Of all classes of animals - higher and primitive - many species use different (sometimes quite original) methods of movement on water, under water, in the air and on surfaces. Ways of animal movement depend on many factors: formation in the process of evolutionary development, the presence or absence of a skeleton, and other structural features of a particular species.
The most important feature
The ability to move is one of the properties of living organisms, no matter what class or species they are classified by scientists. Even plants carry out movement inside at the cellular level. And animals, unlike plants, tend to move the whole body, thereby pursuing various goals: searching for food, reproduction, protection from enemies. Because movement is the very life of wildlife and, in particular, its fauna.
Methods of movement of animals. Classification
All of them are divided into several large groups by type.
- Amoeboid. The name comes from the word amoeba. This simplest animal does not even have a permanent form, and its body consists of one cell and has the ability to constantly change shape. On the body, peculiar outgrowths are formed, called pseudopodia (pseudopodia). Thanks to these adaptations, this simplest is able to move. Under a sufficiently strong microscope, one can see how it rises, as it were, on short outgrowths, like on paws, and rolls, carrying out a motor process.
- Reactive. Some other protozoa (for example, gregarines) move in this way, sharply secreting mucus from the end of the body, which pushes this animal forward.
- There are also protozoa that hover passively in some medium (for example, in water). And what are the ways of movement of unicellular animals? They have an enviable variety.
- With the help of flagella and cilia. Such methods of movement of animals are also characteristic of protozoa. Devices carry out various movements: wave-like, oscillatory, rotational. With the help of these movements, the animal itself (for example, euglena) also moves, making a spiral trajectory. According to Norwegian scientists, some flagellates that live in the seas can rotate around their axis at a tremendous speed: 10 revolutions per second!
- With the help of muscles. These methods of movement of animals are characteristic of many species that havemuscle structure or similar. With the help of muscles, all mammals, including humans, also move.
Evolutionary development
During the evolution of animals from the simplest and unicellular structures of organisms to higher multicellular organisms with various organs and functions, the ways of animal movement also evolved. Over millions of years, the most complex motor systems have been developed that allow different species to get food, run away from the enemy, defend themselves and multiply. It is characteristic that only a few of the known animals carry out a sedentary lifestyle. The vast majority move in various ways.
With the help of muscles
Multicellular representatives of the fauna are characterized by the implementation of movement with the help of muscles, which are formed by a special tissue called muscle. This structure has the feature of shrinking. By contracting, the muscles set in motion the levers, which are the components of the skeletons of animals. This is how the movement is carried out.
Who is in what much
So, with the help of muscle structures, slugs and snails glide over surfaces. Earthworms, using abdominal muscle movement, cling to uneven soil with their bristles. Leeches use suckers, and snakes use skin scales. Many animals, by raising their bodies above the ground, move with the help of their limbs, thus significantly reducing friction. As a result, the speed of movement also increases (the fastestanimal on the planet is a cheetah, which develops a speed of over 110 kilometers). Some animals jump (even on water). Some glide in the air or fly. Some dive or swim in the water or in the depths. But muscle strength is used everywhere.
Unusual ways of moving animals
- Freshwater hydra moves with peculiar steps and somersaults. She bends the body and attaches to the surface with tentacles, then pulls the sole. And anemones move very slowly, contracting and relaxing the muscles of the sole itself.
- Cephalopods (squid, octopus) are capable of jet locomotion. They suck liquid into a special cavity in their body and forcefully throw it out through a narrow funnel. This moves the body in the opposite direction.
- The basilisk lizard runs fast on water (2 meters per second). On the surface of the water, it is held by air bubbles under the scales of the paws.
- Gecko runs along a vertical glass wall at a speed of 1 meter per second without falling. This happens due to special suction cups on the legs of the lizard.
- Decorated snakes of paradise found in Asia fly through the air from tree to tree using the flattening of their body, which for the time being turns into a kind of flying saucer.
Results
Different types of movements are characteristic of all animals that exist on our planet. The process itself is carried out in several ways. Each of the living organisms is adapted to certain types of movements characteristic of it.
This material can be used to conduct a lesson on the topic “Methods of movement of animals. Grade 5.”
