - major source of food for some birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. (Especially insects!)
Control populations of pests, including other insects.

Question 18

Q: Crustacean characteristics and examples

Answer 18

-5 or more pairs of legs
-2[/3] body regions (cephalothorax (combines head and thorax), abdomen) [slides say 2 body regions; most sources say 3, separating head from thorax]
-No wings
-2 pairs of antennae, usually
-Most have modified front legs that have oversize pincer-like claws
Examples:
-(Mostly marine, some freshwater, a few terrestrial)
-lobsters, crayfish, crabs, shrimp, barnacles, water fleas, sowbugs (pillbugs), copepods

Question 19

Q: Name one way crustaceans are important to human society

Answer 19

Considered economically important to humans because of their large role in marine and terrestrial food chains

Question 20

Q: What major food source (for whom?) are the eggs and larvae of crustaceans a part of?

Answer 20

Plankton.
Major food source for fish and baleen whales.
Also krill (small crustaceans), which feed on plankton, converting it to a form suitable for many larger animals such as the gray whale

Question 21

Q: Centipede characteristics

Answer 21

-Flattened, multi-segmented body
-1 pair of legs on most body segments
-1 pair of antennae
-No wings
-Terrestrial

Question 22

Q: Centipede feeding style

Answer 22

Most are carnivorous and predatory with modified front legs delivering venom to their prey

Question 23

Q: Centipede ecological role

Answer 23

-Form an important item of diet for many species such as beetles and snakes.
-Consume a tremendous amount of soil-dwelling larvae.
-Their tunneling aerates the soil, allowing water and nutrients to reach the roots of plants and grasses.
-Most are forest floor dwelling and nocturnal

Question 24

Q: Millipede characteristics

Answer 24

-2 pairs of jointed legs on most body segments
-1 pair of antennae
-Cylindrical, multi-segmented body
-No wings
-Terrestrial

Question 25

Q: What do millipedes eat?

Answer 25

They are mainly scavengers or herbivores.
Most eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter (detritivores)

Question 26

Q: Detrivore

Answer 26

an animal that feeds on dead organic material, especially plant detritus.

Question 27

Q: In what key way do millipedes contribute to a healthy ecosystem?

Answer 27

As decomposers, they break down dead plants and animals and cycle nutrients back into soil.

Question 28

Q: Millipede defenses

Answer 28

Many can coil up into a ball for defense
Some produce noxious chemicals that make them foul-tasting.

Question 29

Q: Arachnid characteristics

Answer 29

4 pairs of legs
1 or 2 body regions (cephalothorax, abdomen)
No wings
No antennae
Mostly terrestrial, some freshwater

Question 30

Q: Arachnid examples

Answer 30

Spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, whip scorpions, solpugids

Question 31

Q: Arachnid feeding

Answer 31

Most species are predacious
Some are scavengers or parasites, like ticks and mites
Typically feed by releasing digestive enzymes over or into their prey and then sucking the predigested liquid.
They have fangs that deliver venom to immobilize and digest their prey.

Question 32

Q: Insect characteristics

Answer 32

3 pairs of legs
3 body regions (head, thorax, abdomen)
1 or 2 pairs of wings (sometimes absent)
1 pair of antennae
Mostly terrestrial or fresh water, a few marine

Question 33

Q: What is the largest group of arthropods? How many species? What percentage of all living organisms does this group represent?

Answer 33

Insects. >1M species. Half of all living organisms on the planet.

Question 34

Q: Which are the only arthropods capable of flight?

Answer 34

Insects, which were also the first animals to develop flight.

Question 35

Q: Which group of animals collectively consume the most total plant material?

Answer 35

Insects

Question 36

Q: Key features contributing to the early and ongoing success of insects in terrestrial habitats

Answer 36

Wings
- disperse farther, exploit new niches
- increased mobility helped hunting and escaping predation
Exoskeleton
- helped protect them from drying out
- gave protection and support to internal systems
- ability to become dormant during adverse conditions
Small size
- allowed them to exploit many types of new niches
High reproductive rate and a huge number of offspring
- high genetic variability
- large number of offspring at one time guarantees at least some will survive to adulthood
Short life cycle
- allows rapid adaptations to changing conditions
Complete metamorphosis
- Adults and larvae, being different, do not compete for for resources and have different predators
- (disadvantage: they are vulnerable during the process; incomplete metamorphosis lessens that disadvantage)

Question 37

Q: Key roles invertebrates played in the movement of life from water to land

Answer 37

-Once on land, invertebrates became food source for vertebrates to transition from aquatic to a terrestrial environment.
-The success of flowing plants was aided by pollination from winged insects.
-Allowed vertebrates to escape competitive pressure from the water and explore niche opportunities on land.

Question 38

Q: One key benefit of metamorphosis?

Answer 38

Young and adults occupy different niches. Reduces competition for resources.