Thursday, 30 July 2015

COMPARING APE AND MONKEY

Ape

Ape

Monkey

Monkey
Kingdom Animalia Animalia
Phylum Chordata Chordata
Class Mammal Mammal
Order Primates Primates
Suborder Haplorhini (dry-nosed) Haplorhini (dry-nosed)
Infraorder Simiiformes (higher primates) Simiiformes (higher primates)
Parvorder Catarrhini (hook-nosed) New-world monkeys: Platyrrhini (flat-nosed); Old-world monkeys: Catarrhini
Superfamilies Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys like baboons and macaques) and Hominoidea (Great Apes and Lesser Apes) None
Families Hylobatidae (i.e., Lesser Apes like gibbons) and Hominidae (i.e., Great Apes, including humans) Callitrichidae (e.g., marmosets) and Cebidae (e.g., squirrel monkeys)
Species Around 23 between Lesser Apes and Great Apes. Hundreds of known species
Habitat Africa and Southern Asia. Life lived at least sometimes on the ground. Great Apes and Lesser Apes only in or near tropical rainforests. Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Life lived almost entirely in trees.
Lifespan Can live up to 60 years Can live up to 30 years
Brain size Large Small
Body Structure Longer, usually upright posture. Long arms that are optimal for swinging from branch to branch. Humans entirely bipedal. Shorter. Quadrupedal. Uses tail as "fifth limb" to help grasp limbs in trees.
Tail No. Old World monkeys: yes, but often short. New World monkey: yes.
Diet Omnivorous. Fruits, plants, insects, small mammals (including monkeys). Omnivorous. Fruits, plants, insects, small invertebrates.
Tool use Can make and use tools for nut-cracking, hunting, and play. No tool use

THE PRIMATE

There are more 300 species of primates in the worldfrom humans and apes to monkeys and prosimians ("premonkeys"). Several primate species have been discovered in Brazil and Madagascar in recent years.
The smallest primate is the pygmy mouse lemur, which can fit in the palm of your hand. The largest—the gorilla—can weigh more than 400 pounds. Most primates live in warm climates, and most depend on forests for their survival.

APES

Apes (Hominoidea) are a branch of Old World tailless anthropoid catarrhine primates native to Africa and Southeast Asia; they are distinguished from other primates by a wider degree of freedom of motion at the shoulder joint as evolved by the influence of brachiation. There are two extant branches of the superfamily Hominoidea: the gibbons, or lesser apes; and the hominids, or great apes.
  • The family Hylobatidae, the lesser apes, include four genera and a total of sixteen species of gibbon, including the lar gibbon and the siamang, all native to Asia. They are highly arboreal and bipedal on the ground. They have lighter bodies and smaller social groups than great apes.
  • The family Hominidae, known collectively as the great apes, include orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans;[1][2][3][4] alternatively, this family clade is also known as the hominids. There are seven extant species of great apes: two in the orangutans (genus Pongo), two in the gorillas (genus Gorilla), two in the chimpanzees (genus Pan), and a single extant species, Homo sapiens, of modern humans (genus Homo).[5][6]
Members of the superfamily Hominoidae are called hominoids—which term is not to be confused with hominids, the family of great apes; or with the hominins, the tribe of humans also known as the human clade; or with other very similar terms of primate taxa. (Compare terminology of primate names.)
Recent evidence has changed our understanding of the relationships between the hominoids, especially regarding the human lineage; and the traditionally used terms have become somewhat confused. Competing approaches re methodology and terminology are found among current scientific sources. See below, History of hominoid taxonomy and see Primate: Historical and modern terminology for discussions of the changes in scientific classification and terminology regarding hominoids.
Some and, recently, all, hominoids are also called "apes", but the term is used broadly and has several different senses within both popular and scientific settings. "Ape" has been used as a synonym for "monkey" or for naming any primate with a humanlike appearance, particularly those without a tail.[7] Thus the Barbary macaque, a kind of monkey, is popularly called the "Barbary ape". Biologists have traditionally used the term "ape" to mean a member of the superfamily Hominoidea other than humans,[1] but more recently to mean all members of Hominoidea. So "ape"—not to be confused with "great ape"—now becomes another word for hominoid including humans.[4][8]
Except for gorillas and humans, hominoids are agile climbers of trees. Their diet is best described as frugivorous and folivorous, consisting mainly of fruit, nuts, seeds, including grass seeds, leaves, and in some cases other animals, either hunted or scavenged, or (solely in the case of the humans) farmed—along with anything else available and easily digested.[9][10]
Most non-human hominoids are rare or endangered. The chief threat to most of the endangered species is loss of tropical rainforest habitat, though some populations are further imperiled by hunting for bushmeat. The great apes of Africa are also facing threat from the Ebola virus. Currently considered to be the greatest threat to survival of African apes, Ebola is responsible for the death of at least one third of the species since 1990
Orang Utan, Semenggok Forest Reserve, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia.JPG

THE MONKEY

Monkeys range in size from the pygmy marmoset, which can be as small as 117 millimetres (4.6 in) with a 172-millimetre (6.8 in) tail and just over 100 grams (3.5 oz) in weight,[10] to the male mandrill, almost 1 metre (3.3 ft) long and weighing up to 36 kilograms (79 lb).[11] Some are arboreal (living in trees) while others live on the savanna; diets differ among the various species but may contain any of the following: fruit, leaves, seeds, nuts, flowers, eggs and small animals (including insects and spiders).[12]
Some characteristics are shared among the groups; most New World monkeys have prehensile tails while Old World monkeys have non-prehensile tails or no visible tail at all. Old World monkeys have trichromatic color vision like that of humans, while New World monkeys may be trichromatic, dichromatic, or—as in the owl monkeys and greater galagosmonochromatic. Although both the New and Old World monkeys, like the apes, have forward-facing eyes, the faces of Old World and New World monkeys look very different, though again, each group shares some features such as the types of noses, cheeks and rumps.[12]

Classification

Phylogeny of living (extant) primates
 Primates 
 Haplorhini 
 Simiiformes 
 Catarrhini 

 Hominoidea


 Cercopithecoidea



 Platyrrhini



 Tarsiiformes



 Strepsirrhini


monkeys
Monkeys (in green brackets) are a paraphyletic group, since they exclude hominoids.
The following list shows where the various monkey families (bolded) are placed in the classification of living (extant) primates.

Relationship with humans

The many species of monkey have varied relationships with humans. Some are kept as pets, others used as model organisms in laboratories or in space missions. They may be killed in monkey drives (when they threaten agriculture) or used as service animals for the disabled.
In some areas, some species of monkey are considered agricultural pests, and can cause extensive damage to commercial and subsistence crops.[13] This can have important implications for the conservation of endangered species, which may be subject to persecution. In some instances farmers' perceptions of the damage may exceed the actual damage.[14] Monkeys that have become habituated to human presence in tourist locations may also be considered pests, attacking tourists.[15]
In religion and culture, the monkey often represents quick-wittedness and mischief.

As service animals for the disabled

Some organizations train capuchin monkeys as service animals to assist quadriplegics and other people with severe spinal cord injuries or mobility impairments. After being socialized in a human home as infants, the monkeys undergo extensive training before being placed with a disabled person. Around the house, the monkeys assist with feeding, fetching, manipulating objects, and personal care.[16]

THE FUNNY MONKEY

Monkeys are haplorhine ("dry-nosed") primates, a group generally possessing tails and consisting of approximately 260 known living species. Many monkey species are tree-dwelling (arboreal), although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Most species are also active during the day (diurnal). Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent, particularly Old World monkeys.
Lemurs, lorises, and galagos are not monkeys; instead they are strepsirrhine ("wet-nosed") primates. Like monkeys, tarsiers are haplorhine primates; however, they are also not monkeys. There are two major types of monkey: New World monkeys (platyrrhines) from South and Central America and Old World monkeys (catarrhines of the superfamily Cercopithecoidea) from Africa and Asia. Hominoid apes (gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans), which all lack tails, are also catarrhines but are not considered monkeys.[3] (Tailless monkeys may be called "apes", incorrectly according to modern usage; thus the tailless Barbary macaque is sometimes called the "Barbary ape".) Because Old World monkeys are more closely related to hominoid apes than to New World monkeys, yet the term "monkey" excludes these closer relatives, monkeys are referred to as a paraphyletic group.
Macaque monkey Bonnet macaque

BENEFITS OF SNAIL TO MAN

Land snails are known as an agricultural and garden pest but some species are an edible delicacy and occasionally household.
 Image result for snail image

In agriculture

There are a variety of snail-control measures that gardeners and farmers use in an attempt to reduce damage to valuable plants. Traditional pesticides are still used, as are many less toxic control options such as concentrated garlic or wormwood solutions. Copper metal is also a snail repellent, and thus a copper band around the trunk of a tree will prevent snails from climbing up and reaching the foliage and fruit.
The decollate snail (Rumina decollata) will capture and eat garden snails, and because of this it has sometimes been introduced as a biological pest control agent. However, this is not without problems, as the decollate snail is just as likely to attack and devour other gastropods that may represent a valuable part of the native fauna of the region.

As food

French cooked snails
In French cuisine, edible snails are served for instance in Escargot à la Bourguignonne. The practice of rearing snails for food is known as heliciculture. For purposes of cultivation, the snails are kept in a dark place in a wired cage with dry straw or dry wood. Coppiced wine-grape vines are often used for this purpose. During the rainy period the snails come out of hibernation and release most of their mucus onto the dry wood/straw. The snails are then prepared for cooking. Their texture when cooked is slightly chewy.
As well as being relished as gourmet food, several species of land snails provide an easily harvested source of protein to many people in poor communities around the world. Many land snails are valuable because they can feed on a wide range of agricultural wastes, such as shed leaves in banana plantations. In some countries, giant African land snails are produced commercially for food. Land snails, freshwater snails and sea snails are all eaten in a number of countries (principally Spain, Philippines, Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cyprus, Ghana, Malta, Terai of Nepal, southwestern China, Northeast India states such as Manipur, Tripura and parts of the USA). In certain parts of the world, snails are fried. For example, in Indonesia, they are fried as satay, a dish known as sate kakul. The eggs of certain snail species are eaten in a fashion similar to the way caviar is eaten. In Bulgaria snails are traditionally cooked in an oven with rice or fried in a pan with vegetable oil and red paprika powder. Before they are used for those dishes however, they are thoroughly boiled in hot water (for up to 90 minutes) and manually extracted from their shells. The two species most commonly used for food in the country are Helix lucorum and Helix pomatia.

Famine food

Snails and slug species that are not normally eaten in certain areas have occasionally been used as famine food in historical times. Variants of the following event have occurred in Europe from time to time:
In a popular publication quoted below occurs the following notice of a well-known land mollusk, in connection with a traditionary story of the plague, which has long had general currency in Scotland: ‘In the woodlands, the more formidable black nude slug, the Arion or Limax, will also be often encountered. It is a huge voracious creature, herbivorous, feeding, to Barbara’s astonishment, on tender plants; fruits, as strawberries, apples; and even turnips and mushrooms; appearing morning and evening, or after rain; suffering severely in its concealment in long droughts, and remaining torpid in winter. The gray field slug (Limax agrestis) is actually recommended to be swallowed by consumptive patients! In the town of Dundee there exists a strange traditionary story of the plague, connected with the conversion, from dire necessity of the Arion ater, or black slug, to a use similar to that which the luxurious Romans are said to have made of the great apple-snail. Two young and blooming maidens lived together at that dread time, like Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, in a remote cottage on the steep (indeed almost perpendicular) ascent of the Bonnetmaker’s Hill. Deprived of friends or support by the pestilence that walked at noonday, they still retained their good looks and healthful aspect, even when the famine had succeeded to the plague. The jaundiced eyes of the famine-wasted wretches around them were instantly turned towards the poor girls, who appeared to thrive so well whilst others were famishing. They were unhesitatingly accused of witchcraft, and had nearly fallen a prey to that terrible charge; for betwixt themselves they had sworn never to tell in words by what means they were supported, ashamed as they felt of the resource to which they had been driven; and resolved, if possible, to escape the anticipated derision of their neighbours on its disclosure. It was only when about to be dragged before their stern inquisitors, that one of the girls, drawing aside the covering of a great barrel which stood in a corner of their domicile, discovered, without violating her oath, that the youthful pair had been driven to the desperate necessity of collecting and preserving for food large quantities of these Limacinae, which they ultimately acknowledged to have proved to them generous and even agreeable sustenance. To the credit of the times of George Wishart—a glimpse of pre-reforming enlightenment—the explanation sufficed; the young women escaped with their lives, and were even applauded for their prudence.[2]

Cosmetic

Skin creams derived from Helix aspersa snails are sold for use on wrinkles, scars, dry skin, and acne. A research study suggested that secretions produced under stress by Helix aspersa might facilitate regeneration of wounded tissue.[3]
Image result for snail image

THE SNAIL

Snail is a common name that is applied most often to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs.
However, the common name "snail" is also applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also thousands of species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Occasionally a few other molluscs that are not actually gastropods, such as the Monoplacophora, which superficially resemble small limpets, may also informally be referred to as "snails".
 Image result for snail imageImage result for snail image
Snail-like animals that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are usually called slugs, and land snails that have only a very small shell (that they cannot retract into) are often called semi-slugs.
Gastropod species that lack a conspicuous shell are commonly called slugs rather than snails. Some species of slugs have a reduced shell, some have only an internal vestige that serves mainly as a calcium repository, and others have no shell at all. Other than that there is little morphological difference between slugs and snails. There are however important differences in habitats and behaviour. A shell-less animal is much more maneuverable and compressible, so even quite large land slugs can take advantage of habitats or retreats with very little space, retreats that would be inaccessible to a similar-sized snail. Slugs squeeze themselves into confined spaces such as under loose bark on trees or under stone slabs, logs or wooden boards lying on the ground. In such retreats they are in less danger from either predators or desiccation, and often those also are suitable places for laying their eggs.
Slugs as a group are far from monophyletic; biologically speaking "slug" is a term of convenience with little taxonomic significance. The reduction or loss of the shell has evolved many times independently within several very different lineages of gastropods. The various taxa of land and sea gastropods with slug morphology occur within numerous higher taxonomic groups of shelled species; such independent slug taxa are not in general closely related to one another.
 Image result for slugs image

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING ORGANISM

Classification of Living Things & Naming

In science, the practice of classifying organisms is called taxonomy (Taxis means arrangement and nomos means method). The modern taxonomic system was developed by the Swedish botanist Carolus (Carl) Linneaeus (1707-1788). He used simple physical characteristics of organisms to identify and differentiate between different species, and is based around genetics.
Linneaeus developed a hierarchy of groups for taxonomy. To distinguish different levels of similarity, each classifying group, called taxon (pl. taxa) is subdivided into other groups. To remember the order, it is helpful to use a mnemonic device. The taxa in hierarchical order:
  • Domain - Archea, Eubacteria, Eukaryote
  • Kingdom - Plantae, Animalia, Fungi, Protists, Eubacteria (Monera), Archaebacteria
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species - smallest classification
  • Image result for classification of living organism

The domain is the broadest category, while species is the most specific category available. The taxon Domain was only introduced in 1990 by Carl Woese, as scientists reorganise things based on new discoveries and information. For example, the European Hare would be classified as follows:
Eukaryote --> Animal --> Chordata --> Mammalia --> Lagomorpha --> Leporidae --> Lepus --> Lepus europaeus.
Binomial nomenclature is used to name an organism, where the first word beginning with a capital is the genus of the organism and the second word beginning with lower-case letter is the species of the organism. The name must be in italics and in Latin, which was the major language of arts and sciences in the 18th century. The scientific name can be also abbreviated, where the genus is shortened to only its first letter followed by a period. In our example, Lepus europaeus would become L. europaeus.
Taxonomy and binomial nomenclature are both specific methods of classifying an organism. They help to eliminate problems, such as mistaken identity and false assumptions, caused by common names. An example of the former is the fact that a North American robin is quite different from the English robin. An example of the latter is the comparison between crayfish and catfish, where one might believe that they both are fish when in fact, they are quite different.
Nomenclature is concerned with the assignment of names to taxonomic groups in agreement with published rules. To study for a test these are the best words to know taxonomist, biologist, chemist, geologist, unicellular, multi- cellular, bilateral symmetry, radial symmetry, chlorophyll, photosynthesis, respiration, reproduction, vertebrates, endoskeleton, exoskeleton, consumers, decomposers, heterotroph, autotroph, vascular, non-vascular. These are all part of classifying things.

Eukaryotes & Prokaryotes

Recall that there are two basic types of cells: eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
Eukaryotes are more complex in structure, with nuclei and membrane-bound organelles. Some characteristics of eukaryotes are:
  • Large (100 - 1000 μm)
  • DNA in nucleus, bounded by membrane
  • Genome consists of several chromosomes.
  • Sexual reproduction common, by mitosis and meiosis
  • Mitochondria and other organelles present
  • Most forms are multicellular
  • Aerobic
Prokaryotes refer to the smallest and simplest type of cells, without a true nucleus and no membrane-bound organelles. Bacteria fall under this category. Some characteristics:
  • Small (1-10 μm)
  • DNA circular, unbounded
  • Genome consists of single chromosome.
  • Asexual reproduction common, not by mitosis or meiosis.
  • No general organelles
  • Most forms are singular
  • Anaerobic

The Three Domains

The three domains are organised based on the difference between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Today's living prokaryotes are extremely diverse and different from eukaryotes. This fact has been proven by molecular biological studies (e.g. of RNA structure) with modern technology. The three domains are as follows:
Archea (Archeabacteria) consists of archeabacteria, bacteria which live in extreme environments. The kingdom Archaea belongs to this domain.
Eubacteria consists of more typical bacteria found in everyday life. The kingdom Eubacteria belongs to this domain.
Eukaryote encompasses most of the world's visible living things. The kingdoms Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia fall under this category.

The Six Kingdoms

Under the three domains are six kingdoms in taxonomy. The first two, Plants and Animals, are commonly understood and will not be expounded here.
Protista, the third kingdom, was introduced by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866 to classify micro-organisms which are neither animals nor plants. Since protists are quite irregular, this kingdom is the least understood and the genetic similarities between organisms in this kingdom are largely unknown. For example, some protists can exhibit properties of both animals and plants.
Fungi are organisms which obtain food by absorbing materials in their bodies. Mushrooms and moulds belong in this kingdom. Originally, they were part of the plant kingdom but were recategorised when they were discovered not to photosynthesise.
Eubacteria are bacteria, made up of small cells, which differ in appearance from the organisms in the above kingdoms. They lack a nucleus and cell organelles. They have cell walls made of peptidoglycan.
Archae (or Archaebacteria) are bacteria which live in extreme environments, such as salt lakes or hot, acidic springs. These bacteria are in their own category as detailed studies have shown that they have unique properties and features (ex. unusual lipids that are not found in any other organism)which differ them from other bacteria and which allow them to live where they live. Their cell walls lack peptidoglycan.

Origins of Diversity

The diversity in our planet is attributed to diversity within a species. As the world changed in climate and in geography as time passed, the characteristics of species diverged so much that new species were formed. This process, by which new species evolve, was first described by British naturalist Charles Darwin as natural selection.
For an organism to change, genetic mutations must occur. At times, genetic mutations are accidental, as in the case of prokaryotes when they undergo asexual reproduction. For most eukaryotes, genetic mutations occur through sexual reproduction, where meiosis produces haploid gametes from the original parent cells. The fusion of these haploid gametes into a diploid zygote results in genetic variation in each generation. Over time, with enough arrangement of genes and traits, new species are produced. Sexual reproduction creates an immense potential of genetic variety.
One goal of taxonomy is to determine the evolutionary history of organisms. This can be achieved by comparing species living today with species in the past. The comparison in anatomy and structure is based on data from development, physical anatomy, biochemistry, DNA, behaviour, and ecological preferences. The following are examples of how such data is used:
  • Anatomy:
Although a horse and a human may look different, there is evidence that their arm structures are quite similar. Their arms' sizes and proportions may be different, but the anatomical structures are quite similar. Such evidence reveals that animals in different taxa may not be that different. Biological features from a common evolutionary origin are known as homologous.
  • Development
  • Biochemistry:
Biochemical analysis of animals similar in appearance have yielded surprising results. For example, although guinea pigs were once considered to be rodents, like mice, biochemistry led them to be in their taxon of their own.

Phylogeny, Cladistics & Cladogram

Modern taxonomy is based on many hypotheses' of the evolutionary history of organisms, known as phylogeny. As with the Scientific Method, scientists develop a hypothesis on the history of an animal and utilise modern science and technology to prove the phylogeny.
Cladistics is a classification system which is based on phylogeny. Expanding on phylogeny, cladistics is based on the assumption that each group of related species has one common ancestor and would therefore retain some ancestral characteristics. Moreover, as these related species evolve and diverge from their common ancestor, they would develop unique characteristics. Such characteristics are known as derived characteristics
The principles of phylogeny and cladistics can be expressed visually as a cladogram, a branching diagram which acts as a family (phylogenetic) tree for similar species. A cladogram can also be used to test alternative hypotheses for an animal's phylogeny. In order to determine the most likely cladogram, the derived characteristics of similar species are matched and analysed.

TAXONOMY

taxonomy, in a broad sense, the science of classification, but more strictly the classification of living and extinct organisms—i.e., biological classification. The term is derived from the Greek taxis (“arrangement”) and nomos (“law”). Taxonomy is, therefore, the methodology and principles of systematic botany and zoology and sets up arrangements of the kinds of plants and animals in hierarchies of superior and subordinate groups.
animal taxonomy [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]
Popularly, classifications of living organisms arise according to need and are often superficial. Anglo-Saxon terms such as worm and fish have been used to refer, respectively, to any creeping thing—snake, earthworm, intestinal parasite, or dragon—and to any swimming or aquatic thing. Although the term fish is common to the names shellfish, crayfish, and starfish, there are more anatomical differences between a shellfish and a starfish than there are between a bony fish and a man. Vernacular names vary widely. The American robin (Turdus migratorius), for example, is not the English robin (Erithacus rubecula), and the mountain ash (Sorbus) has only a superficial resemblance to a true ash.
Biologists, however, have attempted to view all living organisms with equal thoroughness and thus have devised a formal classification. A formal classification provides the basis for a relatively uniform and internationally understood nomenclature, thereby simplifying cross-referencing and retrieval of information.
The usage of the terms taxonomy and systematics with regard to biological classification varies greatly. American evolutionist Ernst Mayr has stated that “taxonomy is the theory and practice of classifying organisms” and “systematics is the science of the diversity of organisms”; the latter in such a sense, therefore, has considerable interrelations with evolution, ecology, genetics, behaviour, and comparative physiology that taxonomy need not have.

ANIMALS

Names for both Male, Female and young ones


Animal
Male
Female
Young
Ass
Jack
Jenny
Foal
Boar
Sow
Cub
Cat
Tom
Queen
Kitten
Bull
Cow
Calf
Rooster
Hen
Chick
Buck
Doe
Fawn
Dog
Dog
Bitch
Pup
Drake
Duck
Duckling
Bull
Cow
Calf
Fox
Dog
Vixen
Cub
Gander
Goose
Gosling
Stallion
Mare
Foal
Lion
Lioness
Cub
Buck
Doe
Bunny
Ram
Ewe
Lamb
Cob
Pen
Cygnet
Boar
Sow
Piglet
Tiger
Tigress
Cub
Bull
Cow
Calf
Dog
Bitch
Pup