Bio Ch 29 Flashcards
Chordates
euterostomes; don’t have an exoskeleton; have an internal skeleton made of bone and cartilage to which muscles are attached (allows freedom of movement and attainment of a larger body size than invertebrates)
Notochord
dorsal supporting rod; located just below the nerve cord; majority of vertebrates have an embryonic one of these that is replaced by the vertebral column during embryonic development
Dorsal tubular nerve cord
spinal cord, protected by vertebrae
Gills
respiratory organs of aquatic vertebrates
Cephalochordates
ex. Lancelets; marine chordates
Urochordates
sea squirts; AKA tunicates because adults have a tunic (outer covering) that makes them look like thick-walled, squat sacs
Gnathostomes
animals with jaws
Tetrapods
terrestrial vertebrates with 4 limbs
Amniotes
animals that exhibit an amniotic membrane
Fishes
largest group of vertebrates (28K species)
Ostracoderms
earliest fossils of Cambrian origin were these small, filter-feeding, jawless, finless fish
Agnathans
jawless fishes; have a cartilaginous skeleton and persistent notochord; cylindrical, up to a meter long, have smooth, nonscaly skin
Ectotherms
depend on the environment to regulate their temperature
Fins
projections that are controlled by muscles
Placoderms
extinct jawed fishes of the Devonian period; probably the ancestors of early sharks and bony fishes