NAMES:ATANG MAFOKO

ID NUMBER:202402997
LAB DAY:THURSDAY 0700-1000HRS
DEMONSTRATORS:MR MAJOKA,DR GOTCHA
PRACTICAL 2:ANIMAL DIVERSITY
RESULTS
TABLE 1: POPULATION OF ORGANISMS ON THEIR AQUATIC AND LAND HABITATS
HABITAT ORGANISM NUMBER CHARACTERISTICS
LAND
ANTS 105 -They have compound
eyes
-Antennae is elbowed
and highly sensitive to
chemicals
-They have a tough
chitin that helps
prevent water loss
-They have a narrow
waist, a segment
between the thorax
and abdomen
BIRDS 2 -They have feathers
for insulation
-They have beaks
adapted to their diet
-They have wings for
flying
-Lightweight bodies
for easy flying
MILLIPEDE 1 -Their bodies are
made up of segments
-They have two pairs
of legs per segment
-They have hard,
rounded exoskeleton
for protection
-Their antennae is
short used to sense
their environment
BUTTERFLIES 6 -Compound eyes that
detect ultraviolent
light
-They have 3 pairs of
legs with thin bodies
-They have tiny scales
on their wings
-They have long
coiled proboscis
AQUATIC
SNAILS 30 -They have a hard
spiral coiled shell
-They have muscular
foot to slide easily
under water
-Their eyes are
located on the tip of
the tentacles
-They secrete mucus
to help with
movement
WATER STRIDERS 5 -Large compound
eyes for spotting prey
-They have 3 pairs of
long and hydrophobic
legs
-Bodies are light in
weight and dark
coloured
-Long slender legs for
capturing prey
MOSQUITO 5 -Wider, enlarged
LARVAE thorax
-Wormlike abdomen
for breathing by
extending it to the
water surface
-Large head for
feeding on
microorganisms
-Segmented bodies
with bristles for
locomotion
ANIMAL DIVERSITY
INTRODUCTION
Animal diversity of refers to variety of different species of animals. It is influenced by factors
such as anatomy, morphology, evolutionary history and genetic makeup but the major focus
would be morphology. Animal diversity occurs in many groups being, amphibians, reptiles,
mammals, birds, arthropods and insects with the most diverse one being insects(R Baldi, G
Cheli, DE Udrizar Sauthier, A Gatto… - Late Cenozoic of …, 2017 - Springer.) The kingdom of
animals is informally divided into invertebrate animals, those without a cranium, and vertebrate
animals, those with a cranium (Kosal, E. (2023). Animal Kingdom. Introductory Biology
Evolution, and Biodiversity. It is divided into sub kingdoms known as phyla known as phylum
Porifera of organisms that exhibit a cellulae level of organization due to lack of tissues and
organs and one example being a Sponge, phylum Platyhelminthes consisting of organisms that
lack a true body cavity for example a flatworm, phylum Annelida of organisms which have
segmented bodies and have an earthworm as one of the examples, phylum Arthropoda with
organisms that have exoskeleton for example scorpions, phylum Chordota made up of organisms
with notochords with a fish being an example of those, phylum Cnidaria of organisms that have
cnidocytes for example a jellyfish, phylum Nematoda of organisms with fluid filled body cavity
which helps in support and an example being caenoharbditis elegans, phylum Mollusca that has
organisms made up of fleshy tissues and secretes a hard shell with a clam being an example of
one of them and phylum Echiiodermata of organisms with a water vascular system and one
example of those being a sea star. Among all phyla, phylum Arthropoda is the most diverse as in
includes over one million species of organisms which fall under their own groups.
The aim of this experiment is to examine the differences in species diversity among various
animal phyla in animal kingdom on University of Botswana Campus behind innovation center.
The alternative hypothesis was that there is a significant difference in animal species diversity
amongst all different studied animal phyla and the null hypothesis formulated was that there is no
significant difference in animal species diversity amongst all different animal phyla.
 METHODOLOGY
To investigate diversity of animals, observation was done as a method to easily examine land and
aquatic animals. This observation was carried out infront of Com units behind Innovation center
since there is an open space and various kinds of trees which act as a habitat to some organisms
and also there is a water pond there serving as a habitat for aquatic organisms. Scoop nets were
used to trap those organisms that lives in water and those that lives on land were easy to see them
so no equipment was necessary or was used to trap them. A scoop net was inserted deep down
the pond so to trap organisms that were underneath the water and which were the snails and the
mosquito larvae and water striders were observed on the surface of the water. Snails observed
were thirty in number, water striders were five and mosquito larvae were five also. For those that
lives on land one millipede was seen crawling on land, two birds were seen ontop of a tall tree,
six butterflies were observed flying but not to the same direction and they also vary in colour and
size and approximately 105 ants were observed all over the place. The results obtained were then
recorded in the table below and the diversity was calculated using the Simpson’s diversity index
(SDI) using the formula below
D=1−∑n(ni−1)) ÷N(N˗1)

Where:

 ni = the number of individuals of species i