1 / 40

Comparing Animal Nervous Systems

Comparing Animal Nervous Systems. Anne Perrella MCB-HHMI Harvard University. How do animal nervous systems differ?. Compare them Ask: What does a nervous system need to do? How does a particular animal’s nervous system do this?. Nervous System. Input Sensory neurons Decision-making

morrison
Download Presentation

Comparing Animal Nervous Systems

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Comparing Animal Nervous Systems Anne Perrella MCB-HHMI Harvard University

  2. How do animal nervous systems differ? • Compare them • Ask: • What does a nervous system need to do? • How does a particular animal’s nervous system do this?

  3. Nervous System • Input • Sensory neurons • Decision-making • Interneurons • Output • Motor neurons

  4. What kinds of animals are there? • Nine “traditional” taxonomic phyla: • Porifera - sponges • Cnidaria - jellyfish • Platyhelminthes - flatworms • Nematoda - roundworms • Annelida - segmented worms • Arthropoda - crustaceans, arachnids, insects • Mollusca - squid, etc. • Echinodermata - starfish, sea urchins • Chordata - includes vertebrates

  5. What to ask about each phylum? • What kinds of sensory input? • What kinds of decision making? • What kinds of response?

  6. What kinds of sensory input? • Light - photons • Chemicals - (food/poison/mate) molecules • Sound/touch - pressure waves

  7. Light: • Photoreceptors (lightbulb wingding) • Simple light detectors: eye-cups ocellli omatidia eyes

  8. Chemicals: • Chemoreceptors • Food - (webding banana) • Poison - (webding bomb) • Mate - (webding heart)

  9. Chemicals: • Chemoreceptors • Simpler animals: localized in several places on animal’s surface • More complex animals: concentrated at head • (e.g. smell/taste @ nose/mouth)

  10. Sound/touch: • Pressure waves • Air - moving air molecules • Water - moving water molecules • Touch - physical contact (predator/prey/mate)

  11. Sound/touch • Mechanoreceptors (hand/speaker wingdings) • Usually contain cilia that trigger when moved • Simpler animals: • Distributed throughout surface • More complex animals: • Surface (e.g. skin) • Localized (e.g. lateral line, ears)

  12. Decision making: • Choosing an appropriate response: • E.g. fight/flight/mating/homeostasis • Requires interneurons: • Direct the sensory input to the output

  13. Interneurons • Simpler animals - not present • More complex animals: • Central nervous system: • Brain - located at the front (head) • Spinal cord - runs down the center, branches off where needed

  14. Rapid Response • Motor neurons: • Trigger response - (usu. Movement)

  15. For each animal: • Identify the sensory neurons: • Photoreceptors (lightbulb wingding) • Chemoreceptors (banana/bomb/heart wingding) • Mechanoreceptors (hand/speaker wingdings)

  16. Common name: moon jellyfish • Species: Aurelia • Phylum: Cnidaria

  17. Common name: moon jellyfish • Species: Aurelia • Phylum: Cnidaria

  18. Common name: planarian • Species: dugesia • Phylum: platyhelminthes

  19. Common name: planarian • Species: dugesia • Phylum: platyhelminthes

  20. Common name: C. elegans (a roundworm) • Species: C. elegans • Phylum: Nematoda

  21. Common name: C. elegans (a roundworm) • Species: C. elegans • Phylum: Nematoda

  22. Common name: Earthworm • Species: Lumbricus • Phylum: Annelida

  23. Common name: Earthworm • Species: Lumbricus • Phylum: Annelida

  24. Common name: Crayfish • Species: Procambarus • Phylum: Arthropoda (crustaceans)

  25. Common name: Crayfish • Species: Procambarus • Phylum: Arthropoda (crustaceans)

  26. Common name: Garden spider • Species: Argiope • Phylum: Arthropoda (arachnida)

  27. Common name: Garden spider • Species: Argiope • Phylum: Arthropoda (arachnida)

  28. Common name: Garden spider • Species: Argiope • Phylum: Arthropoda (arachnida)

  29. Common name: Garden spider • Species: Argiope • Phylum: Arthropoda (arachnida)

  30. Common name: Garden spider • Species: Argiope • Phylum: Arthropoda (arachnida)

  31. Common name: Garden spider • Species: Argiope • Phylum: Arthropoda (arachnida)

  32. Common name: grasshopper • Species: romalea • Phylum: Arthropoda (insects)

  33. Common name: grasshopper • Species: romalea • Phylum: Arthropoda (insects)

  34. Common name: Squid • Species: Lolliguncula • Phylum: Mollusca

  35. Common name: Squid • Species: Lolliguncula • Phylum: Mollusca

  36. Common name: Starfish • Species: Asterias • Phylum: Echinodermata

  37. Common name: Starfish • Species: Asterias • Phylum: Echinodermata

  38. Common name: Frog • Species: Rana pipiens • Phylum: Chordata

  39. Common name: Frog • Species: Rana pipiens • Phylum: Chordata

  40. For further reading: • Campbell Biology, 6th edition (2002) • Ch. 33 Invertebrates (p.646-77) • Ch. 34 Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity (p.678-717) • Ch. 48 Nervous Systems (p.1038-51) • Ch. 49 Sensory and Motor Mechanisms (p.1057-84) • Invertebrate Zoology, a Functional Evolutionary Approach, 7th ed. (2004) Ruppert EE, Fox RS, Barnes RB. Brooks Cole Thomson, 963 pp.

More Related