Using the popular phylum-by-phylum approach and both live and preserved commercially available specimens, this comprehensive collection of 25 lab exercises in the structure and function of invertebrates allows readers to discoverhands-onhow the animals actuallywork.Throughout, readers make observations, conduct investigations, and ask and answer questions. Features phylogenetic descriptions, simple geological time scales, etymon for each phylum name, simple pronunciation guide for scientific names, and abundant illustrations.The Protozoans. Phylum Porifera. Cnidaria. Phylum Ctenophora. Phylum Platyhelminthes. Phylum Nemertea (Rhynchocoela). Phylum Gastrotricha. Phylum Rotifera. Phylum Acanthocephala. Phylum Mollusca. Phylum Annelida. Phylum Nematomorpha. Phylum Nematoda. Phylum Onychophora. Phylum Tardigrada. Phylum Arthropoda. Phylum Sipuncula (Sipunculida). Phylum Phoronida. Phylum Bryozoa. Phylum Kamptozoa (Entoprocta). Phylum Brachiopoda. Phylum Echinodermata. Phylum Chaetognatha. Phylum Hemichordata. Phylum Chordata.For anyone interested in the structure and function of invertebrates.

Invertebrate zoology is an enormous field. About 96% of all animal species lack backbones, but this assessment may be too conservative. Recent estimates suggest that 10 million insect species in the Amazonian forests have yet to be described. If this prediction is true, the numerical dominance of invertebrate species will be approximately 99%. Nevertheless, humans seem preoccupied with organisms possessing vertebral columns, especially if an animal resembles, in any way, one of those cuddly toys made for young children. Invertebrates, on the other hand, are often viewed with disgust, evoking unwarranted fears and horrific screams of terror when encountered in a disused corner of a basement, in a half-eaten apple, or crawling on one's body. We do not mean to imply that invertebrates do not cause human suffering or seriously damage agricultural products. They do, and it is for these, reasons and because as a group the invertebrates possess such diverse and rich biologies that they are worthy of intensive study.