Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Throughout the animal kingdom, it is easy to recognize similarities and differences between animal and plant types. These comparisons of traits has allowed for the detailed classification of the species and subspecies. This classification system provides a reference point for individuals when identifying and classifying species, especially new ones. The most commonly used categories of this system, starting broad and becoming more detailed, is Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. This assignment asked us to identify these traits and classify particular species, and then answer a specific set of questions. The answers to that set of questions follows.

When looking at the nine different Phyla, it is apparent that some of them have

organs, while some do not. The phyla Cnidaria and Porifera are the only ones that do not

have organ systems, while all the others do. The organ systems very often go hand in

hand with the symmetry of the nine phyla. The two most basic phyla are the simplest.

Porifera are lacking any symmetry, while the Cnidaria are radially symmetrical. All the

other phyla groups are bilaterally symmetrical.

Another trait that differentiates many of the phyla is the presence or lack of

bundled nerve cells, which is called cephalization. This evolution allows the response to

stimulus. The two most basic phyla, Porifera and Cnidaria are lacking cephalization,

while the other seven phyla are cephalized. The three germ layers endoderm, ectoderm,

and mesoderm are present in the seven most complex phyla, but the Cnidarians have only

the first two germ layers, and the Porifera do not have any germ layers.

When discussing the number of species found within each phylum, one has more

than all the others. The phyla Arthropoda has more species than any other phyla within

the animal