Organ and Organ Systems in Animals: Introduction

Organ and Organ Systems in Animals

Introduction

From microbes to the blue whale, organisms occur in different sizes and shapes with a well organized organ and organ systems. The basic tissues (chapter-3) organize to form an organ which in turn associates to form organ systems in multicellular organisms. Such an organization is essential for efficient and better coordinated activities of millions of cells constituting an organism. You are being introduced to understand the morphology and anatomy of three organisms placed at different evolutionary levels to show their organization and functions. Morphology refers to the study of form or externally visible features. The word anatomy is used for the study of internal organs in the animals. This chapter deals with the morphology and anatomy of invertebrates represented by the earthworm and cockroach and the vertebrates represented by the frog and pigeon.