Week

Wholeness and Main points

1

Chapter 31

Wholeness: Fishes and Amphibians are considered to be more related where the most primitive living animals are fishes and amphibians are the first group of vertebrates to appear on earth. They show similarities in some of their adaptation characteristics.

Main points

1. There are many variations among the present fishes and have peculiar characteristics that enable them to survive in the body of water under different conditions.
2. Amphibians were able to move to land due to the development of certain features.
3. There are unique characteristics that relate fishes with amphibians other than the spinal cord.

There is always a cause and its effect.

2

 
Chapter 32

Wholeness: Reptiles and birds are more advanced animals than fishes and amphibians and are assumed to arise from the evolutionary lines of dinsaurs, which are extinct animals. Both reptiles and birds have developed peculiar features as a mechanism of adaptation to varied environments on the surface of the earth .

Main points

1. Reptiles have amniotic eggs, dry skin and efficient respiratory and circulatory systems to enable them to survive out of water.
2. Reptiles eliminate liquid waste in the form of urine produced in the kidney and conserve water by excreting uric acid.
3. Birds are endothermic reptile like animals with outer covering of feather, two legs and wings for flying.
4. Birds have high metabolic rate and their digestive system is unique and eliminate nitrogenous waste in the form of uric acid.                                                                         

Purification leads to progress.                                     

3

Chapter 33

Wholeness: Mammals include many diverse species ranging from a tiny Mouse to a huge Elephant. Mammals can be found flying in the air, running along the ground and swimming in the sea. Although they differ in size and habitats they share certain common characteristics.

Main points

1. Mammary gland which produces milk for nourishing the young is an important characteristics for grouping these diverse species of animals in the class Mammalia.
2. Mammals are endothermic (able to generate substantial body heat internally) animals and many of them have sweat glands that help cool the body.
3. By the end of the Cretaceous period the Mammals had split in to three groups (Monotremes, Marsupials, Placental mammals)
4. The mechanism of survival of mammals is dependent on the development well advanced physiological functioning that enabled them to cope with varied environments.

The nature of life is to grow.

4

Chapter 34

Wholeness: The study of human origins is an exciting almost frantic search for our past. This complicated story requires the knowledge and skill of many scientists. Research in to human origins has always been spiced with competition among scientists, many of whom have different interpretations and also some facts on which they agree.

Main points

1. Primates have several important adaptations many of which are extremely suitable for life on trees.
2. Humans (Homo sapiens) evolved from common ancestors we share with other living primates such as chimpanzees and apes.
3. Primates have flat faces, reduced snouts, eyes that face forward for binocular vision, flexible fingers and toes, arms that can rotate and a large cerebrum.
4. Hominid adaptations include changes in the spinal column, hip bones and leg bones that allow bipedal (two-foot) locomotion. Hominids also have a much larger brain than other primates.
5. The first recognized Hominids were the australopithecines, all of which walked erect.

The field of all possibilities is the source of all solutions.

5

Chapter 35

Wholeness: The behavior of an animal is a response to stimuli in the environment to either protect it self or attack others as a guarantee to its survival. The behavior of an animal is just an important to its survival and reproduction as any of the physical characteristics. For that reason, animal behaviors have evolved in many different ways just as animal physical characteristics have.

Main points

1.  An organism’s behavior and physical structure are part of a system that include   interrelationship with its environment.

2.   All animal behaviors have their roots in the genetic make up of the individual animal.

4. There are many categories of behaviors that are experienced by different developmental stages in different kind of animals
5. Behaviors of animals must be flexible in order to cope with the changing environment. 

The level of perception is dependent on the level of consciousness.

Chapter 36

Wholeness: The ways in which the similarities and differences among vertebrates have evolved provide some of the most fascinating stories in Biology. The animals represented by the vertebrate family tree have branched off into an enormous diversity of habitats and life styles.

Main points

1. In divergent evolution, related evolutionary lines become more dissimilar as they are subjected to different forces of natural selection.
2. In convergent evolution, evolutionary lines that are subjected to similar forces of natural selection become more similar to one another as they evolve
3. Some vertebrates use gills for respiration; others use lungs. Lungs increase in efficiency as you move from amphibians to reptiles to mammals. Birds have the most advanced respiratory system of all vertebrates. All of which are important for adaptation in diverse habitats
4. As you move through the vertebrates classes, the relative size and complexity of the cerebrum and cerebellum increase.

The whole is more than the sum of the parts.