Final Exam part 3 Flashcards
where are the oldest stromatolites found
In the fig tree formation
where are the earliest shelly animals known?
the late Neoproterozoic; Namibia
what organisms were present in Ediacharan times, “ediacharan organisms”
- large size organisms
- no hard body parts
- no mineralized parts.
- a lot of diversification within the organisms: including exo and endoskeletons
What is Cloudina?
oldest endo and exoskeleton
where was Cloudina discovered?
upper Proterozoic of Namibia
What is the structure of Cloudina
smooth appearance, tube like worm consisting of calcium carbonate; structure similar to that of Nnidarians, had spicles distributed through the soft tissue.
What was the abandoned assumption about the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary
It was thought that this boundary could be determined by the presence of lack there of exoskeletons, but this was proved wrong because of developments in the fossil record.
what are Trace fossils
fossils of unknown organisms; considered tubular worms
where are trace fossils located in the stratigraphic record
late Proterozoic/ late Vendian
What are the 5 stages of late Proterozoic-early Cambrian
Nemakit-Daldynian Tommotian Atdabarian Botomian Toyonian
What is the index fossil for the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary
Trichophycus pedum- this organism moved on the sediment and below the surface so organisms started digging under the sediment, an evolutionary step in the stratigraphic record and a dividing factor between the two boundaries.
Did Ediacarans live above or below the surface?
They lived above the sediment, organisms started digging under the sediment in the Cambrian and Edicarans are in late Precambrian
Why did organisms start living/digging underground; what is the significance of learning to dig underground
To hide for predators; underground they found new sources of nutrients which allowed for the diversification of trace fossils
what was the significance of trace fossils
the had something to do with the Agronomic revolution
what was the tommotion stage and what is its significance
it is the second stage between the late Proterozoic and early Cambrian, the earliest faunas occur in this stage
what is the latouchella
tommotian fauna; first gastropod
what is the structutre of latouchella
looks like a gastropod; coiled and slightly curved
what is the tommotion fauna
diverse group of organisms that evolved skeletons
what was the relationship between tommotion fauna and stromatolites
tommotion fauna were stromatolites’ first predators and the they led to significant decrease of the stromatolites
what are sclerites
long row of appendiges that played a protective role against small predators
what are the tree main tectonic structures
- Canadian shield- vistas of ancient rocks in Precambrian periods
- North American Platform
- Mobile Belt- oceans where techonomic movements occur
describe the evolution of earth’s climate
alternating succession between greenhouse and icehouse climate start as greenhouse
what is the relationship between the earth’s climate and the rate of evolution
there is higher evolution rate during greenhouse periods
what is the Sauk transgression
sea-level fluctuation which led to new ecological niches
where were the stromatolites located
In the Us/western interior, shallow waters in the intertide area during the tommotian
what are Archaeocyathids?
the first reef builders, and the second major step in diviersification
what is the structure of archaeocyathids?
shaped like a cup, calcitic, root-like structure, As an outer and inner wall with an empty space inside. The two walls are separated by longitudinal structures, and spores that allow fliter feeding.
what is the burgess shale
a structure discovered in british Colombia which was found 535 million years ago and in it they discovered organisms that did not resemble modern phyla
who discovered the burgess shale
Walcott
why were the organisms in the burgess shale well-preserved?
it was situtated in techtonic plates, subducted under one of the plates were there was a lot of volcanic eruption. Also, it was in anoxic conditions so water was toxic so there were no scavengers
what indicates that the burgess shale experienced anoxic conditions
the dark-colour of the sediment
what is Pikaia?
the oldest chordate;cephalocordate
what was the structure of the Pikaia
has a pair of small antennae at the head and tapering tale used for swimming
what is the Modern Brachiostoma
considred to be linked or descendant from the Pikaia,
what is the structure of the Brachiostoma
- Notochord
- V-shaped muscles
- mouth has tenticals
what is the Opabinia
Found in the Burgess shale, has 5 eyes and a well developed head and extended mouth, was the first organisms to dig in the sediment.
what is the Anomalocaris
first major predator that became cannibals because they were successful predators in the history of life found in the burgess shale
what is the structure of the Anomalocaris
two eyes on lateral sides of the head
when was the evolution of invertebrates
burgess shale, shelly fauna
bioturbation
distribution of sedminetary deposits by living organisms
agronomic revolution
diversification and consolidation of the burrowing faunas in the proximity of the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary
what organisms produced trace fossils int eh Neoproterozoic
filter feeders
what was the impact of the agronomic revolution
new organisms evolved in seas and oceans
what happened to trilobites during the Cambrian explosion?
diversification
what are metazoans
multicellular organisms made out of tissue-grade with no organs
what characterizes the phylum cnidaria
they have a nematocysts- which is a cell that discharges paralyzing or killing poison
what are the two stages of the phylum Cnidaria
Polyp stage: asexual reproduction; root like structure attached to the sea floor (frequent in reefs)
Medusa stage: sexual reproduction, jelly-fish like organism (frequent in photic and aphotic zones)
what are the three classes of Cnidarian classification
Hydrozoa- marine/fresh water; polyp stage; no mineralized parts; late cretaceous
Scyphozoa- marine; lack hard body parts; occur in the fossil record only as impressions; Cambrian
Anthozoa- includes mos living cnidarians; polypstage; late proterozoic
what is the class hydrozoa
Cnidaria that were marine and live in fresh waters, exist only in the polyp stage
what are the subclasses of Class Anthozoa
Octocoralia- seapens and sea fans
Zoantharia- reef builders
what are the three major orders of the subclass zoantaria
Order Tabulate
Order Rugosa
Order Scleractinia
what are the characteristics of the order tabulate
- They are in the subclass of zoantaria.
- The individual organism is called corallite
- There are horizontal plates called tabulae that separate the corallite, and they colonial not solitary
what are the characteristic of the order Rugosa
- They evolved to be solitary as well as colonial
- Majority no longer have tabulates
- interior is separated by vertical structures called septae
- restricted to shallow waters because of symbiosis with algae
- the solitary ones are in the deeper waters and are called a hermatic corals
what are ahermatic corals
tetracorals that are solitary and live in the deeper portions of the water.
what types of symmetry do tetracorals have?
- Cardinal septum- not attached to a septa
2. Counter septum- attached to lower order septae.
what are the lower septae of the tetracoral usually attached to
the alar and counter laterals
what a columella?
thick calcareous structure at the center of the corallite
when did the order scleratinia evolve?
After the great dying (Permian-Triassic boundary), all corals belong to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic period and therefore they exist during the 5 crisis of the Mesozoic period
what are the 5 crisis of the Mesozoic
- Cretaceous/Paleogene
- Triassic/Jurassic
- Permian/Triassic
- Frasnian/Famennian
- Ordovician/Silurian
only the Permian/Triassic is a major crisis, the rest are major extinctions.
what symmetry to tetra and hexacorals have
- tetracoral: 4 fold
- hexacoral: 6 fold
how are hexacorals classified
between hermatypic and ahermatypic
What is the evolutionary process of hexacorals
started out symmetrical and circular then were stretched and elongated into complex structures
How are septae added in hexacorals
in sets at 60 degrees
how are the septae classified in hexacorals
the oldest septae- protoseptae
the others are known as- metaseptae
What are the four major crisis in history of life and when did they happen
- early crust formation, during the archean times
- Reducing to oxidizing atmosphere: Archean to Proterozoic
- the snowball earth: cretatious people
- the great dying: the end of the phanerozoic
what were the four major crisis and when did they happen
- early crust formation- formed due to the hot earth coming into contact with the cold outer space (archean)
- atmosphere formation- a result of volcanic outgassing (archean-proterozoic)
- ocean formation- accumulation of water from vapour condensation (snowball earth: Neoproterozoic/cryogenian)
- Catastrophic meteorite bombardment- planets being out of orbit. (end of the phanerozoic)
what was lost and gained in the first crisis in the history of life
loss: primitive organisms
gain: stromatolites
how did the second crisis in the history of life occur
- Increase of stromatolites which turned the atmosphere from reducing to oxidizing
what was lost and what was gained from the second major crisis
- loss: death of organisms
2. gain: eukaryotes and sexual reproduction
how did the third crisis in the history of life occur
the world became too cold
what was lost and gained from the third crisis of life
mass extinction
evolvement of animal multicellularity
what happened in the fourth crisis
whole earth became covered in stagnant water and high volcanic activity made earth too hot.
what was lost and gaine during the fourth crisis
mass extinction: 90% of species lost
gain: evolution of conscience
how did mammals evolve
before the great dying reptiles conquered the temperate regions of the earth, and before the great dying the produced a set of reptiles that led to mammals
what are echniodermata?
marine organisms protected by a shell. Shell has many clcitic pieices called plates or sclerites
what modern animals are considered Echinodermata
sea urchin, sea lilies, sea cucumbers, starfish, sand dollars
what are the 5 echinoderms that dominated the odiovician
Crinoidea Ophiuroidea asterozoa Holothuroidea echinoidea
what are the characteristics of Crinioidea
- branches on the upper part of the body form a crown
- stalk has columnar plates connected with a ligament
- branches are united in a caly
what are the characteristics of Asterozoa
- 5-fold symmetry
- coelomic cavity
- occur as isolated plates or sclerites
- eventually evolved out of pentameral symmetry to more complex symmetry
what are the characteristics of Ophiuroidea
- 5-fold symmetry
- non coelomic cativity
- deep ocean habitat
- isolated plates or sclerites
what are the characteristics of Echinozoa
- Pentameral symmetry
2. w/ or w/out superimposed bilateral symmetry
how are echinozoa (echinids) classified
regular- pentameral; this form was there at beginning of evolution to the palozoic
irregular- pentameral with superimposed bilateral symmetry Mesozoic times is when they evolved a new symmetry
what is blastoidea
- echinoderms from the odivician to the Permian
- attached to the sea-floor
3.
what is stylophora
- assymetrical
- flat test
- most moving in echniodersm
how are the echinoderms before and after the great dying different
before: assymetrical
after: symmetrical
what are Eocrinoidea
Similar structure to the Criniods very similar to blastoidea.body is protected by plates
- has pores
- root-like structure
what is the stratigraphic range of Eocrinoidea
Cambrian to Silurian
what is Helicoplacozoa
echinoderm that lacked any symmetry
- body is covered by calcitic plates
- has ambulacral and interambulacral zones
- no root-like structures
- no symmetry calcitc plates rotate around the organism
what is the stratigraphic range of helicoplacozoa
lived only in the early Cambrian
Tribracidium
considered the missing link with edrioasterodiea
modern Lancelets
in modern seas and oceans.
transparent skin
v-shaped muscles
what was the predator of the anomalocaris
myllokiunmingia
what are conodonts and why are they significant
The are the link between notochords and vertebrates. They are composed of calcium phosphate and traces of organic matter
what are characteristics of notochords
- They have a chewing apparatus
2, bilateral symmetry - lateral eyes
what was the stratigraphy of notochords
born in the upper Cambrian evolved in the Cambrian Triassic period and reached their peak at the Paleozoic, became extinct at the third extinction because of the stagnant waters. After the great dying the evolved again and conquered, grew a lot because of the abundance of food in the oceans after the grate dying. Evolved very rapidly and diversely
what category are the conodonts animals placed in
craniata
what is special about conodont burial
the deeper their are buried the darker the colour so scientists are able to do a lot of measurements and analysis using it as a scale. It eventually tells us if hydrocarbons formed in the basin.
where do vertebrates appear in the fossil record
The beginning of the Cambrian (not in the middle-upper Cambrian) then reappear in the Ordovician
Sacabmbaspis
Agnathan, with 20 shields protecting its head making it protected from predators but slow moving. constrained to the bottom of the basin. In the early Ordovician
Placoderms
Devonian marine animals that make the most evolutionary success and started to pursue the trophic chain. They were split into arthrorides and aniarachs
Arthrorides vs. Aniarachs
Arthrorides- descendants of ostracorderms, became large predators
Aniarachs- do not swim frequently in oceans
what are the important types of Devonian fish
sharks and bony fish
characteristics of sharks
- Devonian period
- gave birth to living offspring unlike other fish at this point
- started out small
- Bones made of cartilage and flexible and their muscles heavy and strong this combo made them great swimmers
what are bony fish
an important group of Devonian fish that had a bony skeleton.
what are the two types of jaw development in bony fish
non protractile: new technique for fish to get oxygen into the blood and make the muscles stronger and increase speed. So they developed movement of the lower jaw to allow oxygen in
protractile: added technique of moving the upper jaw to allow even more oxygen in.
What was the significance of the dipinio (lung fish)
They showed the next evolutionary step in fish, as they evolved a two part lung system like land vertebrates that allowed you stay on land for extended periods of time
Lobbed Finned Fish
most evolved bony fish, first came in the lower Devonian and then diversified in the upper Devonian. Known for well-developed extended muscle tissue
Summarize the survival techinques of the bony fish that led to their evolution
- Get Many
- Get faster
- Get out of the water
when did the lobe-fined fish become extinct, and what is the updated date on this
Cretaceous period, it was actually found alive in the Indian ocean in the 1930s- Latimeria and then more were found in the deep oceans of Indonesia
what is the morphology of Latimeria
Fish that has lower fins that act like ligs, similar to the modern day frog fish
what are the biological differences between fish and amphibians
Respiration: fish: delicate to allow for filter breath, amphibians swallow air so there is need for a chest bone
what are the stem tetrapods
Acanthostega: shorter muscles, compressed head, still attached to the water, needs to keep the skin wet
Icthyostega: stronger and more developed muscles, can be land for longer and go longer distances, similar to reptiles, eventually muscles became smaller in order to compensate for this lack of buoncy on land
what two groups did the earliest tetrapods give birth to
Amphibia- led to the evolution of amphibians
Amniota- led to the birth of birds and mammals
what are stem tetrapods
the organisms that are neither descendants of the amphibia or amniota groups
What are Pederpes
first stem tetrapod with five toes, discovered in the carboniferous
When was the diversification of stem tetrapods
the lower carboniferous
what is Temnospondyls
the tetrapod that is considered the ancestor of amphibians
what is Anthracosaurians
tetrapods that is the ancestor of the amniotes
how are amnoites classified and what are these classifications
They are classified by the wholes in their skulls behind the eyes sockets
ANAPSID (no holes);
DIAPSID (two holes);
SYNAPSID (one hole).