What are the difficulties that you would face in classification of animals, if common fundamental features are not taken into account?
If common fundamental features are not taken into account, classification of animals would become extremely difficult. With over a million species of animals described till now, we would not be able to systematically organize them without identifying common features.
The fundamental features such as level of organisation, symmetry, nature of coelom, segmentation, and notochord enable us to broadly classify the animal kingdom. Without these, we would only observe differences in structure and form among various animals without finding commonalities.
Additionally, we would face difficulty in assigning a systematic position to newly described species. The distinctive characters specific to each phyla or class would become harder to identify, making the classification process disorganized.
Explanation
The textbook explicitly states that fundamental features common to various individuals (arrangement of cells, body symmetry, nature of coelom, patterns of digestive, circulatory or reproductive systems) are used as the basis of animal classification. The Summary section reinforces that these basic fundamental features have enabled us to broadly classify the animal kingdom. Without these, classification would lose its systematic foundation.
Solution Steps
Step 1: Identify the fundamental features mentioned in the context (level of organisation, symmetry, coelom, segmentation, notochord)
Step 2: Explain how these features form the basis of classification as stated in the text
Step 3: Describe the difficulties faced without these features - inability to broadly classify, difficulty in assigning systematic position to new species