Evolution of Life

Paper Summary:

This paper gives brief descriptions of the different phyla. This includes their different characteristics, their main innovative features and their advantages over lower phyla. The paper also includes an application of the dichotomous key for determining the phylum or class of any given organism, as well as how the determination was arrived at.

From the Paper:

"Phylum Porifera. The members of this phylum essentially represent single cell organisms organized into a multicellular organism at the simplest level (Aaseng, 1993a). Essentially immobile and filter feeders, members of this phylum are characteristically porous and irregularly-shaped bodies (ibid.). Phylum Cnidaria. The members of this phylum are a "step up" from poriferans (Aaseng, 1993a). They possess regularly-shaped bodies and have radial symmetry. Their cells are organized into specialized tissues, such as tentacles surrounding the digestive cavity (ibid.). Phylum Platyhelminthes. This phylum represents the beginnings of cephalization; this also implied the beginnings of a central nervous system as well and organized tissue layers of ectoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm, from which different organs are derived (Aaseng, 1993a). Members of this phylum also possessed mobility (ibid.)."

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