Vertebrate Organ Systems
Updated 14 June 2002
Integumentary
A. Functions
1.
protect underlying tissues from
injury
2.
prevent excessive loss or absorption
of water and the consequent effect on tissues
3.
aid excretion and absorption of
specific metabolites and ions
4.
almost all sense organs are derived
in part from the integument
B. Components
skin: composed of epidermis above and the dermis below as well as the derivatives of these two layers (e.g., scales, hair, feathers)
A. Functions
1.
provide a framework for all body
sustems
2.
provide attachments for muscules,
tendons, and fascia
3.
enclose and protect vital organs
4.
serve as a reserve storehouse for
minerals
B. Components
1.
bones, cartilage and ligaments
divided into the axial skeleton (skull, vertebral column, ribs) and the
appendicular skeleton (pectoral and pelvic girdles, limbs)
A. Functions
1.
movement of body and parts
2.
maintenance of posture
3.
internal transport and expulsion (movement
of food through digestive tract, blood through vessels, germ cells through
reproductive tract, bile from gallbladder, urine from kidneys, feces from
alimentary canal)
4.
homeostatic adjustments such as size
of opening of the pupil of the eye, the pylorus, the anus, and blood vessels;
heat production in some vertebrates
B. Components
1.
smooth (nonstriated) muscles of
involuntary control found primarily in wall of digestive tract, genital ducts,
and blood vessels
2.
cardiac muscle of involuntary control
restricted to the heart
3.
striated muscles generally under
voluntary control found attached to the skeleton so intimately that the name
"musculoskeletal system" is often applied; tendons (the connective
tissue bands that bind striated muscle to bone)
A. Functions
1.
capture and physical/chemical
disintegration of food
2.
absorption, detoxification,
alteration, storage, and controlled release of the products of digestion and
metabolism
B. Components
1.
alimentary canal: mouth and oral
cavity with associated teeth, tongue, and jaws; pharynx (associated intimately
with the respiratory system); esophagus, stomach. intestine (divided and
specialized in various ways)
2.
accessary glands: salivary, liver,
pancreas
A. Functions
1.
transport of materials to and from cells
2.
transport, formation, and storage of
blood cells for oxygen transport, defense, and immunogenic functions
3.
drain fluids from between cells and
return it to the regular circulatory system from which it leaked
B. Components
1.
heart, arteries (from the heart to
the tissues), arterioles (small arteries), capillaries (extremely small vessels
connecting arterioles and venules), venules (small veins), veins (from tissues
to the heart
2.
spleen (and other sites in various
vertebrates, but always intimately associated with the digestive tract and/or
skeletal system)
3.
lymphatic system
A. Functions
1.
exchange of gases (primarily intake
of oxygen and discharge of carbon dioxide) between the organism and its
environment (water or air)
2.
various accessary functions from
production of sound to nest building
B. Components
1.
lungs, gills, and/or skin, depending
on which groups of vertebrates are under discussion; lungs and gills are derived from and intimately connected with the
pharyngeal region of the digestive system
A. Functions
1.
chemical, and to a lesser extent
physical, homeostasis (maintenance of a constant internal environment) by (a)
excreting toxic and metabolic waste products, especially those containing
nitrogen; (b) maintaining proper water balance; (c) maintaining proper
concentration of salts and other substances in the blood; (d) maintaining
proper acid-base equilibrium in body fluids
B. Components
1.
kidneys and excretory ducts variously
aided by the gills, lungs, skin, and/or intestines.
2.
the mode of development and use of
common ducts makes this and the reproductive system inseparable morphologically
so that the two are often referred to as the urogenital system.
1.
formation of zygotes by the union of
two gametes to produce new individuals of the same biological species
B. Components
1.
primary sex organs in the form of
male (testes) or female (ovaries) gonads
2.
secondary sex organs concerned with transport
of gametes from their site of formation to their site of union
3.
accessary sex organs assuring union
of gametes, such as glands and external genitalia
A. Functions
1. regulation and correlation/integration of body activities through chemical substances (hormones) carried by the blood.
2. as opposed to the method of action of the nervous system, the endocrine system is slower acting, being limited by the rate of blood flow, but it is capable of long, continuous action.
B. Components
1. a large number of cell types discharge secretions that have regulatory effects on other cells. In more primitive vertebrates, these cells tend to be widely scattered in other tissues. More advanced vertebrates have discrete aggregations of these cells to form endocrine glands.
A. Functions
1. regulation and correlation/integration of body activities through conduction within and between individual cells or neurons, which eventually cause a response in some other system (especially muscular contractions). The nervous system is fast acting; conduction may be faster than 90 meters per second.
B. Components
1.
Central nervous system (CNS): brain,
spinal cord
2.
Peripheral nervous system (PNS):
craniospinal nerves, which exit from the protective skeletal sheath of the
cranium and vertebrae and may be either of a voluntary nature (to striated
muscles) or involuntary (to smooth muscles); nerves of the latter type are
often referred to collectively as the autonomic nervous system. Sensory nerves from either complex sense
organs (e.g., eye, ear) or simple receptors (e.g., cutaneous sensory nerves)
enter the CNS via the craniospinal nerves.