BLY 111

GENERAL BIOLOGY 1

TOPIC:
GENERAL TENETS OF ANIMAL LIFE

BY

AHMED, H.O.

DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LAFIA.

OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

Earth is occupied by diverse kinds of living organisms. The earth termed ‘Biosphere’
had been coined to highlight the interdependence of living and non-living world. It
represents a stable environment of various physical and biological factors, and organic
continuity of the system rests on a delicate network of interdependent relationships. The
air, the water, the animals, the plants, the microbes and human beings are all interlinked
in a life sustaining system, called the Environment. The survival of such a vast range of
living beings could be ensured only when their habitats and environmental conditions
remain without
alterations.

The world is estimated to have 5 to 30 million species of living organisms. At present,

about 2.5 million species of living organisms have been given scientific names. Over 1.5
million of them are animal species and out of which 750,000 belong to insect species
alone, making insects to be known as one of the most successfully diverse group of
animals. Thus the existence of different forms of a species or genus and diverse
adaptations for, varied surroundings are referred to as “Biodiversity”.

Since the world has a vast range of organisms, identifying the useful as well as harmful
is a necessity. Differentiating, grouping and giving names to living things have been an
ancient activity of every human culture. Without proper classification it would be
impossible to deal with enormous diversity of life forms in existence or that maybe
extinct.

FEATURES OF LIVING ORGANISMS

In retrospect, animals share certain features as all other living organisms which include
chemical uniqueness; complexity and hierarchical organization; reproduction (heredity
and variation); possession of a genetic program; metabolism; development;
environmental interaction; and movement.

Chemical uniqueness: Living systems demonstrate a unique and complex molecular

organization. Living systems assemble large molecules, known as macromolecules that
are far more complex than the small molecules of nonliving matter. These
macromolecules are composed of the same kinds of atoms and chemical bonds that
occur in nonliving matter and they obey all fundamental laws of chemistry; it is only the
complex organizational structure of these macromolecules that makes them unique. We
recognize four major categories of biological macromolecules: nucleic acids, proteins,
carbohydrates, and lipids. These categories differ in the structures of their component
parts, the kinds of chemical bonds that link their subunits together, and their functions in
living systems. The general structures of these macromolecules evolved and stabilized
early in the history of life. With some modifications, these same general structures are
found in every form of life today. Variation underlies much of the diversity that we
observe among different kinds of living forms. The nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and
lipids likewise contain characteristic bonds that link variable subunits. This organization
gives living systems both a biochemical unity and great potential diversity.
Complexity and hierarchical organization: Living systems demonstrate a unique and
complex hierarchical organization. Nonliving matter is organized at least into atoms and
molecules and often has a higher degree of organization as well. However, atoms and
molecules are combined into patterns in the living world that do not exist in the nonliving
world. In living systems, we find a hierarchy of levels that includes, in ascending order of
complexity, macromolecules, cells, organisms, populations and species. Each level
builds on the level below it and has its own internal structure, which is also often
hierarchical. Within the cell, for example, macromolecules are compounded into
structures such as ribosomes, chromosomes, and membranes, and these are likewise
combined in various ways to form even more complex subcellular structures called
organelles, such as mitochondria The organismal level also has a hierarchical
substructure; cells combine to form tissues, which combine to form organs, which
likewise combine to form organ systems. Cells are the smallest units of the biological
hierarchy that are semiautonomous in their ability to conduct basic functions, including
reproduction.

Reproduction: Living systems can reproduce themselves. Life does not arise
spontaneously but comes only from prior life, through reproduction. Although life
certainly originated from nonliving matter at least once, this origin featured enormously
long periods of time and conditions very different from the current biosphere. At each
level of the biological hierarchy, living forms reproduce to generate others like
themselves. Genes are replicated to produce new genes. Cells divide to produce new
cells. Organisms reproduce, sexually or asexually, to produce new organisms.
Populations may become fragmented to produce new populations, and species may
split to produce new species through a process called ‘Speciation’.

Possession of a genetic program: A genetic program provides fidelity of inheritance.

Structures of the protein molecules needed for organismal development and functioning
are encoded in Nucleic acids.
For animals and most other organisms, genetic information is contained in
Deoxyribonucleic Acid or DNA. DNA is a very long, linear chain of subunits called
nucleotides, each of which contains a sugar phosphate (deoxyribose phosphate) and
one of four nitrogenous bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, or thymine, abbreviated A,
C, G, and T, respectively). The sequence of nucleotide bases contains a code for the
order of amino acids in the protein specified by the DNA molecule. The correspondence
between the sequence of bases in DNA and the sequence of amino acids in a protein is
called the genetic code.

Metabolism: Living organisms maintain themselves by acquiring nutrients from their

environments. The nutrients are used to obtain chemical energy and molecular
components for building and maintaining the living system. We call these essential
chemical processes Metabolism. They include digestion, acquisition of energy
(respiration), and synthesis of molecules and structures. Metabolism is often viewed as
an interaction of breaking (catabolic) and building (anabolic) reactions. The most
fundamental anabolic and catabolic chemical processes used by living systems arose
early in the evolutionary history of life, and all living forms share them. These reactions
include synthesis of carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic
acids, and proteins and their constituent parts and cleavage of chemical bonds to
recover energy stored in them. In animals, many fundamental metabolic reactions occur
at the cellular level, often in specific organelles found throughout the animal kingdom.
Cellular respiration occurs, for example, in mitochondria. Cellular and nuclear
membranes regulate metabolism by controlling the movement of molecules across the
cellular and nuclear boundaries, respectively. The study of complex metabolic functions
is called PHYSIOLOGY.

Development: All organisms pass through a characteristic life cycle. Development

describes the characteristic changes that an organism undergoes from its origin (usually
the fertilization of an egg by sperm) to its final adult form. Development usually features
changes in size and shape, and differentiation of structures within an organism. Even
the simplest one-celled organisms grow in size and replicate their component parts until
they divide into two or more cells. Multicellular organisms undergo more dramatic
changes during their lives. Different developmental stages of some multicellular forms
are so dissimilar that they are hardly recognizable as belonging to the same species.
Embryos are distinctly different from juvenile and adult forms into which they develop.
Even postembryonic development of some organisms includes stages dramatically
different from each other. The transformation that occurs from one stage to another is
called Metamorphosis. There is little resemblance, for example, among the egg, larval,
pupal, and adult stages of metamorphic insects. Among animals, early stages of
development are often more similar among organisms of related species than are later
developmental stages.

Environmental interaction: All animals interact with their environments. The study of
organismal interaction with an environment is called Ecology. Of special interest are
the factors that influence geographic distribution and abundance of animals. The
science of ecology reveals how an organism perceives environmental stimuli and
responds in appropriate ways by adjusting its metabolism and physiology. All organisms
respond to environmental stimuli, a property called irritability. The stimulus and
response may be simple, such as a unicellular organism moving from or toward a light
source or away from a noxious substance, or it may be quite complex, such as a bird
responding to a complicated series of signals in a mating ritual.

Movement: Living systems and their parts show precise and controlled movements
arising from within the system. Such movements at the cellular level are essential for
reproduction, growth, and many responses to stimuli in all living forms and for
development in multicellular ones. Autonomous movement reaches great diversity in
animals, and much of this book comprises descriptions of animal movement and the
many adaptations that animals have evolved for locomotion. On a larger scale, entire
populations or species may disperse from one geographic location to another one over
time through their powers of movement. Movement characteristic of nonliving matter,
such as that of particles in solution, radioactive decay of nuclei, and eruption of
volcanoes is not precisely controlled by the moving objects themselves and often
involves forces entirely external to them.

CLASSIFICATION

Animals however form a distinct branch on the evolutionary tree of life. It is a large and
old branch that originated in the Precambrian seas over 600 million years ago. Animals
form part of an even larger limb known as Eukaryotes, organisms whose cells contain
membrane- enclosed nuclei. This larger limb includes plants, fungi and numerous
unicellular forms. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of the animals as a group
is their means of nutrition, which consists of eating other organisms. Evolution has
elaborated this basic way of life through diverse systems for capturing and processing a
wide array of food items and for locomotion.

Animals are distinguished also by the absence of characteristics that have evolved in
other eukaryotes. Plants, for example, use light energy to produce organic compounds
(photosynthesis), and they have evolved rigid cell walls that surround their cell
membranes; photosynthesis and cell walls are absent from animals. Fungi acquire
nutrition by absorption of small organic molecules from their environments, and their
body plan contains tubular filaments called hyphae; these structures are absent from
the animal kingdom.

TAXONOMIC SYSTEMS

The initiation for evolving taxonomic systems was provided by Aristotle (384-322 BC).
He emphasized that animals can be classified according to their way of living, actions,
habits and body parts. He observed
insects, fishes, birds and whales. The insect orders like Coleoptera, Diptera were
created by him. Due to his contributions, he is considered as the ‘Father of Biological
Classification’.

For modern taxonomy, the first work was carried out by John Ray (1627 - 1705) of
England. In 1693, he divided animals into those with blood and those without blood. He
also classified animals based on gills, lungs, claws, teeth and other structures. He
provided the first good definition of the species as ‘a reproducing unit’.

The great Swedish naturalist Linnaeus (Caroli Linnaei) (1707 - 1778) exerted an
important influence on further advancement in taxonomy. Hence he has been called the
‘Father of taxonomy’. In 1758 he published his famous book, Systema Naturae. He
first introduced the hierarchic system, both in animal and plant kingdoms. He followed
four categories namely Class, Order, Genus, Species for the animal world. His
greatest contribution to taxonomy was the use of Binomial Nomenclature for all
species of animals and plants.
Lamarck (1744 - 1829) made the first attempt to improve Linnaeus system. He
arranged animals according to evolution and displayed the groups of animals in the
form of a branching tree. It was the beginning of the use of Phylogeny in Systematics.

Cuvier (1769 - 1832) insisted that extinct fossil forms should be included in the table of
classification. He divided animals into four branches. They are Vertebrata-fishes to
mammals, Mollusca - mollusca and barnacles, Articulata -annelids, crustaceans,
insects and spiders, and Radiata - echinoderms, nematodes and coelenterates.

Charles Darwin in 1859 published his famous work ‘Origin of species’. The new
evolutionary concept of Darwin had an immediate acceptance among biologists. Due to
the influence of evolutionary ideas, taxonomy was studied as important evidence in
favour of evolution.
The taxonomists were encouraged to learn that evolution theory of Darwin gave
meaning to their classifying activities. A large number of species were discovered and
described. The development of modern taxonomy started during 1930s. During this
period taxonomy was based on population studies.

E. Mayr (1942) considered species as “groups of interbreeding natural populations”. His

book ‘New Systematics’ became a landmark in the history of taxonomy. The
taxonomists were forced to accept species as a ‘population’. Hence the taxonomist
started moving from the laboratory to the field.
Morphological characters were studied along with other characters as behaviour, sound,
ecology, genetics, zoogeography, physiology and biochemistry. Thus taxonomy was
transformed into ‘Biological Taxonomy’.