Animal Diversity Web

The natural characteristics of the area where an organism lives; the particular location where an organism normally lives.

The single, backwards pointing toe possessed by many birds

Referring to an animal such as a seal pulling itself ashore.

An area dominated by low-growing shrubs with woody stems and narrow leaves (e.g. heather), which often predominate on acidic or upland soils.

the arm of a male cephalopod (Phylum Mollusca, Class Cephalopoda, including squid, cuttlefish, and octopi) which is used to transfer a spermatophore into a female's mantle chamber. This arm is specialized as an intromittent organ.

An animal, usually without young of its own, which contributes to the survival of the offspring of others by behaving parentally towards the offspring.

Metamorphosis in which the organism grows by continual molting to change from a young nymph into an adult without a pupal stage. Synapomorphy of the Pterygota.

the primary body cavity of most invertebrates, containing circulatory fluid.

Referring to a plant that has little or no woody tissue and usually persists for a single growing season.

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

an animal which possesses both male and female functioning sex organs and can, therefore, mate both as a male or as a female. Common in invertebrates but rare in vertebrates.

Having segments that differ in function and appearance. Synapomorphy of the Insecta, convergent in the Branchiopoda+Maxillopoda+Malocostraca.

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

Sum the number of heterozygous individuals for each gene, divide this by the total number of individuals in the sample, and average over all genes.

Referring to an individual in which the alleles of a given gene are different.

the state that some animals enter during winter in which normal physiological processes are significantly reduced, thus lowering the animal's energy requirements. The act or condition of passing winter in a torpid or resting state, typically involving the abandonment of homoiothermy in mammals.

a distribution that more or less circles the Arctic, so occurring in both the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographic regions.

Found in northern North America and northern Europe or Asia.

a pattern of egg cleavage in early development in which the entire egg is divided with each cell division. Contrast to meroblastic cleavage.

Complete metamorphosis during development, from a growing larvae to a differentiating pupa to a reproducing adult. Synapomorphy of the Holometabola.

The area in which an animal normally lives, whether or not it defends the area from other animals; the area that an animal learns thoroughly and habitually patrols.

see homoiotherm

animals that regulate their body temperature independently of ambient temperature fluctuations.

an organism that provides food or shelter for another organism; often refers to parasitic relationships.

Upper (proximal) bone in the forelimb of tetrapods. Synapomorphy of the Tetrapoda+Eusthenopteron.

The offspring of parents of different species.

Living or growing in moist places.