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Guide to Animal Embryonic Development Study Guide

Understanding Comb Jellies (Ctenophora)

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Animal Characteristics, Diversification, and Early Evolution

Introduction to Protostome Animals and Bilateria

This topic covers Bilateria characters including bilateral symmetry, three tissue layers, coelom, and complete gut, alongside non-bilaterian groups like Porifera, Ctenophora, and Cnidaria.

  • Bilateria
  • Bilateral Symmetry
  • Three tissue layers
  • Complete Gut
  • Porifera
  • Ctenophora
  • Cnidaria
  • Anthozoa
  • Scyphozoa
  • Cubozoa
  • Hydrozoa
  • Diploblastic
  • Radial Symmetry
  • Gastrula
  • Triploblastic

Protostomes and Deuterostomes Embryonic Development

Protostomes and deuterostomes are differentiated via characters in early embryonic development including fate of the blastopore, early cell cleavage patterns, and cell fate determination.

  • Protostomes
  • Deuterostomes
  • Blastopore
  • Spiral cleavage
  • Radial cleavage
  • Determinate cleavage
  • Mosaic cleavage
  • Indeterminate cleavage
  • Regulative cleavage
  • Cell fate determination

Characteristics of Non-Bilaterian Animals

This topic covers Porifera, Ctenophora, and Cnidaria including diploblastic radial symmetry, cnidocytes, and various body forms.

  • Porifera
  • Ctenophora
  • Cnidaria
  • Anthozoa
  • Scyphozoa
  • Cubozoa
  • Hydrozoa
  • Bilateria
  • Multicellular
  • Collagen
  • Blastula
  • Choanocytes
  • Spicules
  • Diploblastic
  • Radial Symmetry
  • Gastrula
  • Colloblasts
  • Cnidocytes
  • Nematocysts
  • Medusa body form

Phylogeny and Characteristics of Ctenophora

Ctenophores possess colloblasts, an integrated nervous system, and mesoderm muscles, while their position as the sister group to all other animals remains a central question in evolutionary biology.

  • Phylum Ctenophora
  • Colloblasts
  • Complete gut
  • Primitive CNS
  • Mesoderm muscles
  • HOX Genes
  • MicroRNA
  • Phylogenetic hypotheses
  • Synteny
  • Chromosome-scale gene linkage
  • Ctenophore-sister hypothesis
  • Monophyletic clade

Introduction to Animal Characteristics and Categorization

This topic covers animal characteristics including multicellularity, extracellular matrix of collagen, heterotrophic feeding strategies, and developmental processes like gastrulation.

  • Multicellularity
  • Extracellular matrix of collagen
  • Heterotrophic feeding strategies
  • Suspension feeders
  • Fluid feeders
  • Deposit feeders
  • Mass feeders
  • Detritivores
  • Herbivores
  • Carnivores
  • Omnivores
  • Diploid and haploid gametes
  • Blastula development
  • Gastrulation
  • Body symmetry
  • Asymmetry
  • Radial symmetry
  • Bilateral symmetry
  • Pentaradial symmetry
  • Tissue layers

Causes of Animal Diversification

Causes of animal diversification include high oxygen levels, food availability, predation feeding strategies, new niches, and the evolution of a genetic toolkit.

  • Cambrian explosion
  • Aerobic respiration
  • Predation feeding strategy
  • Developmental regulatory genes
  • Hox genes
  • Hox cluster duplication
  • Deep/genetic homology
  • Homoplasy

Characteristics and Impacts of Phylum Platyhelminthes

Phylum Platyhelminthes Characteristics and Diseases

Phylum Platyhelminthes includes flatworms such as hammerhead worms and tapeworms, which can cause diseases like schistosomiasis.

  • Platyhelminthes
  • Flatworms
  • Acoelomates
  • Hammerhead worm
  • Tetrodotoxin
  • Tapeworms
  • Parasites
  • Schistosomiasis
  • Cysticercosis
  • Ascariasis

Protostomes, Nematoda, and Arthropoda Diversity

Protostomes and Phylum Nematoda

Protostomes include Ecdysozoans and Lophotrochozoans, featuring phyla such as Nematoda which are pseudocoelomates that may be free-living or parasitic.

  • Protostomes
  • Ecdysis
  • Lophotrochozoans
  • Phylum Nematoda
  • Pseudocoelomates
  • Elephantiasis
  • Hook worm
  • Pin worm
  • Guinea worm

Phylum Arthropoda and Insect Diversity

This topic explores Phylum Arthropoda synapomorphies, taxonomic class distinctions, and insect features including grasshoppers, locusts, and the New World screw worm.

  • Phylum Arthropoda synapomorphies
  • Paired, jointed appendages
  • Segmented bodies
  • Tagma
  • Protostomes
  • Nematoda
  • Ecdysis
  • Pseudocoelom
  • Insect features
  • Insect orders
  • Grasshoppers vs. locusts
  • New World screw worm

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