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