Question

Imagine you discover a new organism. What fundamental feature(s) would tell you it is a member of the superphylum Ecdysozoa? What features would allow you to assign it to one of the three ecdysozoan phyla ?

Answer 1

ans:) superphylum Ecdysozoa contain an incredibly large number of sepecies because it inclyudes it include two of the most diverse group of animals which are phylum arthropoda and phylum nematoda.and the most fundamental and prominent feature of Ecdysozoans is their cuticle.

• tough, but flexible exoskeleton that protects these animals from water loss, predators, and other aspects of the external environment
• members of this superphylum periodically molt or shed their cuticle as they grow.
• After molting, they secrete a new cuticle that will last until their next growth phase.

and the two main superphylum are nematoda and athropoda and their charcterstics feature are:

phylum Nematoda:

The Nematoda, similar to most other animal phyla, are triploblastic, possessing an embryonic mesoderm that is sandwiched between the ectoderm and endoderm. They are also bilaterally symmetrical: a longitudinal section will divide them into right and left sides that are symmetrical. Furthermore, the nematodes, or roundworms, possess a pseudocoelom and have both free-living and parasitic forms.

phylum Arthropoda:

The principal characteristics of all the animals in this phylum are functional segmentation of the body and presence of jointed appendages. Arthropods also show the presence of an exoskeleton made principally of chitin, which is a waterproof, tough polysaccharide. Phylum Arthropoda is the largest phylum in the animal world; insects form the single largest class within this phylum. Arthropods are eucoelomate, protostomic organisms.

The Ecdysozoa include the following phyla: Arthropoda, Onychophora, Tardigrada, Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, Loricifera, Nematoda, and Nematomorpha.

and the most fundamental feature we can assign to one of the three phylum are:

• These organisms have an external covering called a cuticle that protects their soft internal organs from water loss and the outside environment.
• After they molt, or shed their cuticle, they grow in size and secrete a new shell; this is called ecdysis.