ECHINODERM
"Echinoderms are truly strange animals
because none of them has a head, or eyes, or other kinds of
things we associate with animals. All are built on a five-sided
body plan, probably most obvious in the gorgeous starfish that
you see in front of you. Despite their strange characteristics
though, echinoderms number amongst our closest relatives on
planet earth."
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| DR. NILES ELDREDGE, CURATOR, DEPARTMENT
OF INVERTEBRATES |
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KNOWN SPECIES
Approximately 6,000
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SIZE RANGE
Less than 1 centimeter to 2 meters
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WHERE THEY LIVE
In oceans
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ECOLOGICAL ROLES AND HUMAN USES
Predators, detritus feeders, filter feeders,
herbivores • Some are keystone species (exerting a disproportiante
effect on their ecostystem's structure through their predation)
• Humans use echinoderms as food, as a source of medicines,
and as research subjects in developemental biology.
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