ENTERPRISING ECHINODERMS
Professor Mike Bruton, informal science educator, museum and science centre development consultant
Thursday 22 January 1.00 pm COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58
The five-rayed (pentaradial) echinoderms have adopted a unique, otherworldly body plan to face the challenges posed by living in the sea, as all other major animal groups are bilaterally symmetrical, at least as adults. They are also the only major group of animals that lives exclusively in the oceans, with no freshwater or terrestrial representatives. Why is this? Although they have a standardised body plan, the starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, bristle stars, basket stars and sea lilies vary greatly in form and function. Furthermore, they have many skills that we, as mere humans, don’t have, such as the ability to digest food outside their bodies and regenerate lost limbs. But how can an animal with no brain or blood survive the cut and thrust of the arms race between predators and prey in the ocean? Find out more about these enterprising, starstruck critters.
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