animism

Examples of animism in the following topics:

• Requirements for plant and animal life

• Genetic Engineering in Animals

  • The purpose of genetic engineering in animals is to create animals with special characteristics.
  • Scientists are now capable of creating new species of animals by taking genetic material from one, or more, plants or animals, and genetically engineering them into the genes of another animal.
  • This allows scientists to create animals that are completely foreign to the earth and specifically tailored to possess only the traits that humans desire in animals .
  • Natural animals are specifically adapted to a given environment and when science manipulates the genes of a few species in the ecosystem, the entire balance of the ecosystem might fall completely apart and cause an unknown number of natural animal species to grow extinct.
  • Typically, animals could be owned, but never entire species.

• Ethical Guidelines for Animal Research

  • Others argue against extending equal rights to animals, positing that human interest should be placed above the well-being of animals.
  • Many argue that animal research has yielded substantial benefits to the human race, and that these outweigh the negative effects on animals.
  • Animals excluded from this act are birds, rats, mice, farm animals, and cold-blooded animals.
  • A variety of animals are used in experiments.
  • Mice and rats were the most frequently used animals.

• Complex Tissue Structure

  • They also make up the ducts of the liver and glands of advanced animals.
  • The animal kingdom is divided into Parazoa (sponges) and Eumetazoa (all other animals).
  • As very simple animals, the organisms in group Parazoa ("beside animal") do not contain true specialized tissues.
  • Animals with true tissues are in the group Eumetazoa ("true animals").
  • When we think of animals, we usually think of Eumetazoans, since most animals fall into this category.

• Characteristics of the Animal Kingdom

  • The animal kingdom is very diverse, but animals share many common characteristics, such as methods of development and reproduction.
  • Since then, animals have evolved into a highly-diverse kingdom.
  • But what is an animal?
  • They must identify traits that are common to all animals as well as traits that can be used to distinguish among related groups of animals.
  • All animals are heterotrophs that derive energy from food.

• Inoculation of Live Animals

  • In the past few decades, animal inoculation has been employed for virus isolation.
  • The laboratory animals used include monkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, and mice.
  • Handling of animals and inoculation into various routes requires special experience and training.
  • Growth of the virus in inoculated animals may be indicated by visible lesions, disease, or death.
  • Sometimes, serial passage into animals may be required to obtain visible evidence of viral growth.

• Animal Reproduction and Development

  • Most animals undergo sexual reproduction and have similar forms of development dictated by Hox genes.
  • The majority of animals undergo sexual reproduction.
  • These genes that determine animal structure are called "homeotic genes."
  • This family of genes is responsible for determining the general body plan: the number of body segments of an animal, the number and placement of appendages, and animal head-tail directionality.
  • Hox genes are homologous in the animal kingdom: the genetic sequences and their positions on chromosomes are remarkably similar across most animals (e.g., worms, flies, mice, humans) because of their presence in a common ancestor .

• Animals and Culture

  • Animal culture refers to cultural learning in non-human animals through socially transmitted behaviors.
  • Animal culture refers to cultural learning in non-human animals through socially transmitted behaviors.
  • There are other learned activities that have been exhibited by animals as well.
  • Though the idea of culture in animals has only been around for just over half of a century, scientists have been noting social behaviors of animals for centuries.
  • Formulate a thesis which defends the idea that non-human animals have culture

• Pre-Cambrian Animal Life

  • It is believed that early animal life, termed Ediacaran biota, evolved from protists at this time.
  • Some protist species called choanoflagellates closely resemble the choanocyte cells in the simplest animals, sponges.
  • Another recent fossil discovery may represent the earliest animal species ever found.
  • Until this discovery, most scientists believed that there was no animal life prior to the Ediacaran period.
  • Many scientists now believe that animals may, in fact, have evolved during the Cryogenian period.

• The Cambrian Explosion of Animal Life

  • During the Cambrian period, the most rapid evolution of new animal species occurred, but the cause of this explosion is still unknown.
  • The Cambrian period, occurring between approximately 542–488 million years ago, marks the most rapid evolution of new animal phyla and animal diversity in earth's history.
  • Environmental changes may have created a more suitable environment for animal life.
  • The morphological flexibility and complexity of animal development afforded by the evolution of Hox control genes may have provided the necessary opportunities for increases in possible animal morphologies at the time of the Cambrian period.
  • Unresolved questions about the animal diversification that took place during the Cambrian period remain.