SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF FORESTRY, WILDLIFE AND TOURISM

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM AND RECREATION

PROGRAMME; BSC OF TOURISM MANAGEMENT

COURSE; ANIMAL KINGDOM [BTM 111]

INSTRUCTOR; MADAM ROSE KICHELERI

WORK TYPE; INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Participant; Registration no, signature

1. Boniphace, Deuce BTM/E/2018/0461

Question;
i. To list morphological features that will help to identify vertebrates and invertebrates
covered in the class level.
ii. To explain the importance of each(vertebrates & invertebrates) to a class level.

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Morphology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms
and their specific structural features.Or
Morphology refer to the study of the size, shape, and structure of animals, plants, and
microorganisms and of the relationships of their constituent parts.
The word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek μορφή, morphé, meaning "form", and λόγος,
lógos, meaning "word, study, research"
Anatomy is a branch of morphology that deals with the structure of organisms"

A. Vertebrates
-What is a vertebrate?
Refer to a large group of animals which, including humans, have a backbone and an internal
skeleton.
- Skeleton helps to give them shape, helps to move, and protects soft body parts. While skeleton
shape and structure vary greatly from animal to animal, all vertebrates have a skeleton consist of
the following morphological features;
 Backbone, surrounding the nerve cord.
 The central nervous system of vertebrates develops a brain, which is lodged in a brain
case called the skull.

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  Contain a notochord on the dorsal side of the gut. The pharyngeal gill slits connect to the
pharynx.
 possess a hollow,
 Dorsal nerve cord. The nerve cord is enclosed by the vertebral column.
 Body segmentation
 Circulatory system. The appendages of vertebrates occur in two pairs.
 Vertebrates contain an endoskeleton, which is made up of bones or cartilages.
 Notochord
Is a supporting rod-like structure derived from mesoderm it may be present in embryonic
or adult stages. The animals which possess notochord are called chordates.e.g. Chordate.
The animals in which notochord is absent are called non

This includes;
 Aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern, size), i.e. external
morphology (or eidonomy),
 Form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs, i.e. internal morphology
(or anatomy). This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function.

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 Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of gross structure of an
organism or taxon and its component parts.

CHORDATA (VERTEBRATES)
The phylum chordate (animals with backbones) is divided into five common
Classes:

1. Mammals

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General features

 Are warm-blooded vertebrate animals.

-They are warm blooded, because they are able to regulate, or control, their own body
temperature. That means that warm-blooded creatures are able to live in many parts of
the world.
 Some mammals live on land and some live in water. Mammal babies grow inside
of their mother. When the babies are strong enough to survive outside of their
mother’s body, the mother will give birth.
 Mammals feed their babies by producing (making) milk. Mammals breath by
using their lungs. Most mammals.

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  They have four limbs for animals. (Limbs include hands and legs) in human.
 A mammal’s body is covered with hair or fur. Apart from humans, examples of
mammals include horse, sharks, lions, cats etc.
 They breathe using lungs.
 Most mammals are viviparous. This means that the offspring are kept inside the
female's body and feed through a placenta.
 The largest mammal lives in the sea.

2. Amphibians

- General features
The word amphibian means two-life (semiaquatic) Lead a “double” life with time spent on land
and water. They must return to the water to breed.
 They are just like reptiles,
 They are cold-blooded vertebrates.
 Amphibians they lay eggs.
 They have gills and lungs depending on their age. As they get older, they outgrow their
gills and develop lungs.
 Amphibians can live on both land and water.
 They have four limbs.

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  They have soft skin of amphibians allows them to absorb water and air. Examples of
amphibians include frogs, newts, and toads.

3. Reptiles

- General features
 They are cold-blooded vertebrates. That means that they are not able to control
their own body temperature.
 Reptiles do not eat as often as other warm-blooded vertebrates.
 Reptiles produce their young when they lay eggs. When reptiles are strong
enough to survive on their own, they leave the eggs (hatching).
 They have lungs.
 Reptiles have a special skin. Their skin is dry and very tough. Examples of
reptiles include lizards, snakes, and crocodiles.
 Kidneys are good at conserving water.
 The body of a reptile is covered in hard scales

4. AVES (Birds)

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- General features
 They bodies are covered with feathers.These feathers help birds to float on air
with their wings
 They do not have teeth but use their beaks to feed.
 They front limbs are adapted as wings for flying, although not all birds can fly.
 Birds breathe using lungs also, lungs allow for flight. .
 Fertilization is internal and the females lay eggs with hard shells, this shell
protects the egg from predators.Usually in a nest. Most birds incubate their eggs
until the eggs hatch.
 Light, hollow bones
 Scales are on the lower parts of their legs.
 They excrete solid metabolic wastes (uric acid)
 Birds have a well-developed nervous system and excellent vision and hearing
 Birds communicate with simple calls and complex songs, as
 Birds have different colouras well as behaviour
- They can be found all over the world but alsoBirds are a special group of vertebrates.
Birds are the only living things with feathers. Examples of birds include parrots, pigeons,
stork, eagle etc.

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 5. Fish

- General features
 They are the only group of living things who spend their entire life in water.
 They breathe through gills. Gills are located on bothsides of their head. They are
able to take oxygen out of the water through their gills.

 The body of the fish is covered in scales and has fins attached to help it move
through the water
 Fish are cold blooded, that means that their body temperature depends on the
temperature of their environment.
 Examples of fish includestingrays and tuna.
A. PHYLUM PORIFERA- SPONGES

Habitat

a. mainly marine (salt water)

b. Sponges have a porous body wall
c. The pores or holes allow water to pass through this animal. Floating food particles are caught
once they are inside the sponge.
d. Adult sponges are sessile feeders which means these animals are attached to shells or rocks on
the ocean floor as they feed.
e. Shape
-Asymmetrical which means no definite shape.

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 It includes the following;

-Dermal ostia and canal systemare present. E.g. Sycon(scypha), euspongia (bathsponge),
spongilla(fresh water sponge)

B. PHYLUM OR CNIDARIA

 Morphological features;
They possess cells called cnidoblasts for defense and food capture.
E.g. jellyfish, hydra, sea anemories,Obelia ,Physalia , etc
They have Brain coral.
 They have a central gastro-vascular cavity with a single opening, mouth on hypostome.
 Digestion is extracellular and intracellular.
 they have a skeleton composed of calcium carbonate. Some of the cnidarians, e.g. corals
Cnidarians exhibit two basic body forms called polyp and medusa
 The former is a sessile and cylindrical form like Hydra, Adamsia, etc. whereas, the latter is
umbrella-shaped and free-swimming like Aurelia or jelly fish.

C. PHYLUM- CTENOPHORA

 Morphological features;
They possess external rows of comb plates for locomotion.

E.g.Pleurobranchia, Ctenophora

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D. PHYLUM- PLATYHELMINTHES

E.g. The Flatworms: planarian, tapeworms

Habitat

 fresh and salt water; terrestrial(land)

 Body Plan
 These animals are given their name because of their flattened bodies. Flatworms have 3 distinct
tissue layers called the ectoderm
 endoderm
 mesoderm
 Middle layer. Each layer gives rise to the various organs and systems of this animal.

Digestive System

In free-living species of flatworms the digestive system is incomplete which means that the
digestive cavity has only a single opening. The parasitic tapeworm has no need for a digestive
system because it absorbs nutrients that are already digested by the host in which it lives.

E. PHYLUM- PLATYHELMINTHES.
 Morphological features;
They have flat body.
E.g. Planaria, Fasciola (Liver fluke),
Taenia (Tape worm) ,
Platyhelminthes
 Symmetry
 Flatworms have bilateral symmetry and they have a definite head and tail region
 Specialized Structures
The planaria has a pair of eyespots at its anterior or front end. These eyespots detect light which
the planaria avoids so they are less visible to their predators. 2. The tapeworm like other parasitic

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 worms has a thick protective cuticle on the outside of its body. The cuticle protects the worm
from being digested by the strong digestive enzymes of its host

They have flat body. Solenocytes( flame cells) are present for excretion.
E.g.planaria,fasciola(liver fluke),taenia(tape worm)

F. PHYLUM- ASCHELMINTHES
 Morphological features;
They are cylindrical, elongatedand worm-shaped.
 E.g. Ascaris (round worm),
 Wuchereria(filarial worm),ancylostoma(hook worm)

G. PHYLUM- ANNELIDA

 marine, freshwater, terrestrial

 The Segmented Worms: earthworm, leech, sandworm
 Body Plan
Similar shape as the roundworm but the body is segmented both internally and externally which
allows for a quicker response for movement.
 Digestive System
Segmented worms have a complete digestive system and this set-up is often referred to as a tube-
within-a-tube body plan
 Symmetry

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 -Bilateral; anterior and posterior ends; dorsal and ventral surfaces.Their body exhibits true
segmentation(metamerism) e.g. Pheretima(earthworm), ,hirudinaria

H. PHYLUM- ARTHROPODA;

The Arthropods: insects, spiders, crustaceans

 Habitat

-arthropods are found in all environments

-Arthropods are the most successful of any animal group. This is mainly due to the success of
insects, which has more than a million different species.

 Morphological features;
 Body Plan

Arthropods have a segmented body with paired jointed appendages that provide excellent
movement for walking, swimming, flying, grabbing, fighting, digging and biting just to name a
few. In most arthropods the body is divided into a head, abdomen and thorax

 Exoskeleton

The outside skeleton of arthropods is made of chitin which protects the soft body of this animal
and prevents water loss allowing them to live successfully on land.

 Symmetry

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 I. PHYLUM MOLLUSCA - clams, snails, oysters, octopus

Habitat

 marine and fresh water; terrestrial

 Morphological features;

 Body Plan

Mollusca have a soft, unsegmented body and often move with a strong muscular foot on its
ventral surface.

 They have paired, jointed appendages and chitinous exoskeleton. E.g. Penaeus(prawn), apis
(honey bee),bombyx (silk moth),laccifer (lac insect), mosquitoes(anopheles , culex,aedes),
palamnaeus(scorpion),arnea(spider), limulus


Mollusca are well known for their tongue-like organ called the radula which has many rows of
teeth and is used to scrape food from the surface of plants and rocks.

 The mantle

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 The mantle is a fold of skin that surrounds the body organs. The mantle acts like a gland because
it is capable of secretion. These secretions harden to help form the shells of mollusca.

 Symmetry

Bilateral

-They are soft-bodiedanimals which generally possess calcareous shell as exoskeleton.e.g.

Pila(apple snail), pinctada(pearl oyster),dentalium( tusk shell),
chaetopleuara(chiton),lamellidens(fresh water mussel), aplysia(sea hare),octopus (devil
fish),sepia(cuttle fish), loligo(squid).

9. Phylum echinodermata

They are spiny-skinned animals having radial symmetry in adult stage.

They possess water vascular system. E.g. Asterias(star fish),ophiura(brittle star), echinus(sea
urchin), cucumaria(sea cucumber), antedon(sea lily).

J. PHYLUM- HEMICHORDATA

They are worm-like animals with proboscis, collar and trunk. Respiration by many paired gills.
Excretion is through proboscis gland. E.g. Balanoglossus, saccoglossusBalanoglossus

K. PHYLUM: CHORDATA

Phylum chordata includes animals characterized by the presence of;

 A notochord,
 A dorsal hollow nerve cord and paired pharyngeal gill slits.

- Phylum Chordata is divided into three subphyla:

i. Urochordata or Tunicata,
ii. Cephalochordata
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 iii. Vertebrata

 Subphyla Urochordata and Cephalochordata are often referred to as

(protochordates) and are exclusively marine. In Urochordata, notochord is
present only in larval tail

 Cephalochordata, it extends from head to tail region and is persistent throughout

their life.Examples: Urochordata – Ascidia, Salpa, Doliolum; Cephalochordata –
Branchiostoma (Amphioxus or Lancelet).

B. Invertebrate chordates
- Divided into three categories

 Subphylum Cephalochordate – lancelets

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 i. Fishlike creatures that bury selves in mud and filter feedall four key chordate
feature present in adultslike vertebrates, muscles broken up into bands called
myomeres (body segmentation)
ii. Essentially no brain in adults
iii. This small group of species is the only group which exhibit all 4
chordatecharacteristics as adults.
iv. Cephalochordate • Marine • 4 chordate characteristics • Hepatic caecum •
Segmented trunk muscles • Basic circulatory plan.
v. They live in the sediment of shallow marine areas and filter seed on tiny particles
in the water. Water flows In the mouth and out the atriopore

 Subphylum Urochordata – sea squirts, tunicates

i. barrel-shaped, sessile, filter-feeders

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 ii. many secrete and live in a tough cellulose sac (tunic) as adults
iii. only have pharyngeal gill slits as adults, other chordate characters only present in
tadpole-like larvae
iv. incurrent and excurrent siphons
v. no brain in adults
vi. the notochord is found only in the tail (and that only goes for the larval form).
vii. The sessile adults do not exhibit the 4 chordate characteristics,
viii. are covered with an integument called a tunic (hence they are often called
tunicates).
ix. They have a water chamber, the atrium, for circulating water through pharyngeal
gill slits for filter feeding.

 To explain the importance of each (vertebrates & invertebrates) to a

class level.
1. Mammals
- The importance of mammals
 Source of Medicine
-Pancreas is a source of Insulin, used in treatment of Diabetes.
-Sheep thyroid is a source of thyroxin, used in hypertension.
-. Urine of pregnant women gives human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) used for the
treatment of infertility.

 Commercial Products:
These are as follows:
 Hides:
-The hides of various domesticated as well as wild mammals provide leather and fur
for the manufacture of clothing and for a variety of other purposes.

-Leather and fur are also used for the manufacture of suitcases, bags, shoes, harness,
saddles, belts, purses, garments, etc., and support big industries. Most of the fur-
bearing mammals are fast becoming scarce so that man-made acrylic fibres, designed
to look-like fur, now compete with and replacing the natural furs.

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  Hair and Wool
-The wool of sheep is the most important animal fibre. It is extensively used
for weaving into cloth for winter. Goats, alpaca, camels, etc., also produce
wool. Hairs of camels, pigs, sables and a host of others are made into brushes,
etc.

 In agriculture:
-They provide manure in the form of dung and urine. The manure nitrifies soil and yield fuel
biogas.
-Bone meal is prepared by crushing bones of cattle, sheep and goats, etc., is a good sources of
animal feed.
-Animal traction from oxen, buffaloes, mules, horses and camels are employed for ploughing
fields.
-Some mammals act as predators, such as mongooses; prey upon rats and mice which are serious
pests of crops. Ant-eaters feed upon harmful insects. Skunks destroy grubs and cutworms,.

 In tourisms
Used in recreational purposes
- Since time immemorial, man has tried to tame a large number of mammals as pets such
as monkeys, bears, mongooses, rabbits, etc. But only dogs and cats have become popular
and of general interest.

- Lions, tigers, horses, elephants and monkeys are generally employed in sports and
circuses. Bull fights are by no means confined to Spain only. Larger and rarer varieties of
mammals are exhibited in zoological gardens and national parks.

- Hunting is generally done by civilised man. It is actually for pleasure and recreation.
Dogs, leopards, elephants and horses are used in the hunting.
Generally most of wild animals are used as the tourist attraction.

 As Pollinators:

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- Mammals such as bats, squirrels, monkeys, etc., visit one tree after another in search of
fruits may incidentally help in the pollination of flowers.
 Used in transportation activities
- However, in the underdeveloped countries, cattle, horses, mules, sheep and goats are still
being used for work in plains and mountains, elephants in jungles, camels and llamas in
deserts, and reindeers and dogs on ice in cold countries
- For transport and draft of heavy loads.
 Laboratory Animals:
- Common mammals such as rats, pigs, rabbits, cats, monkeys, apes, dogs, etc., are
extensively used in laboratories for research and scientific studies.
 Used As a Food:
o Milk
- Cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, llamas, camels, reindeers, etc., provide milk which forms
an important product for human food. Ghee, butter, cheese and curd are prepared from
milk.
o Meat
- Include white and red meat

2. Amphibians
 Amphibians play an important role in nutrient cycles and as environmental indicators.
Nutrients that have washed from the land into bodies of water via erosion can be
recycled by amphibians as they enter the land after metamorphosis
 Amphibians are also important sources of medicine.
- Medicine produced from amphibians now is used to treat heart ailments, bacterial
infections, skin and colon cancers, depression, and chronic pain, among others.
 Amphibians also play an important role in human culture and religion
- The spiritual leaders in the religion have used them as religious symbols and in creating
hallucinogenic drugs. In some cultures, including early Asiatic cultures and pre-
Columbian American civilizations, the toad was considered a divinity, and the source and
end of all life.
 Amphibians are important to the ecology and to humans
- Adult amphibians are significant predators of insects, as well as other invertebrates and
some vertebrates. Larval amphibians are also consumers of insects, algae.
3. Reptiles

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  Reptiles have been popularly used in symbol and myth. Worldwide, snakes have been
used as a symbol of power and sometimes evil, though they are also used in symbols
for medicine.
 Reptiles are important components of the food webs in most ecosystems. They fill a
critical role both as predator and prey species.
 Human Interactions,
- Though humans generally try to avoid interaction with reptiles, they do occasionally bear
an important that extends beyond survival and into the realm of culture. Turtles, for
instance, are a delicacy and play a role in traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, the
venom of a snake is used often to derive vaccines, and reptile scales are considered
fashionable in many cultures.
 Recreational purpose
- Traditionally, the reptile is not recognized as a more common variety of pet, yet animals
such as snakes, lizards and turtles are the pet of choice for thousands of people.
 Reptiles are important as food sources for people:
- Snake soup is consumed by local people in the fall to prevent colds. The soup is believed
to warm up their body of those who eat it.

4 Aves(birds)
a) Birds help in Biological Conservation.

In general, species diversity is a measure of the number of component species and their
abundance at a defined point in space and time. On the smallest spatial scale the diversity of
animal species
- measured is the result of individual behaviour, i.e. habitat selection, and of course
sampling chance.
b) Birds help in Agriculture
- Agriculture impacts on biodiversity in two main ways. The first is through the clearance
of pristine habitats for
new planting, with the accompanying pressures of fragmentation of remaining habitats,
pollution and
disturbance. The second driver of biodiversity decline is the intensification of existing
agricultural systems, aimed at increasing crop yields per unit area

- Birds help in Plant Distribution

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 - Birds have a good system for spreading seeds. They eat berries and then when they
dispose of their waste, the berry seeds are disposed along with it.

- Bird feces provide good fertilization for the seeds with which they aredropped, giving
seeds very good conditions with which to grow.
4.
5.
6.

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https://secure.cdn1.wdpromedia.com/dam/wdpro-assets/parks-and-tickets/destinations/animal-
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