Biodiversity of the Animal Kingdom

Biodiversity of the Animal Kingdom Avis Wilson Axia College of University of Phoenix The two mammals I picked to research are the Blue Whale and the Skunk. I will describe what characteristics they share, and some of their differences.

I will also list a couple more animals considered to be mammals. Three things all mammals have in common are: the ear contains three middle ear bones, at some point in life they all have hair, and they all have mammary glands. As I will state below they have different habitats and reproduce differently.They also feed differently from each other(Wund & Myers, 2005). The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) of the Cetacea order is fully aquatic and is considered the largest mammal (mammalia) to ever exist now or in the past. They can weigh as much as 160 metric tons.

They have changed to adapt over the centuries to have the best advantages possible for their environment. Their young are born fully formed and able to swim after 11 to 12 months gestation, and stay with the mother until weaned at eight or nine months.They have babies every two or three years after about age five. Two other mammals of this order would be Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) and Pacific white-sided Dolphins (Dewey, Fox, 2002). Out of the thousands of insects in the world I will discuss they differences and likenesses of the Butterfly and the Dragonfly.

Three things in common for these two types of insect are that they both have six legs, large compound eyes, and two pairs of wings. Their differences will become apparent as I describe them below (Myers, 2001).Butterflies are from the order of Lepidoptera and come in many sizes and colors. Probably two of the most well known are the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the Swallowtail butterfly (Papilinidae) which are under the super-family name of Papilionoidae and also moths. They differ in appearance from newly hatch to adulthood.

They begin life as a caterpillars growing in size as they eat molting their skin several times. Once growth is completed they stop eating and build a cocoon around themselves.This stage is called the pupa or chrysalis; this is when they go through the metamorphoses to emerge as a fully formed adult butterfly with wide colored wings. They feed on plants and carry pollen on their legs which make them a beneficial part of the ecosystem (Harris, 2002).

Now we will discuss the Dragonfly of the order Odonata and sub-order Anisoptera. Others listed in this order are green-eyed skimmers and damselflies. Dragonflies are carnivorous and live mainly around freshwater aquatic areas. They lay their eggs in or around water, many at a time because fish love to eat them.

They hatch and have gills so that they can live in the water for a few months up to several years and are called nymphs during this stage eating aquatic organisms. As adults they will feed on other insects. Their wings are long and narrow and generally clear (Kirschbaum, 2007). They do not form breeding pairs, so the female does the entire nest building and parenting. The males return to the breeding areas first to set up their territories and then the females return. The females usually lay two eggs.

They incubate in 10 to 14 days and are ready to leave the nest in 18 to 22 days. The female has up to three broods a year and the young begin to brood their first year of returning to the breeding area. The female has a lifespan of at least nine years and the male at least five years. They must feed almost constantly because of their high speed, small bodies, and high metabolism. In order for them to safely rest they must go into a kind of hibernation at night called hypothermic torpor, otherwise they would have to feed day and night (Harris, Naumann, & Kirschbaum, 2000).Next I will pick two echinoderms, so I choose a sand dollar and a starfish.

The things they have in common are: they all live in the ocean, have a five-rayed body plan, no excretory organs, and a calcareous internal skeleton (Mulcrone, 2005). The common sand dollar (Echinarachnius parma) is part of the Clypeasteroida order. Other organisms in this order include Arachnoididae and Astriclypedae. They live in North American east coast from New Jersey north. It is circumpolar and also occurs in Alaska, British Columbia, Siberia and Japan (Ables, 2000).