QUESTION 1

a.) Biodiversity is the variety of all living organism on earth; living things in all forms
and combinations. Biodiversity is separated within three types which is ecosystem
diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity. From the question given, two
species from different phyla in Figure 1 that I choose is Jaspis Splendes and Valanga
Nigricornis. The reason why I choose these species is because they both shows the
big differences towards each other based on their characteristics. First and foremost,
Jaspis Splendens’s species is from phylum Porifera which is the simplest
multicellular of pyhla in Kingdom and also consist of all species of sponges. This
species exhibits a cell as their system level of organization. This species also is a
parazoa which means that they are all has no true tissues or germ cell to be specify
since it is only made from cells only. Most animal organisms consist of different type
of body symmetry such as radial, bilateral and so on. Radial body symmetry is an
arrangement of body parts of an organism that will have the similar or exact shape
when it is been cut in any angles meanwhile bilateral body symmetry will not have
the similar or exact shape when it is been cut in different angles. Unlike the other
organisms, most of the sponges are asymmetrical which no body symmetry present,
However, there is only few species in phyla Porifera that have radial symmetry like
Leucosolenia sp and glass sponges. As we know, most of living things has body
cavity or can be defined as coelom that help the organisms in absorbing shock,
support the immune system and circulatory system and so on. Jaspis Splendens’s
species is classify as acoelomate. Acoelomate is an organism that does not possesses
a body cavity. According to Roy, S. (2022, November 22). Coelom: Coelomic Fluid,
Functions & Types. Collegedunia. Retrieved from
https://collegedunia.com/exams/coelom-biology-articleid-3546
coelom is not present in Porifera due to no mesodermal cells existed in Porifera.
Therefore, the Porifera species used a mechanism called diffusion to absorbs some
nutrients by the specialized cells called Amoebocytes and for respiration. Due to no
body cavity nor no germ cells, this species does not have a segmentation.
 Next species that I choose is Valanga Nigricornis which came from Phyla
Arthropoda. According to Phylum Arthropoda - Characteristics & Classification of
Arthropoda. (n.d.). Byjus. Retrieved from https://byjus.com/biology/arthropoda/ the
term “arthropod” means “jointed legs”. The phylum included invertebrates with an
exoskeleton and jointed legs, that eventually named as arthropoda. Phylum
Arthropoda is classified as the largest phylum in Kingdom and most successful
phylum in terms of species diversity, number and distribution. They exhibit organ as
their system level of organization. This species is a triploblastic or can be known as
eucoelomate which is a body that derived from three embryonic cell layers that
classified as endoderm (innermost germ layer), ectoderm (outer layer of cells) and
mesoderm (outer layer of cells). This organism has a true body cavity and their
coelom has a complete mesodermal lining on both sides. The fluid in coelom forms a
hydrostatic skeleton which helps in locomotion in organisms and gives the body a
definite shape. It has bilateral symmetry because it could be divided into same halves
by drawing a line down the center and has extensive cephalization. This species has a
segmented bodies where it will be fused to form specialized body regions which
called as Tagmata,

b.) As time goes by, the number of some species in Malaysia has been reportedly
decreasing drastically and become threatened. Based on Figure 1, I choose tapirus
indicus as one of the species that become threatened and might undergoes extinction.
According to a statistic shown in Naranjo, C., & Torres, L. -. (2021, March 9). Tapirs
(extant/living species; Tapirus spp.) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status.
LibGuides. Retrieved from
https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/tapirs/population, population of all species
are decreasing from time to time and only about 2,500 (perhaps 3,000) mature Malay
tapirs remaining (Traeholt et al. 2016). This is very worrying and worst all tapir’s
species will become extinct. There is some factors that might be a big contribution in
tapir’s species’s extinction. Among them is hunting or poaching. Usually, people will
 exploited tapir’s meat and turns its skin into some accessories materials such as belts,
shoes and others since tapir has a hard and resistant skin. Tapir also very popular to
the traditional medicine in various cultures. Other than that, deforestation also one of
the main reason tapir’s species went extinction in a rapid rate. This is because,
humankind uncontrollably destroying their habitats in order for them to build houses,
buildings and others so that they can advancing our country’s economy without
knowing this can causes a huge damage to tapir’s species hence exceeded the
carrying capacity. Apart from that, a larger amount of predator’s population such as
python, crocodile and others preys also affected the population of tapir because these
preys feed on tapir and thus decreasing the number of tapir’s species. Lastly,
pollution can affected tapir’s species. Pollution can be in any forms but the major is
air pollution. So, when our atmosphere is polluted with so many different components
such as dirt, sulfuric acid, ammonium sulfate and others, it will causes difficulty in
breathing, eyes irritation, ingestion or particles in food or water and so on. This will
makes tapir’s species to sick and suffered from it. So, in order to prevent this species,
a few measures has been carried out for the conservation of tapir. First, government
should forbidden poaching and take decisive action against those who disobeys so
that they will have an extra awareness about this issue. Second, established a legal
protection of endangered species. For examples, we can preserves them in In-situ
conservation like Nature reserves & National Parks and in Ex-situ conservation like
Zoo Negara. Third, we can conserve tapir’s species by spread awareness to public
using any platforms in order to open society’s eyes about this extinction. Lastly,
destroying all the snares that were set up to avoid them from getting injured and the
hunters from catch them. Ultimately, let’s we all together save tapir’s species from
extinction and preserve them so that we still have this species in the next generation.

References

1. Study.com. (2021, October 25). Porifera Characteristics, Examples & Habitat | Sponge
Phylum Porifera - Video & Lesson Transcript. Retrieved from
https://study.com/learn/lesson/porifera-charactersitics-habitat-phylum.html
2. Minni, M. (2023, January 24). Phylum Arthropoda: Definition, History, Class - Embibe.
EMBIBE. Retrieved from https://www.embibe.com/exams/phylum-arthropoda/
3. Protecting Malayan Tapirs. (2021, January 31). The ASEAN Post. Retrieved from
https://theaseanpost.com/article/protecting-malayan-tapirs