Question | Answer |
adaptation | A behavior or physical characteristic that allows an organism to survive or reproduce in its environment. |
fertilization | The joining of an egg and sperm. |
vertebrate | Animal with a backbone. |
invertebrate | Animal without a backbone. |
bilateral symmetry | Body plan with two halves that are mirror images. |
radial symmetry | The quality of having many lines of symmetry that all pass through a central point. |
larva | The immature form of an animal that looks very different from the adult. |
cnidarian | An invertebrate animal that uses stinging cells to capture food and defend itself. |
polyp | The cnidarian body plan is characterized by a vase like shape and that usually adapted for a life attached to an underwater surface. |
medusa | The cnidarian body plan having a bowl shape and adapted for a free-swimming life. |
parasite | The organism that benefits by living on or in a host in a parasitism interaction. |
host | The organism that a parasite or virus lives in or on. |
scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms. |
closed circulatory system | A circulatory system in which blood moves only within a connected network of tubes called blood vessels. |
mollusk | An invertebrate with a soft, unsegmented body; most are protected by a hard outer shell. |
open circulatory system | Circulatory system in which the heart pumps blood into open spaces in the body, and blood is not confined to blood vessels. |
gill | An organ that removes oxygen from water. |
gastropod | A mollusk with a single shell or no shell. |
cephalopod | A ocean-dwelling mollusk whose foot is adapted as tentacles that surrounds its mouth. |
bivalve | A mollusk that has two shells held together by hinges and strong muscles. |
herbivore | A consumer that only eats plants. |
carnivore | A consumer that only eats meat. |
omnivore | A consumer that eats meat and plants. |
radula | Flexible ribbon of tiny teeth in mollusks. |
Arthropod | An invertebrate that has an external skeleton a segmented body and joined appendages. |
exoseleton | A waxy waterproof outer shell or outer skeleton that protects the animal and helps prevent evaporation of water. |
molting | The process of shedding an outgrown exoskeleton. |
crustacean | An arthropod that has two or three body sections, five or more pairs of legs, and two pairs of antennae. |
complete metamorphosis | A type of metamorphosis characterized by four dramatically different stages. |
gradual metamorphosis | A type of metamorphosis in which an egg hatches into a nymph that resembles an adult. |
arachnid | An arthropod with two body sections, for pairs of legs, and no antenne. |
insect | An arthropod with three body sections, six legs, one pair of antennae, and usually one or two pairs of wings. |
thorax | An arthropods midsection, which its wings and legs are attached. |
pupa | The third stage of the complete metamorphosis, in which the insect changes from a larva to an adult. |
nymph | A stage of gradual metamorphosis that usually resembles the adult insect. |
echinoderm | A radially symmetrical invertebrate that lives on the ocean floor and has an internal skeleton and a water vascular system. |
endoskeleton | A system of fluid filled tubes in an echinoderms body. |
water vascular system | An internal skeleton on an insect. |