Biology 4900 – Behavior
James Adams and Kristen Sanders
Invertebrate Project
(25 points)
This project is quite straightforward.
Your assignment is to pick an organism, preferably in one of the
following orders that was NOT covered in lecture (see list below), and summarize
some of the important behaviors in the species of organism.
You will also be required to provide the appropriate classification for
the organism, which is easy since Wikipedia entries (hint, hint) include all of
this information. So your framework
for your assignment should look like the following:
Classification:
for all levels of classification, please include the scientific name and
the common name(s)
of included organisms,
if applicable (note: I’ve provided common names for most of the phyla, below).
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus and species (species name):
Distribution (in the world):
Feeding behaviors:
Predator avoidance behaviors:
Reproductive behaviors (including attraction behaviors if there are any):
Environmental tolerance behaviors (dormancy, hibernation, migration, for
example):
Any other interesting/relevant behaviors directly impacting survival/fitness
(social behavior, parental
care,
territoriality, if applicable):
References (this can include online links and hardcopy papers/books, etc.)
(Does anyone need a refresher on this??
If so, I can send out an e-mail with examples.)
________________________
I WILL check your references and make sure they actually exist, so DON’T make up
resources, or anything else on this assignment.
Here’s the list of phyla to pick an example from.
We were going to do this first come, first serve, but I think we are okay
with different people picking different species within the same phylum.
However, you MUST let us know when you pick an organism, so that two of
you don’t pick the same species!
Acanthocephala – spiny-headed worms
Nematomorpha – horsehair worms
Brachiopoda – lamp shells
Nemertea – ribbon worms
Bryozoa – bryozoans (“moss” animals)
Orthonectida – tiny parasites of starfish, bivalves, worms
Cephaloryncha – tiny marine worms
Phoronida – horseshoe worms
Chaetognatha – arrow worms
Placozoa – placozoans (“flat animals”; simplest animals)
Cycliophora – cycliophorans (discovered 1995) Rotifera – rotifers
Dicyemida – tiny octopi/squid parasites
Sipuncula – peanut worms
Entoprocta – goblet worms
Tardigrada – water bears
Gastrotricha – gastrotrichs (“stomach hairs”) Xenacoelomorpha – tiny marine worms
Gnathostomulida – sand worms
Hemichordata – acorn worms
non-vertebrate Chordates – tunicates, lancelets, hagfish
Micrognathozoa – tiny freshwater worms