Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Current classification order for herps

A

1) Kingdom: Animalia
2) Phylum: Chordata
3) Subphylum: Vertebrata
4) Class: Amphibia and Reptilia

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2
Q

Monophyletic lineage (clade)

A
  • composed of an ancestor and all of its descendants

- Amphibians (frogs, salamanders, caecilians)

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3
Q

Paraphyletic group

A
  • includes all of the descendants of a common ancestor minus one or more monophyletic groups
  • Reptilia is an example if birds are excluded
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4
Q

-Polyphyletic group

A

-consists of distantly related taxa whose last common ancestor is not a member of the group

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5
Q

Sister group

A

-adjacent branches on the cladogram

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6
Q

Outgroup

A

-outside of the reptile clade

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7
Q

The devonian opportunity

A
  • about 375 mya

- there was a diversity of shallow aquatic habitats which generated a variety of unexploited microhabitats

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8
Q

What was the driving force behind the evolution of the tetrapods

A

-exploitation of new habitats during the late devonian

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9
Q

Tiktaalik

A

-missing link between fishes and walking land creatures

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10
Q

how do we know tetrapods are descended from lobe-finned fish

A
  • labyrinthodont teeth (moze or labyrinth pattern of tooth surface)
  • this is a characteristic not shared with other fishes
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11
Q

Ichthyostega

A
  • a stem tetrapod
  • basically a fish with legs
  • tiktaalik
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12
Q

Transitioning from fish to tetrapod

A

1) Lungs already present for air breathing
2) Passive pump mechanism replaced by buccal-force pump
3) Joints formed (fins to limbs)
4) No more suction feeding
5) Developed elongated jaws, rudimentary ears, nasal passages, thicker skin

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13
Q

Morphology - fins to limbs

A
  • joints formed in “legs” and digits formed from fin rays

- no longer supported by buoyancy in water

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14
Q

How did feeding change from fish to tetrapods

A
  • skull and vertebral column become mobile

- elongated jaws develop

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15
Q

Origin of modern amphibians

A

-250-300 mya

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16
Q

Primitive amphibians: Lepospondyls

A
  • labyrinthodont teeth
  • simple, spool-shaped vertebrae
  • primitive amphibians
  • similar niches to salamanders, caecillians, lizards
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17
Q

Primitive amphibians: Temnospondyls

A
  • labyrinthodont teeth
  • resemble large salamanders, crocodiles
  • sharp, conical teeth, l
  • large fangs suggest they were predators
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18
Q

Carboniferous

A
  • Age of giant amphibians
  • increasingly warm, with moist terrestrial env
  • this env is highly favorable for amphibians
  • 360-286 mya
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19
Q

Gerobatrachus

A
  • earliest fossil that can be clearly assigned to an extant modern amphibian clade
  • could be link to modern salamanders
  • frogmander
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20
Q

Triadobatrachus

A
  • sister taxon to anura
  • early triassic 245 mya
  • protofrog
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21
Q

What generated many of the extant amphibian families

A

=radiation later in the Cretaceous and Paleocene

  • many of these familes are essentially unchanged for epochs
  • red spotted newt is example
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22
Q

Subclass Lissamphibia

A
  • living amphibians

- extant amphibians fall into one of three orders (anura, caudata, gymophiona)

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23
Q

Traits of Lissamphibia

A
  • smooth skin
  • Pedicellate teeth
  • containts poison, pheromone, and mucous glands
  • shell-less eggs
  • three chambered heart
  • ability to elevate the eye
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24
Q

Anuran traits

A
  • fore and hind limbs usually of unequal size
  • usually no parental care
  • external fertilization
  • fused bones (tibiofibula, raidioulna)
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25
Anuran ancestral mode
- typicall have external fertilization and lay eggs | - there is a wide diversity of reproductive modes
26
Typicall less than ___% of tadpoles reach metamorphosis
- 10 | - due to predation
27
Traits of caudates
- have four limbs of equal size usually (sirens are exception) - generally fossorial or aquatic - internal fertilization - aquatic or terrestrial eggs
28
Characteristics of gymnophiona
- eyes covered with skin or bone | - chemosensory tentacles - detects prey
29
Reproductive strategy of caecilians
-all have internal fertilization via phallodeum
30
Parental care for caecilians
- dermatophagy - young feed on mothers enriched skin cells | - grow in length x10 in one week
31
Devonian was the ____
- ago of fishes | - and also first tetrapods
32
Amniotic egg
- shared, derived character of amniotes | - shell protects against desiccation and reduces predation
33
What are the synapomorphies that distinguish the Amniotes?
-skull fenestrae
34
Some unifying characteristics of the class Reptilia
- shelled amniotic egg - scales of epidermal origin made from keratin - internal fertilization through a copulatory organ - 3 chambered heart (except croc)
35
Reptile heart:
- occurs in all reptiles except crocodiles - ridges on heart help oxygenated and deoxygenated blood stay separate - 3 chambers to allow thermal flexibility
36
Subclass Anapsida, stem reptiles
- developed shells and attained huge sizes - led to the modern chelonians - includes turtles
37
Turtles
- only living anapsids and one of the earliest reptile lineages - highly motile neck - origins 220 mya
38
Three hypotheses of turtle origins
1) Anapsid hypthesis 2) Archosaur hypothesis 3) Lepidosaur hypothesis
39
Subclass Diapsida
- most species rich extant group of amniotes - two extant groups are lepidosaurs and archosaurs - have hemipenes, ecdysis, and transverse cloacal slit
40
(lepidosaurs) Order: Rhynchocephalia
- also called tuatara - sister group to all lizards and snakes - series of spines on nape and back - teeth fused to jaw - vestigial eye
41
(Lepidosaurs) Order: Squamata - Suborder: Lacertilla
- True lizards, squamates - egg bearing - most are small and insectivorous, larger species are usually herbivorous
42
(Lepidosaurs) Order: Squamata - Suborder: Ophidia
- Snakes - No limbs, eyelids, or external ear - left lung is reduced or absent - all are carnivorous
43
(Lepidosaurs) Order: Squamata - Suborder: Amphisbaenia
- named after a mythical ant-eating serpent - "to go both ways" - mostly legless, burrow, eat inverts
44
Jurassic/Cretaceous (Mesozoic era)
- Age of the Reptiles | - originated ~250 mya in the Permian
45
End of the age of reptiles
~65 mya - The K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) event - Mass extinctions correlate with the catastrophic impacts of extra-terrestrial objects - 70% of all species on earth went extinct
46
Archosaurs gave rise to the ________
- Crocodylia - originated ~200 mya in the Triassic - only ~23 spp today
47
Order Crocodylia
- eyes and nostrils set high on head - organs remain on surface while the rest of its body is submerged - four-champered heart - Thecodont teeth
48
How to crocodiles feed
- rotational feeding on large prey - ingest stones to help grind hard food items - dispatch food by drowning it
49
Crocodile skin
-armored by sheets of abutting osteoderms
50
Crocodylia heart
- four chambered | - cogged valve allows blood to be shunted from right side of heart, allows intro of deoxygenated blood
51
Subclass Synapsida
- originated 315 mya in the Carboniferous - Eventually led to the modern mammals - "proto-mammals"
52
Crocodiles in mythology
-Sebek who symbolized viscous passions, decit, treachery, hypocrisy
53
Crocodile reproduction
- build nests either as mounds of rotting vegetation or in friable soils - guard nests and may assist young
54
Secondary palate in Crocodylia
- Separation of the oral and nasal cavities | - allows crocs to breathe even when submerged under water
55
Transoceanic dispersal
- dispersal by crossing an ocean - more common in reptiles - rafting
56
Green iguana dispersal
- Rafted several hundreds of km | - Began in Guadelope and traveled to Carribean
57
Tortoise dispersal
- rafting - barnacle growth after 6-7 weeks - capable of long-term sperm storage
58
Transcontinental dispersal
- dispersal by crossing a continent - land bridges ex: ratsnakes: land bridge was mostly composed of deciduous and coniferous forests then
59
human-mediated dispersal
- invasive species ex: trade, traveling vehicles ex: cane toads, red eared sliders, bullfrogs
60
Vicariance
the geographical separation of a population | -creation of a geographical barrier (i.e mountain)
61
Reasons for different species distribution
- Pangea | - cooling/warming periods
62
Island gigantism
-less predators and more food
63
Island dwarfism
-easier to hide and less food required
64
Adaptive radiation
-the diversification of a group of organisms into forms filling different ecological niches
65
Ectotherm
- rely on solar radiation to raise body temps to a functional level - more energy efficient
66
-Endotherm
-regulate body temp by metabolizing the food them eat
67
Pros of ectotherms
- use a fraction of the amount of energy a mammal uses - can convert a greater percentage of the enrgy they consume into body tissue - small body niche is efficient
68
Cons of ectotherms
- difficult to maintain body temps in cold climates - predation risk - go into torpor when food is scarce
69
Brumation
- hibernation for ectothermic animals | - seek thermal refuges to avoid freezing
70
Hibernations
- state of dormancy of endotherms | - deep sleep triggered by env conditions
71
Estivation
- dormancy during very hot and dry conditions | - also seek thermal refuges to avoid overheating
72
Reptile skin and thermoregulation
- highly impermeable skin permits direct exposure to sunlight without excessive water loss - temp control is much more common in reptiles for this reason
73
Activity temp range
-temp range over which an individual is active
74
Optimal temp range
-temp at which performance of some biochemical reaction or behavior is maximized
75
Critical thermal maxima and minima
-higher and lower temps at which locomotion is impaired
76
Inertial homeothermy
-large reptiles are able to maintain a mostly constant body temp
77
Qabs = (S)(A)(vfs)(a)
-rate of absorption of solar energy by animal -S=intensity of the radiation A = surface area of the animal vfs = proportion of the animals surface that is exposed to radiation a = proportion of the energy that is absorbed rather tha reflected
78
Basking
- heliothermy - extensive in reptiles and some amphibians - varies by life stage
79
Regional endothermy
-the ability to generate heat in the viscera, brain, eyes, and slow twitch muscle fibers
80
Producing metabolic heat
- leatherback sea turtle - heat is generated through muscular activity - retained by insulative, thick, oil-filled skin
81
Convection
-heat exchange between the solid (animal) and movement of the medium (air or water)
82
Thigmothermy
- drawing heat into body from contact with a warm object in the env - exchange from solid to solid
83
Evaporative cooling
- water passes across skin, vaporizes on surface | - involves large loss of heat to convert water from liquid to gass
84
Why is evaporative cooling a mjor issue for amphibians
- skin is so permeable that high water loss is continuous | - only few have any control over evaporative hear loss
85
Amphibians in freshwater
- hyperosmotic | - actively sequester ions via gills and skin
86
Amphibians in brackish water
- Hypo-osmotic | - most amphibians would dehydrate in ocean water
87
How do spadefoots survive by being underground for 9 months a year
- start with a full bladder of dilute urine - for first 7 months, their plasma and urine conc dont change - for las 2-3 months, soil dries, toads ramp up their plasma osmolality and continue to extract moisture from soil
88
Cutaneous drinking
- dermal absorption of water - primarily through the seat patch or pelvic patch or venter - amphibians
89
Salamander grooves and annuli
- Costal grooves | - grooves and wrinkles on ventrum draw water from a wet surface up onto animal through capillary action
90
Water gains
- liquid water - performed water - metabolic water
91
Water loss
- evaporation - urine and feces - salt glands
92
Ammonotelic
-in aquatic env
93
Ureotelic
-in moist terrestrial env
94
Uricotelic
-in arid env
95
Aestivation
-dormancy and cocoon formation of dead epidermis or encapsulating dried mucous
96
Biogeography
-past and present distribution of animals
97
What is preformed water
-what that is derived from dietary components like starch, fat, protein