Arthropods I Flashcards

1
Q

Describe the classification of the Ecdysozoa

A

superphylum

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2
Q

Which subphyla do the Ecdysozoa contain?

A
  • Panarthropoda
  • Nematoda
  • Nematomorpha
  • others
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3
Q

Describe the Panarthropoda

A
  • Tardigrada
  • Onychophora
  • Arthropoda
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4
Q

Describe the Arthropoda

A
  • emerged approximately 540Mya
  • 80% of all known animals
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5
Q

Describe the arthropod common ancestor

A
  • homonomous
  • tagmosis
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6
Q

Homonomy

A

a series of similar segments, with one appendage on each segment

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7
Q

Give the key characteristics of the extant arthropods

A
  • segmentation
  • jointed appendanges (the terminal of which is termed the telson), and an exoskeleton.
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8
Q

Describe arthropod segmentation - the basics

A
  • some have been specialised (sometimes in pairs)
  • some have been fused or lost in heteronomy
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9
Q

Heteronomy

A

segmentation remains apparent during embryonic development, but not in adult form

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10
Q

Describe arthropod segmentation - the basics

A
  • intersegmental articulation
  • tagmosis
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11
Q

Describe intersegmental articulation

A

the segmentation of appendages

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12
Q

Describe tagmosis

A

grouping of segments with similar functions or structure

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13
Q

Describe jointed appendages

A
  • allows for bending between appendage articles through a flexible cuticle of the continuous exoskeleton at the joint
  • evolutionary innovation that overcomes the hard exoskeleton
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14
Q

Describe the mechanism of jointed appendages

A

to control hinged appendage movements, the antagonistic flexor and extensor muscles allow for lateral movement between sclerites, and protractor and retractor muscles allow for extension and retraction.

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15
Q

Describe tagmosis

A
  • evolved independently in the insect, crustacean and chelicerate groups
  • most arthropods exhibit some form of division tagmosis into the thorax and abdomen, where some develop a trunk
  • often specialised for other key life history functions, such as locomotion, reproduction, respiration and food manipulation
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16
Q

Describe the ubiquitous tagmosis within the arthropods

A

is the head, creating a specialised region for feeding, sensing and neural integration.

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17
Q

Give an example of tagmosis

A

Chelicerates fuse their head and thorax segments to form a tagmosed cephalothorax.

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18
Q

Describe the chitinous exoskeleton

A
  • integral to joint articulation
  • necessary for support provision and shape maintenance, as well as pathogen and injury protection
  • diverse properties, from stretchy tendons to hard carapace shells
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19
Q

Describe sclerotisation

A

tanning leads to cross-linking within the exoskeleton; enhanced strength

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20
Q

Describe the evolutionary constraints of the exoskeleton

A
  • lack of flexibility prevents dyanmic growth
  • ecdysis process
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21
Q

Describe ecdysis

A
  • periodic moulting of the cuticle to allow for growth
  • multi-staged process
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22
Q

Describe the process of ecdysis

A

1) pre-moult
2) moult
3) post-moult
4) inter-moult growth phase

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23
Q

Describe pre-moult

A

the old cuticle is detached and the new cuticle developed

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24
Q

Describe moult

A

the old cuticle is shed

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25
Q

Describe post-moult

A
  • new cuticle hardens
  • increased vulnerability associated pre-sclerotisation
  • 80-90% of arthropod mortality
26
Q

Describe inter-moult growth phase

A

can make up as a little as an approximate 10% of an arthropod’s life history

27
Q

Describe the evolutionary advantages of moult

A
  • contiunuouation of the exoskeleton for protection
  • facilitating growth to increase body size
  • explains why the majority of the arthropod’s life history is spent in-moult
28
Q

Describe the taxonomic classification of the Arthropoda (Regier et al., 2010)

A
  • four extant Subphyla: the Hexapoda, the Myriapoda, the Crustacea and the Chelicerata
  • one extinct subphylum, the Trilobites
29
Q

How many species does the Hexapoda contain?

A

> 800k species

30
Q

How many species does the Myriapoda contain?

A

16k species

31
Q

How many species does the Crustacea contain?

A

67k species

32
Q

How many species does the Chelicerata contain?

A

85k species

33
Q

Describe the Hexapoda

A

winged insects, as well as other wingless arthropod groups

34
Q

Describe the winged insects

A
  • 30 million species
  • 5 Major Orders: ants, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and bees and wasps
  • metamorphosis
35
Q

Coleoptera

A

beetles

36
Q

Lepidoptera

A

butterflies and moths

37
Q

Diptera

A

flies

38
Q

Describe the basics of metamorphosis

A
  • either complete or incomplete
  • requires a moulting stage to reach sexual maturation
39
Q

Describe incomplete metamorphosis

A

demonstrating a nymphal stage

40
Q

Describe the Crustacean subphylum

A
  • huge morphological diversity
  • mostly marine
  • some species able to exist in freshwater and terrestrial environments
  • the key trophic link in marine ecosystems between primary producers and higher level consumers. - ten million tonnes of krill eaten and consumed each year
41
Q

Give the 6 Major Orders in the Crustacea

A
  • barnacles and woodlice
  • crabs
  • crayfish
  • krill
  • lobsters
  • shrimp
42
Q

Describe the Myriapod Subphylum

A
  • two Major Orders: the centipedes and and the millipedes
  • segmentation forms a head and trunk region with a single specialised antennae appendage and an open trachaea
43
Q

Describe the centipedes

A
  • approximtely 2.8k species
  • always have an odd number of legs
  • nocturnal active hunters
  • structurally specialised poison claw on the first trunk segment
  • modified anal legs on the last trunk segment
44
Q

Describe the millipedes

A
  • saprotrophs
  • secrete defensive toxic chemicals
  • diplosegments – two legs per segment
45
Q

Describe the open trachea structure of Myriapods

A

constrained to humid environments.

46
Q

Describe the anal legs of the centipedes

A

not locomotory, used for defence

47
Q

Describe the Chelicerata

A
  • chelicerae
  • independently invaded and radiated various dry land habitats
  • characteristic segmentation: two body segments (the cephalothorax and the abdomen)
  • compound eyes
48
Q

chelicerae

A

specialised pincer mouthpart appendages

49
Q

Describe the 5 Major Subphyla of the Chelicerata

A
  • Acari (mites and ticks)
  • Araneae (spiders)
  • Scorpiones (scorpions)
  • Pycnogonida (sea spiders)
  • Xiphosura (horse shoe crabs)
50
Q

Describe the Arachnids - the basics

A
  • pedipalps
  • box lungs
  • four pairs of legs
  • spinnerets
  • liquid carnivory
51
Q

Pedipalps

A

specialised appendages associated with the head

52
Q

spinnerets

A

modified appendages at the abdomen terminus

53
Q

Box lungs adaptations

A

extraordinarily high SA

54
Q

liquid carnivore adaptations

A

lack of mouthparts associated with solid food

55
Q

Describe the Arachnids - the specifics

A
  • approximately 40k species of spider
  • not particularly trophically diverse: almost exclusively predatory or parasitic
  • pedipalps for sperm transfer
  • innovated poison glands, some of which have been lost secondarily
56
Q

What is the most important innovation of the Arachnids

A
  • silk
  • composition varies across species
  • multi-optimisation innovation used in all aspects of the spider biology, from feeding, to reproduction, sensing, locomotion and dispersal
57
Q

How is silk used in feeding?

A

allows web building for vibration assessment

58
Q

How does silk aid locomotion?

A

silk draglining and abseiling

59
Q

How is silk used in dispersal?

A

ballooning spiderlings

60
Q

How have spiders colonised volcanic habitats?

A

passive flight

61
Q

Describe the Trilobites

A
  • extinct subphylum
  • highly abundant (approximately 17k species under 10 orders)
  • widely distributed
  • marine
  • survived for approximately 300My
  • fossils date back approximately 520Mya