In one or two sentences, explain how cats and dogs, both mammals, could be classified as distinct animals. What characteristics set them apart from one another?
Cats and dogs can be classified as distinct animals based on their physical and behavioral characteristics. Cats have retractable claws, are more independent and solitary, and are obligate carnivores, while dogs have non-retractable claws, are more social and trainable, and are omnivores.
Snails and beetles have exoskeletons. Hypothesize the advantages and disadvantages of having an exoskeleton rather than a backbone. Explain your answer in one or two sentences.
The advantages of having an exoskeleton include providing protection from predators and the environment while also providing structural support and muscle attachments, but the disadvantages include less flexibility in movement as the exoskeleton must be shed and regrown during periods of growth. In contrast, a backbone provides more flexibility of movement and growth, but requires significant resources for maintenance.
Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Analyze the common characteristics of reptiles and explain how they differ from mammals. Explain your answer in one or two sentences.
Reptiles are cold-blooded, scaly-skinned animals with a three-chambered heart and lay eggs while mammals are warm-blooded, have hair or fur on their skin, have a four-chambered heart, and give live birth to their young.
The lowest level of taxonomic classification in the Linnaean system, which is the most commonly used system for classifying living organisms, is the species. This is the narrowest and most specific level of classification. To determine the lowest level of taxonomic classification, you would start with the broadest category, which is the kingdom, and then move down through increasingly specific categories, including phylum, class, order, family, genus, and finally species. Each level is based on shared characteristics and represents a progressively smaller subgroup of organisms. Therefore, in this case, the correct answer is species.
