What is a living thing?

 
 
Morphology (Zangerl 1948)
 Biological discipline w/ investigation of structural design of organisms.
o Microscopic
o Developmental
o Geological
o Functional
o Environmental
*Allozyme analysis
 
General Properties of Living Systems
1. Chemical Uniqueness
a. 25 elements can be found in the body
b. CHON = 96% of the body mass
i. Biomolecules (Organic Compounds)
1. Carbohydrates
2. Lipids
3. Proteins
4. Nucleic acid
2. Complexity and Hierarchical Organization
a. Emergence
i. disturbance in a lifeform or organism
ii. Diversity/New characteristics in lower lifeforms
iii. New organisms
 

3. Reproduction
a. Spontaneous generation was disproved by Pasteur (one must come from a
parent)
2. Possession of genetic material
a. Chromosomes - coiled DNA = superhedral structure
 b. They coil around Histones
c. Central Dogma = Replication, Transcription and Translation
2. Metabolism
a. Totality of all chemical reactions
i. Catabolism - breaking down
1. Digestion > Cellular respiration
2. Energy Reproduction
ii. Anabolism - compounds are made using ATP
2. Development
a. Embryonic - dependent (embryo - end of gestation)
b. Juvenile - Self-sufficient (0-13)
c. Adult - Capable to reproduce (14 above)
Development in amphibians are extraordinary "environmental switch (water to land)" happened
300 mya
 Doubling phenomenon
7. Responsiveness
a. Flight or Fight
b. Response to stimuli = irritability
2. Movement
a. Required in Reproduction, growth, response to stimuli, development
b. Entire species migrates
 
COMPANA
 
Types of Knowledge and thinking
 Science
 Nonscience
o Protoscience/Emerging (alchemy, chemistry, parapsychology)
o Pseudoscience - ideas are based on claims and practices (Paranormal, Feng
shui, traditional medicine)
o Non science (religion, ethics, history)
 
Scientific Method
 
Question/Observation > Hypothesis > Execution of Methods > Research design > Analysis of Data and
trends > Conclusion and Resolution
 
Biology
Zoology (Compana is foundational in this)
 
 Animals originated in oceans over 600 mya
 Eukaryotic
 Heterotrophic
 
What is COMPANA
 
Descriptive Morphology
Functional Morphology
 
 Form and function
 Central science in biology providing support to other fields
 Biodiversity = variability (key principle)
 Adaptive Radiation - animals develop to survive conditions
 Phylogeny
 Ontogeny
 
Carl von Linne (1707-1778)
 Explorer, botanist and physician
 Binomial Nomenclature
 Argued that species were unchangeable
 
Georges Cuvier
 Expanded the taxon
 Organisms are complex and parts cannot be changed otherwise the whole organism fails
 Theory of Catastrophism
o Reptiles one time dominated one period but wiped out
 
Richard Owen
 Coined the term Dinosaur
 All animals are constructed in the same body plan
 Coined the term homology
 
Jean Baptist de Lamarck
 Study of shells
 Inheritance of acquired characteristics
o Fact - Species change over time
o Course - progressive change from simple to complex form, humans are
perfect form
o Mechanism - need and demand for characters produce evolution, use of
body part = development
 
Alfred Russel Wallace
 Founded Natural Selection
 Father of biogeography
 
Charles Darwin
 Evolution = formation of species become distinct to adapt in their environment
 Released his book 21 years later
o No enough time for evolution to happen
o Characteristics inherited from parents were blended
 
Patterns and Processes
1. Similarities
a. Homology (ancestry)
i. Common parts from the same ancestor
b. Analogy (Function)
 i. Wings of bats and birds
b. Homoplasy (appearance)
i. Fish and whales since they have the same habitat
 
 Convergent evolution
o Adaptation of animals to their environment
 
2. Symmetry
 how body is oriented in its environment
 Can be divided (See LBYCANA)
 
a. Radial
b. Bilateral
 

 
 3. Metamerism
 Divides the body into duplicate sections
 
4. Size
a. Animals that are closely related have same proximal size
b. Good reference point morphologically
c. Primarily affects thermal body control
d. Gravity can be a major factor
2. Shape
a. Morphometry
b. Define species based on the bending or rotation
c. Substantial influence on how an animal moves in the environment
d. Emphasize changes or development in an organism
e. Allometry - shape changes in proportion to size
 
Evolution
 Darwin's theory of evolution
o Perpetual change - all organisms change over time (mutation and
continuous mixing of traits)
o Common decent - all species came from a single ancestor in the past
o Multiplication of species - split of descendants and results to diversification
o Gradualism - small variations happen in individuals and accumulate over
time
o Natural selection
  organisms are able to transmute the traits that are
advantageous against the environment
 Reproduction
 Possession of genetic material
 Metabolism
 Responsiveness
 Conditions:
 Fitness variation
 Inheritance
 Phenotypic Variation
 Adaptation
 Mimicry
 Echolocation
 Lactose Tolerance
 Skin Pigmentation
 
 Neo-darwinism
o Chromosomal theory + Darwin's principles
 
Speciation
 Reason how diversification happens
 There are fossil records which helps in proving speciation
o Coelacanths was thought to be extinct but was later fished out
 
Phylogeny
 Developmental history of species
 Species are observable unit in nature (focused more)
 Pattern of relationships indicating the developmental history of taxon (group of species
belonging to a classification unit)
 Cladogram is the branching illustration
 Ancestor is group where a branching species arise
 Terminal Taxa or descendants

Amun - membrane which prevents the egg from desiccation in fishes

 
Ontogeny
 Developmental history of an individual
 Small variations in morphology happens in individuals that are passed on to offspring and
accumulate
 Metamorphosis - morphological change during ontogenetic development
o Heterochrony - time difference in development
 Paedomorphosis - retention of larval characteristics in adult
(Simple transformation)
 Peramorphosis - developmental exaggeration in adult
characteristics
 Delayed onset development
 Early onset development
 Accelerated development
 Signaling to proceed is triggered by environmental events
such as climate change
 Recapitulation
o Biogenetic Law or Embryological parallelism
 o Developed by Ernst Haeckal
o Development of embryo reflects certain adult stages of its remote ancestor

 
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Urochordata
Subphylum Cephalochordata
Subphylum Craniata
Hagfish (Jawless w/o vertebrae)
Vertebrates (Jawed w/ vertebrae)
 
Body Plans
 Bilateral Symmetry
 Metamerism
 
Blastula > blastopore > Anus
 
Organization of Eumatazoan Bodies
 Cells differentiated to tissues and organs
 Have digestive system and lining
 Intracellular
o Organelles
o Cytoplasm
 Extracellular - surrounding fluids between cells
o Interstitial - fluid between cells and tissues
o Blood plasma - fluid is in circulated tubes: hemolymph
 
Presence of Germ layers
 Ectoderm
 Endoderm
 Mesoderm
 
Enterocoelomate body plan
 Lined by tissue derived from the derm layer
 
Characteristics
Pleisomorphy for craniates > Pleisiomorphic for vertebrates > apomorphic
 
Other Vertebra Characteristics (apomorphic)
 Integument
 Skeleton
 Muscles
 Respiratory mechanism
 Coelom
 Digestive system
 Urogenital organs
 Circulatory system
 Sense organs

Plesiomorphy – is an ancestral state of a character. This means that the character was inherited
from earlier forms or ancestors of the animals. 
Apomorphy – is an advanced character. This means that these characters are new in a group.
These characters are absent in the ancestor group or older groups.   
Synaphomorphy – is a shared derived character.