Experiment 2: Creating a Phylum Key

10 Jun Experiment 2: Creating a Phylum Key

Question
Experiment 2: Creating a Phylum Key

In this experiment you will take a closer look at the characteristics that describe the eight major phyla.

Materials

Table 1

Table 2

Procedure

1. Table 1 contains all of the main features of the eight major phyla discussed in the Introduction. Organize and identify which characteristics belong to which phyla. The number of rows represents the number of characteristics that fall into each phylum.

Record your results in Table 2.
Table 1: Phylum Characteristic Table

1

2

3

4

5

A

Bilateral phylum with segmentation

Most have a calcium containing shell

Five-part symmetry

Specialized cell, but no tissues

Mantle of tissue covering the body

B

Hollow body cavity for food

Three tissue layers, no body cavity

Setae used for movement

Jaws and skulls part of evolution

Complete digestive tract

C

Parasites

Water flows through canals of body

The first to have jointed legs

The first phylum to fly

Some have stinging cells

D

More complex because of more DNA

Body design is a tube within a tube

Tube feet

First muscle and nerves

Internal skeleton

E

All live in the sea

Simple animals with bilateral symmetry

Entrance and exit the same in the digestive tract

All have vertebral column

Champions of variations in appendages

F

Has the most species

Have spines covered with a thin skin

Some stationary polyps

Some are mobile medusa

Some propel using their siphon

G

Muscular foot used to move

Stationary animal

Tubular mouth at the mid-body

Humans

Hard but flexible bodies with small plates

H

Spicules are the skeleton

Radula used to feed

No symmetry

Exoskeleton

Their burrowing has affected the global climate

Table 2: Phylum Taxonomic Key

Porifera

Cnidaria

Platyhelminthes

Annelida

Arthropoda

Mollusca

Echinodermata

Chordata

Post-Lab Questions

Were any of the features used in more than one Phyla? If so, give an example of an organism from each phyla that shares the feature.
List three features from Table 1 that describe a Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)? Using the features you listed, determine what phyla it is classified in.