Invertebrates Biology Writing Lab

..Hello? Is this thing on?
Ah, okay. Good.

Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog post! A couple weeks ago I told you all about vertebrates. You know, organisms that have those weird things called backbones? Yeah, those guys.
Pfft. Weirdos. Who needs backbones nowadays anyway.

Well anyway, today we're going to be talking about their relatives that don't have backbones, the invertebrates!

In case you haven't caught on at this point, an invertebrate is the exact opposite of a vertebrate. Meaning they lack backbones. Invertebrates outnumber vertebrates by a staggering number (see my vertebrates post for more information), but they mostly consist of insects.
Creepy crawleys.
Pests.
The things that keep your hand out of that suspicious hole in the ground.
Yeah, those guys.

Along with insects there are also mollusks (including clams, octopi and squids), crabs, worms and jellyfish. Granted jellyfish don't have any bones, let alone backbones, but you get the idea.

If I were to pick my favorite invertebrate however, it'd have to be the Blanket Octopus.
Yes, you heard me correctly. I actually think I did a post on these guys once...
Anyway, Blanket Octopi are a type of octopus (der) that lives in the open water of the Indian Ocean, which is uncommon for an octopus. This is because Blanket Octopi look like, well, blankets. Or floating debris. Their 8 arms have multiple layers of skin connecting them to each other, allowing the Blanket Octopus to look like a large leaf floating in the ocean, or debris, or some random blanket. This is very effective at confusing predators. But if their disguise doesn't work, they can simply detach a bit of their webbing to distract a predator.
Furthermore, if THAT doesn't work, they can still shoot ink out in defense like any other octopus.
Not to mention they're a beautiful shade of red! What's not to love!

Well, that just about wraps up my blog post on invertebrates. I hope you learned something today, and I shall see you all in the next post. Buh-Bye!

Biology Lab/Assignment: What is a Vertebrate?

"Tell what a vertebrate is by definition and how you can tell a vertebrate from invertebrate. Then pick a vertebrate and talk about it."

Hmm. Seems easy enough.
Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog post! Man, it feels like it's been ages since I've done one of these.
...Maybe because it has been ages. Oh well! I'm here now, and today we're going to be talking about invertebrates and vertebrates!

Now, there's around a 50/50 chance right now that you're thinking "DJ!! WHAT on EARTH is a VERTEBRATE?"
Well my friend I'm about to tell you. A vertebrate, is an animal that has a backbone. These include, but are not limited to:
Dogs,
Cats,
Hippos,
Frogs,
Bony fish,
Dinosaurs,
And humans. The backbone, or better known as the spine, is a very crucial part of every vertebrates body. It travels up and down your, well, back and carries messages from the rest of your body to your brain, and vice versa. If your spine were to be broken, not only could you be permanently paralyzed due to lack of nerve messages being transmitted, but you could  also get stuck in a sideways-bent position. Forever.
Imagine watching TV sideways. Doesn't sound too fun, now does it?

Now, your spine also allows you to twist and turn, bend and stretch. Without it, you'd probably be a slumped over gelatinous mass. The same thing qualifies for all other vertebrates in the animal kingdom. An invertebrate, however, lacks a backbone. These creatures still send signals to their brain and back, but their nervous systems are usually much more complex than ours. Most of them are also unable to twist and turn, bend and stretch. Some invertebrates include:

Jellyfish,
Mollusks (such as clams and octopi),
Some worms,
Sponges,
Some cartilaginous fish,
Spiders,
Scorpions,
Anything else like them,
Crabs,
And insects. Bugs, bugs, and so many more bugs are all invertebrates.

Truth be told, around 90% of all animals on Earth are invertebrates. Don't believe me? Okay, think of it this way. There's around... 7 billion people on Earth? Well most invertebrates are, in fact, insects. And for every single person on Earth, there are 170 MILLION insects. That means there's..... hold on let me find my calculator.
1.258E18 insects on Earth. What does that mean? Well, to put it into actual number terms, there are roughly:
1,258,000,000,000,000,000,000 insects on Earth! Now isn't that just incredible?

Well, now that you know what vertebrates and invertebrates are, according to my instructions I'm supposed to tell you about one vertebrate.
I hate it when she does these things. Only one? There's so many to choose from though!

Hmm... Oh well. Lets talk for a second about the Birds of Paradise. I'm not going to talk about one specifically, because they're all so incredible. Here's a link to a photo gallery on Bing: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Birds+of+paradise&FORM=HDRSC2

Anyway, Birds of Paradise can be found over by good-ol' Indonesia, and there's around 42 species overall. These birds are simply incredible. Each one of them is incredibly different from the other, each with their own magical display. Some of them use their psychical abilities to scare off predators, others use them to attract a pretty lady. Some use them for both! The best part? Due to living in such a remote location, not only do they lack predators, but they also haven't been tampered with by humans yet!
Well, most of them anyway. The Birds of Paradise are an incredible example of why we need to preserve this planet, not destroy it. Both our rural, neighboring, and foreign areas need our help to stay strong.

Well, that's all I've got for today. Credit for the link goes to Bing.com, and I will see you all later on in life!