Topic 9 - Diversity

A plethora of species

What is an animal? Characteristics for life +

Cell differentiation

Locomotion

Responsive to environment

Energy from eating other organisms (heterotroph)

Taxonomy: Carolus Linnaeus Swedish Naturalist (1707-1778)

System of Classification of organisms (morphology)

Modern approach:

Domain (3)

Kingdom (6)

Phylum (35)

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

Eukarya

Anamalia

Chordata

Mammalia

Primate

Hominidae

Homo

sapiens

Eukarya

Anamalia

Mollusca

Cephalopoda

Teuthida

Architeuthidae

Architeuthis

dux

Eukarya

Fungi

Basidiomycota

Basidiomycetes

Agaricales

Agaricaceae

Agaricus

bisporus

Species About 1,800,000 species identified

Domain Bacteria (3,500?)

Domain Archaea (500?)

Domain Eukarya

Kingdom Protozoa (80,000)

Kingdom Plantae (270,000)

Kingdom Fungi (72,000)

Kingdom Animalia (1,580,000)

Sponges

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Roundworms

Annelid worms

Mollusca

Echinoderms

Insects – 800,000 Other Arthropods

Fish – 19,000

Amphibians

Reptiles – 6,000

Birds – 9,000

Mammals – 4,000

1 out of every 5 organisms on Earth is a beetle!

Species

http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2008-12/species-population-size.jpg

Estimates: 5-30 million species on Earth!

Insects dominate life form

Species: 2013

> 100s of new species annually

smallest vertebrate

Papua, New Guinea

dwarf lemur

Madagascar Ampipods

Atlantic off California

Badger bat

South Sudan

Cambodian tailorbird

Vietnam

Discovery of Dinosaurs

1st discovery: 1822 – Iguanodon

The Bone War (1877-1892)

Montana and Wyoming

150 new dinosaur species

O. C. Marsh (Peabody Museum, Yale)

Edward Cope (Academy of Natural Sciences,

Philadelphia)

Roy Chapman Andrews

(American Museum of

Natural History, NY)

1923, Gobi desert,

Mongolia: First dinosaur

nests

Types of Fossils

Replacement/Compression

Trace

Resin

Living

Pseudo

http://www.dino-

nakasato.org/image/

special97/FightVelo-

pht-l.jpg

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/image

s/2007/07/18/coelacanth_3.jpg http://www.scienceclarified.com/imag

es/uesc_05_img0260.jpg

http://www.stonecompany.com/fossil

s/images/castz.JPG

Fossil Dating

Stratigraphy: layers in the rock tell the age

Radiometric dating: use of isotopes

Index fossil (who is where?): compare to

known groups of known ages

Together, these methods corroborate one

another and give support to dates

Burgess Shale Canadian Rockies

Sedimentary rock

Ancient ocean

Contain early complex lifeforms

http://basalt.geology.utoronto.ca/facultycaron/images/Walcot

t-SI-2.gif

Charles Walcott, 1910

Simple to Complex Major steps:

Sponges

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Cambrian Explosion (550 million years ago)

21 animal Phyla (body plans) today, 50 during

Cambrian!

Causes?

Ecological changes (habitat, interactions)

Oxygenation of atmosphere (21% current)

Evolutionary Arms race

The Evolutionary Arms Race

Predator- Prey Predator tries to eat prey, prey tries to escape

Predator evolves a better way to kill prey (predator “improve”)

Only those prey who survive reproduce (prey “improve”)

Repeat over time

4 examples

Plants and insects (pollinator-plant system)

Cheetah & Gazelles

Humans & bacteria

Plant species

Categories (270,000 species)

Non-vascular: need moisture to reproduce (16,000)

ex: Mosses

Vascular: don’t need moisture

Seedless

Ferns (12,000)

Seeded

Gymnosperms (cones): pines, conifers, cycads (500)

Angiosperms: flowering plants (230,000)

Time

Why are flowering plants so diverse?

Pollen

Can be carried by wind or pollinators

Size and shape are species specific

Reduces cross pollination Food for some animals (insects)

Pollination: pollen on stigma (female structure) Fertilization: pollen meets egg

How do plants get animals to carry it?

Attracting Pollinators Plants must compete for these too!

Types:

Generalists: attracted to variety of flowers

example: Honey bees

Specialists: attracted to a few flower species

example: Bats

How do plants attract pollinators?

Visual (color)

Smell

Rewards: pollen and nectar (sugar)

Pollination Syndrome

Bees: open flowers, nectar guides (UV), sucrose and pollen rewards,

yellow & blue

Butterflies: landing platform, nectar

rewards, pinks & reds

Birds: large tubes, red & orange, dilute nectar, no smell

Bats: open at night, large, white,

strong odors, lots of nectar

Flies: plants capture them, no

rewards, smell like rotting meat

suite of traits to attract a

certain group of pollinators

Some plants use deception:

structures: reproductive

mimics

Pollination without reward

chemical: mimic pheromones (male/female)

The Evolutionary Arms Race Cheetah-Gazelle

Cheetah fastest land animal

70 mph short bursts

0-68 mph in 3 seconds

Gazelle second fastest land animal

50 mph for long periods

13 species

Fastest Cheetahs catch the slowest Gazelles

Cheetah success = only 20% of time

Fastest Gazelles remain to reproduce

Cheetahs must get faster

Never ending cycle

Chevy Corvette C6 ZR1

0-60 in about 3.3 seconds

The Evolutionary Arms Race

Red Queen Hypothesis

Predators and prey are locked in a never ending cycle of improvement, in which both stay the same

http://www.fromoldbooks.org/LewisCaroll-

AliceThroughTheLookingGlass/pages/036-red-queen-chastises-

alice/036-red-queen-chastises-alice-q75-402x500.jpg

Lewis Carroll’s

Alice Through the Looking Glass

“"It takes all the running you can

do, to keep in the same place."

The Evolutionary Arms Race

Humans and microbes

Microorganisms (bacteria) infect and kill

humans

How humans fight bacteria

natural ways (immune system)

artificial ways

antibiotics: > 100 types

ex: Penicillin

Antibiotic Resistance Kill most bacteria by affecting aspects of their physiology

Resistance?

Random mutations in bacteria

or

Improper exposure to antibiotics

Those left behind multiply and leave more offspring

New population is resistant (carry genes for resistance)

Multi-drug resistant strains (bacteria develop resistance to

many antibiotics) example: Tuberculosis

Prevent? Don’t:

take antibiotics for viruses or the wrong antibiotic

(antibiotics are species specific)

take them if you don’t need them

forget to finish the course (leaving individuals can

create resistance)

What else?

How can plate tectonics help use to understand the

distribution of organisms? For example, polar bears and

penguins?

What are nodes, branches, and roots of a evolutionary tree?

What is punctuated equilibrium and how does it differ from

other ideas of the rate of evolution?