Natalie Yancey Photos 1-10

Parasitism- Parasitism is a one-sided relationship benefitting the parasite. Fleas feed on animals such as dogs; this hurts the dog but feeds the flea. My dog Lizzie is seen in this photo scratching at the flea feeding on her flesh. Poor Lizzie.

Commensalism- Commensalism is on of the three symbiotic relationships. Commensalism benefits one organism without hurting the other. A barnacle on a crab shell is a great example of a commensal relationship. It gives the barnacle a place to live, while not harming the crab one bit.

Anther and filament- A flower is made of many parts, two of those are the anther and filament. They make up the stamen of a flower. The stamen is where the male gametophytes are made. At the end of each stamen is an anther. On the stargazer flower, there is a clear view of the anther. A stem called a filament holds up the anther. These two parts (in the photo) make up the stamen.

 . Predation- Predation is when one organism eats another. At my house we have chickens however, along with the chickens we have raccoons as well. To protect our chickens against predation, we have built a chicken coop with a hot wire.

. Spore- Spores are single celled reproductive units that can duplicate or reproduce certain plants without having individual males or females. Mushrooms and ferns can reproduce with spores. This is an example of spores on the underside of fern plants in my yard. Spores are a ferns way of dispersing and reproducing.

Lichen- Lichen is an interesting organism. It formed from an alga and fungus it is refered to as a “mutualistic pairing.” Lichen grows on many things, such as the apple trees in my yard.

Adaption of an animal- Over many years’ animals have adapted by obtaining new traits to enhance their survival rates and performance. My dog, Lizzie’s (featured in the photo) feet have adapted into webbed feet for swimming! Without the webbed feet, Labs would not be the fun-loving, water-obsessed dogs we all know.

Amniotic egg- An amniotic egg has a shell and is waterproof.  It has multiple layers of protective membranes and a yolk to feed the embryo inside. Amniotic eggs have a series of membranes called an amnion, allantois, yolk sac, and chorion. Featured in the photo is an egg from our very own chickens. Though this egg is not fertilized, it is still a great example of an amniotic egg.

Vestigial structures- Vestigial structures are parts of an organism that are no longer used. It is thought that these structures were once important in the early stages of life however, as organisms have adapted they are no longer needed. For example, The Plica Luminaris is a vestigial structure in human eyes that are no longer necessary. The plica luminaris is featured in the photo. 

Bilateral symmetry- Bilateral symmetry occurs in animals. The two sides are exact matches of each other. Most animals are bilaterally symmetrical for example, my cat teddy, as seen in the photo.