Question

What are the adaptations and challenges of each animal phyla on their move to land?

Answer 1

There are 11 animal phyla in kingdom Animalia:

1. Porifera
2. Coelenterata(cnidaria)
3. Ctenophora
4. Platyhelminthes
5. Aschelminthes
6. Annelida
7. Arthropoda
8. Mollusca
9. Echindermata
10. Hemichordata
11. Chordata

The adaptations and challenges of each animal phyla on their move to land are:

1. Porifera

Poriferans can not move, this makes it difficult to hunt prey which is why they use filter feeding to collect nutrients out of the water.

2. Coelenterata(Cnidaria)

Cnidaria exist in 2 basic body forms: 1. polyp(sessile), 2.medusa(free-swimming)

Medusa swim using a kind of jet propulsion. They contract their hollow, saucer-shaped bodies (called bells) to force water out, which propels them forward.

3. Ctenophora

They swim with plates of cilia, little hairs that move them through the water.

Their body bears 8 external rows of ciliated comb plates, which help in locomotion.

4. Platyhelminthes

Movement in some flatworms is controlled by longitudinal, circular, and oblique layers of muscle. Others move along slime trails by the beating of epidermal cilia. The development of directional movement is correlated with cephalization.

5. Aschelminthes

A pair of parapodia is use for locomotion.

6. Annelida

Annelids are able to move around by contracting their little segments. They have parts called setae. Setae are two pairs of hairs on each segment. Those hairs help some annelids (earthworms) get a grip on the soil.

7. Arthropoda

Jointed legs give arthropods more mobility on dry land than mollusks and worms have.

8. Mollusca

a muscular foot, which helps the mollusk to move. Some mollusks use the foot for burrowing into the sand, and others use it for jet-propulsion.

9. Echinodermata

When echinoderms move in a manner such as walking or crawling, they pump sea water through a series of internal body canals. The water is used to inflate some of the tube feet, causing them to expand. In many species, the tube feet are equipped with suckers that grip onto the sea floor.

10. Hemichordata

The proboscis is a muscular and ciliated organ used in locomotion and in the collection and transport of food particles.

11. Chordata

In those chordates which lack bone, muscles work against the notochord to move the animal. The chordate nerve cord is hollow, with pairs of nerves branching from it at intervals and running to the muscles.