ACTIVITY1DICHOTOMOUSKEY

TAXONOMIC KEYS

Aid for rapid identification of unknown organism.

Constitute important literature (manuals, monographs, floras, etc.)
Key characters (diagnostic characters, important & conspicuous characters)
Unknown organism must be carefully studied, described, and characterized
before identification.

DICHOTOMOUS KEY - consist of a series of paired statements, termed couplets,

which describe some feature of the organism.
TYPES OF DICHOTOMOUS KEY
1. Yoked or Intented
1. Fruit an chene
1. Calyx differentiated from corolla ... 1. Ronunculus
2. Calyx not differentiated from corolla . 2. Clematis
2. Couplet
1. Animals with backbone
1. Animals without backbone
2. Vertebrates with feathers

3. Branch

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GUIDELINES FOR CONSTRUCTING DICHOTOMOUS KEYS

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Should be dichotomous (pair or 2)

Two leads should of a couplet should be mutually exclusive
Statements should not overlap
Two leads should start with the same initial word
Initial words should not be successive
Vegetative and reproductive characters should be separate
Avoid vague statements
Male and female characteristics of dioucious plants should be separate
Couplets should be divided into equal halves

10. Leads should be prefixed by numbers or letters

ACTIVITY2PORIFERA
SPONGES or PORIFERANS

Latin porus pore and ferre tc bear

Animals of the phylum porifera
Translates from Latin Pore-bearer
Primitive, sessile, mostly marine, water dwelling, filter feeders
Pump water through their bodies that filter out food particles
Simplest animals
Parazoa no true tissues
Lack muscles, nerves, and internal organs
Similarity to colonial choanoflagellates show probable evolution jump from
unicellular to becoming multicellular

TYPES OF CELL IN PORIFERANS

1. Choanocytes
a. Collar cells
b. Functions as the sponges digestive
c. Microvillis that are used to filter particles
d. Beating of flagellum creates sponges water current
2. Porocytes
a. Tubular cells
b. Make up the pores into the sponges body through the mesohyl
3. Pinacocytes
a. Pinacoderm
b. Outer epidermal layer of cells
4. Archaeocytes or Amoebocytes
a. Totipotent cells
b. Transforms into sclerocytes, spongocytes, or collencytes
5. Sclerocytes
a. Secrete calcareous siliceous spicules which reside in the mesohyl
6. Spongocytes
a. Secerete spongin, collagen-like fibers which make up the mesohyl
7. Collencytes
a. Secrete collagen
SPICULES

Stiffened rods or spikes

Made of calcium carbonate or silica
Used for structure and defense
Arranged in a gelatinous mesohyl gelatinous non-ceullular matrix

THREE BODY TYPES OF SPONGES

1. asconoid
2. syconoid
3. leuconoid
FOUR CLASSES OF SPONGES
1. Calcarea bony
2. Hexactenallida glass
3. Demonspongiae sponging
4. Sclerospongiae coralline sponges