CHAPTER 24

LESSON

1 Introduction to Animals

READING TOOL Active Reading As you read, keep track of the 5 things animals do to survive.
Describe each of these processes in the graphic organizer below.
Sample answers are included.

Maintain Homeostatis
Animals keep their bodies at
certain temperatures to stay
alive.

Gathering and
Responding to Information
Reproducing
Most animals reproduce Animals have nervous systems
sexually, which helps create to gather information. They then
genetic diversity. use the information to respond
to stimuli.
What Animals
Do to Survive

Collecting and
Eliminating Carbon Dioxide Obtaining and Distributing
and Other Wastes Oxygen and Nutrients
Animals create carbon dioxide Animals need oxygen for cellular
as a waste product and need to respiration and they also need
excrete it through respiratory nutrients that are found in food.
systems.

290 Chapter 24 Animal Evolution, Diversity, and Behavior Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved.
Lesson Summary
What Is an Animal?
KEY QUESTION What characteristics do all animals share? As you read, circle
the answers to each Key
Animals are multicellular, heterotrophic, eukaryotic organisms
Question. Underline any
with cells that lack cell walls. Although diverse, they share some words you do not understand.
characteristics. Animals are classified into two broad categories:
invertebrates and chordates.

Invertebrates Over 95 percent of animal species are

informally called invertebrates. Invertebrates include all
BUILD Vocabulary
animals that lack a vertebral column. Because the category invertebrate type of animal that
lacks a backbone, or vertebral
lumps together organisms that lack a characteristic rather than column
share one, they do not form a clade.
chordate type of animal that,
at some point in its life, shows a
Chordates All members of the phylum Chordata are called dorsal nerve cord, a tail, and a
chordates, and exhibit certain characteristics during at least pharyngeal pouch
one stage of life: a dorsal hollow nerve cord, a tail that extends vertebrate type of animal that
beyond the anus, and pharyngeal pouches. Most chordates are has a backbone
vertebrates that develop a backbone (vertebral column), made feedback inhibition process
of vertebrae (spinal bones). Nonvertebrate chordates do not in which a stimulus produces a
have backbones. response that opposes the original
stimulus; also called negative
feedback
What Animals Do to Survive Prefixes The prefix in- can mean
“in, on, or not.”  In the term
KEY QUESTION What essential functions must animals invertebrate, which definition
perform to survive? do you think fits the prefix in-
and why?
Animals keep their internal environments stable, or maintain
homeostasis. Animals maintain homeostasis by gathering and In invertebrate, it means
responding to information, obtaining and distributing oxygen
“not” because invertebrates
and nutrients, and collecting and eliminating carbon dioxide
and other wastes. They must also reproduce. do “not” have a backbone,
while vertebrates do.
Maintaining Homeostasis Homeostasis in the body often
works by using feedback inhibition, which is when a stimulus
produces a response that opposes the original stimulus.

Gathering and Responding to Information The

nervous system gathers information using receptors that respond
to stimuli. Other nerve cells collect, process, and respond to that
information.

Obtaining and Distributing Oxygen and

Nutrients All animals must obtain oxygen to perform cellular
respiration. Oxygen diffuses across the skin of small water
animals, while larger animals have respiratory systems. Most
animals eat to obtain nutrients and have digestive systems
that break food down for use by the body. Acquired oxygen
and nutrients must be transported throughout the body,
often requiring interactions between circulatory systems and
respiratory systems or digestive systems.
Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved. 24.1 Introduction to Animals 291
 Collecting and Eliminating Carbon Dioxide and
Other Wastes Animals’ metabolic processes generate
wastes needing to be eliminated. Many animals use respiratory
systems to get rid of carbon dioxide. Most complex animals
have excretory systems to process wastes and then expel them,
or to store and expel them.

Reproducing Most animals reproduce sexually, which

helps maintain genetic diversity. Many invertebrates and some
vertebrates can also reproduce asexually.

Visual Reading Tool: Body Plan Trait Evolution

Chordata

6. E
8. B

10. H
5. C 9. F

7. I
3. A

4. J
1. D 2. G

Single-celled animal ancestor

Using the figure as your guide, put each item listed below in the order in which animals
developed body plan traits—from the single-celled animal ancestor to the chordates.
A. Radial symmetry
B. As adults, radial symmetry and no cephalization
C. Mouth-first development
D. Multicellularity
E. Initial segmentation
F. Chordate segmentation
G. Tissues: 2 germ layers
H. Backbone development
I. Anus first development
J. Organs: 3 germ layers; bilateral symmetry; cephalization

292 Chapter 24 Animal Evolution, Diversity, and Behavior Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved.
Animal Body Plans
KEY QUESTION What are some features of animal body BUILD Vocabulary
plans? radial symmetry body plan in
which any number of imaginary
Each animal clade has a unique organization of particular planes drawn through the center of
body structures, often called a body plan, which are part of the body could divide it into equal
portions
biological classification. Features of animal body plans include
levels of organization, body symmetry, formation of body bilateral symmetry body plan in
which a single imaginary plane can
cavities, patterns of embryonic development, segmentation,
divide the body into left and right
cephalization, and limb formation. sides that are mirror images of each
other
Levels of Organization The cells of most animals develop zygote a fertilized egg
into specialized cells organized into tissues. Animals typically coelom (see lum) body cavity lined
have several types of tissues, like epithelial, nervous, muscle, with mesoderm
and connective tissues. During development, tissues combine cephalization concentration of
to form organs. Organ systems work together to maintain sense organs and nerve cells at the
homeostasis. anterior end of an animal
Using Prior Knowledge You
Body Symmetry Most animals exhibit body symmetry: may have heard the word radius in
radial or bilateral. Radial symmetry is a body plan in which any math class, which refers to the line
segment from the center of a circle
number of imaginary planes drawn through the center of the
to its perimeter.  Look around
body could divide it into equal halves. Bilateral symmetry is a the room. Do you see any objects
body plan in which a single imaginary plane can divide the body that have radial symmetry? List
into left and right sides that are mirror images of each other. them.

Patterns of Embryological Development Animals Sample answers: clock,

reproducing sexually begin life as zygotes, or fertilized circular table, paper plate,
eggs. Through development, the zygote forms a hollow ball round garbage can
of cells, and then folds in on itself, elongating into a tube,
which becomes the digestive tract. In some clades the mouth
develops first; in some, the anus. Embryonic animal cells
differentiate into three germ layers—endoderm, mesoderm,
and ectoderm—each developing into different organs and
systems. Animals with radial symmetry only have the endoderm
and ectoderm. Most complex animals have a body cavity, or
coelom.

Segmentation Many bilaterally symmetrical animals

develop repeated parts, or segments. Segmented animals
typically have some internal and external body parts repeated
on each side of the body. Bilateral symmetry and segmentation
are often found together.

Cephalization: Getting a Head Animals with bilateral

symmetry typically exhibit cephalization, or a concentration of
sense organs and nerve cells in their heads.

Limb Formation Segmented, bilaterally symmetrical

animals typically have external appendages on both sides of
the body.

Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved. 24.1 Introduction to Animals 293
CHAPTER 24
LESSON

2 Animal Evolution and Diversity

READING TOOL Compare and Contrast Provide one similarity and one difference in the ways
the identified animals evolved over time.
Sample answers are included.
Animals Similarities Differences
Invertebrates They evolved mouths, symmetry, Some evolved soft bodies, while
and specialized tissues. others evolved hard exoskeletons.
Vertebrates They evolved to have complex body Some evolved eggs that require
plans, heads, and appendages. water, while others evolved to lay
hard-shelled eggs on land.
Nonvertebrate They all diverged from vertebrate Some evolved into salps that look
Chordates chordates more than 550 million like sponges, while others developed
years ago. into small fishlike creatures.
Vertebrate All of them were ancestors of Some evolved into amphibians,
Chordates echinoderms. reptiles, birds, or mammals—all with
very different characteristics.

Lesson Summary
The Cladogram of Animals
As you read, circle KEY QUESTION How are animal clades defined?
the answers to each Key
The features of animal body plans provide information
Question. Underline any
words you do not understand. for building the Animal Cladogram, which shows current
hypotheses of relationships among clades. Animal clades are
typically defined according to adult body plans and patterns of
embryonic development.

Differences Between Clades Every animal clade has a

unique combination of traits inherited from ancestors and new
traits found only in that clade. Complex body systems are not
an improvement over simpler systems. Any body system in a
living animal functions well enough to enable that animal to
survive and reproduce.

Evolutionary Experiments Each clade’s body plan is

an evolutionary experiment in which a set of body structures
performs essential functions. The original versions of most
major animal body plans were established hundreds of millions
of years ago. As species have adapted to changing conditions,
new clades are created.
294 Chapter 24 Animal Evolution, Diversity, and Behavior Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved.
Origins of the Invertebrates
BUILD Vocabulary
KEY QUESTION What does the cladogram of invertebrates
illustrate? cartilage type of connective tissue
that supports the body and is softer
The Cambrian Explosion started about 542 million years ago and more flexible than bone
and lasted 15 million years, and was when many modern phyla Apply Prior Knowledge Humans
began appearing in the fossil record. have cartilage at the tip of their
noses. Feel the tip of your nose and
move it back and forth. Now, try
The Earliest Animals After the first prokaryotic cells to do the same with the tip of your
evolved, all life remained single-celled for about 3 billion thumb.  Why is it easier to move
years. Research shows the first animals evolved from ancestors the tip of your nose than it is to
shared with living choanoflagellates, with the oldest evidence of move the tip of a finger?
multicellular life coming from 600-million-year-old microscopic because cartilage makes up
fossils.
the tip of the nose and is
The Ediacaran Fauna Fossils from Australia’s Ediacara Hills more flexible than the bone
date from roughly 565 to 544 million years ago. These showed
body plans different from any animals alive today, although in a finger
some seem to be related to worms and jellyfishes.

The Cambrian Explosion During the Cambrian Period,

animals evolved complex body plans; specialized cells, tissues,
and organs; body symmetry; segmentation; front and back
ends; and appendages. Some also evolved shells, skeletons, or
other hard body parts.

Cladogram of Invertebrates The Invertebrate

Cladogram shows current hypotheses about evolutionary
relationships among major living invertebrate groups, and
indicates the order in which important features evolved.

Origins of the Chordates READING TOOL

KEY QUESTION What can we learn by studying the chordate Active Reading
cladogram? There are ample fossils from
the Cambrian explosion that
The most ancient chordates were related to ancestors of have given scientists a good
echinoderms. One chordate fossil of a worm from the Cambrian understanding of evolution
Period included paired muscles arranged in a series, similar to during that time.
those of modern chordates. Fossil beds from the later Cambria  Why were these organisms
held fossils of the earliest known vertebrate, showing muscles able to be fossilized so well?
arranged in a series; traces of fins; sets of feathery gills; heads
These animals had skeletons,
with paired sense organs; and skeletal structure, including a
skull. These last features were likely made of cartilage, a strong shells, or other hard body
connective tissue softer and more flexible than bone. These parts that preserve very well
characteristics are shared—during some part of the life cycle—
by all chordates. in fossils.

Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved. 24.2 Animal Evolution and Diversity 295
 Visual Reading Tool: Identifying Invertebrates

On the chart below, fill in the type of invertebrate that the row describes. Use the small icons
to help you.

1. Sponges Simplest organism in clade Metazoa; they have tiny pores all
over their bodies.

2. Cnidarians Aquatic, mostly soft-bodied, carnivorous, racially symmetrical

with stinging tentacles around their mouths.

3. Anthropods Segmented bodies, tough external skeleton, cephalization,

jointed appendages.

4. Roundworms Unsegmented bodies with specialized tissues and organ

system, digestive tracts with mouth and anus openings.

5. Flatworms Soft, flattened, unsegmented bodies that lack a coelom

and anus.

6. Annelids Segmented bodies with a ring-like appearance.

7. Mollusks Soft-bodied animals that typically have internal or external

shells and complex organ systems.

8. Echinoderms Spiny skin, five-part radial symmetry, internal plate skeleton,

water vascular system.

296 Chapter 24 Animal Evolution, Diversity, and Behavior Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved.
Cladogram of Chordates Modern chordates consist
of six groups: nonvertebrate chordates and five vertebrate
BUILD Vocabulary
groups—fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
tetrapod vertebrate with four
Almost all living chordates are vertebrates; most of those are limbs
fishes. The Chordate Cladogram presents current hypotheses
Suffixes The suffix -pod means
about evolutionary relationships among chordate groups. Within “foot.” It is often used in biology to
it are markers noting the evolutionary appearance of various describe how many limbs an animal
characteristics that jump-started major adaptive radiations. has, but also has uses in other fields
of study. In photography, a camera
Nonvertebrate Chordates Tunicates and lancelets are can sit on a tripod to be held
steady.  Why do photographers
chordates lacking backbones. Fossil evidence shows that their refer to that piece of equipment
ancestors diverged from vertebrate ancestors over 550 million as a tripod?
years ago.
because it has three legs that
Jawless Fishes The earliest fishes appeared about support the camera
510 million years ago. Fossils show they had no jaw or teeth,
their skeletons were made of cartilage, and many had bony
shields on their heads or other armor. Two other clades gave
rise to modern lampreys and hagfishes.

Sharks and Their Relatives Other ancient fishes evolved

jaws, allowing them to bite and chew. Early fishes also evolved
READING TOOL
paired pectoral and pelvic fins attached to limb girdles. These
offer greater body movement control, while tail fins and muscles Make Connections
allow for greater thrust. These adaptions launched the adaptive Now that you know what the suffix
-pod means, let’s apply other
radiation of the Chondrichthyes: sharks, rays, and skates.
prefixes to it.  If a tetrapod has
four limbs, how many limbs
Bony Fishes Another group of ancient fishes evolved would a quintapod have? What
skeletons of true bone, launching the radiation of bony fishes, about a decapod? What about
the Osteichthyes. a dodecapod?

Quintapod would have 5

Ray-Finned Fishes Most modern bony fishes belong to the
huge group called ray-finned fishes, referring to fins formed limbs, a decapod would have
from bony rays connected by a layer of skin. 10 limbs, and a dodecapod
Lobe-Finned Fishes Lobe-finned fishes evolved fleshy fins would have 12 limbs.
supported by larger bones. One group of ancient lobe-finned
fishes evolved into the ancestors of four-limbed vertebrates, or
tetrapods.

The “Fishapod” Fossils show how lines of lobe-finned fishes

evolved sturdier appendages. One of these has a mix of fish
and tetrapod features and could be called a “fishapod”—part
fish, part tetrapod.

Amphibians The word amphibian means “double life,”

since most amphibians live in water as larvae and on land as
adults. Most require water for reproduction, breathe with lungs
as adults, have moist skin with mucous glands, and lack scales
and claws. Early amphibians were ancestors of reptiles, birds,
and mammals. Their adaptations to breathe air and protect
themselves from drying out fueled another adaptive radiation.
Only three orders of amphibians survive today.
Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved. 24.2 Animal Evolution and Diversity 297
READING TOOL Reptiles Reptiles evolved from ancient amphibians with
Applying Prior Knowledge dry, scaly skin, well-developed lungs, strong limbs, and land-
Modern birds evolved from developing shelled eggs. Five living reptile groups include
feathered dinosaurs and are lizards and snakes, crocodilians, turtles and tortoises, the
considered reptiles. In earlier tuatara, and birds.
chapters, you learned how climate
change is affecting some birds.
 Describe one way modern
Enter the Dinosaurs A great reptile adaptive radiation
birds 100 years from now might continued through the Triassic and Jurassic Periods. Some
evolve to combat rising global dinosaurs ate plants; others were carnivorous. Some lived
temperatures. in family groups and cared for eggs or young. Some had
Modern birds might evolve feathers, possibly first serving to regulate body temperature.
Evolutionary lineage from feathered dinosaurs led to modern
more scales rather than birds.
feathers to combat rising
Exit the Dinosaurs The Cretaceous Period ended with a
temperatures. mass extinction, which included most of the dinosaurs, and
many plant and animal groups. This may have been caused by
a combination of natural disasters precipitated by an asteroid
hitting Earth.

Birds A series of well-preserved ancient birds and feathered

dinosaurs showed that modern birds had dinosaur ancestors,
and so they are included in a clade containing dinosaurs.
Because dinosaurs are part of a larger clade of reptiles, modern
birds are also reptiles. Archaeopteryx was the first bird-like
fossil discovered. From the late Jurassic Period, it was a small,
running dinosaur with highly evolved feathers. Characteristics
of birds include feathers; strong, lightweight bones; two scale-
covered legs; and front-limb wings. Birds are endoderms; most
reptiles are ectotherms.

Mammals The clade Mammalia includes about 5000

endothermic member-species sharing characteristics, including
mammary glands, hair, and a four-chambered heart.

The First Mammals True mammals appeared during the

late Triassic Period, and were small, resembling modern tree
shrews. While dinosaurs ruled, mammals remained small and
were probably more nocturnal. New evidence shows that
the first members of modern mammalian groups evolved
during this period. After dinosaurs became extinct, mammals
underwent a long adaptive radiation. The Cenozoic Era is often
called the Age of Mammals.

Modern Mammals By the beginning of the Cenozoic, three

major mammal groups had evolved—monotremes, marsupials,
and placentals. They differ in their means of reproduction and
development.

298 Chapter 24 Animal Evolution, Diversity, and Behavior Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All rights reserved.