ORIGIN OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES Flashcards
Amphibians and reptiles are not closely related evolutionarily:
physiological, behavioral, and ecological similarities
_____________ reduced global diversity of amphibians and reptiles several times, only to be followed by relatively rapid diversification events within some of the surviving groups.
Major extinction events
___________ are descendants of the first
terrestrial vertebrates.
Living amphibians
__________ have successfully exploited most
terrestrial environments while remaining closely tied
to water or moist microhabitats for reproduction.
Amphibians
________ are not each other’s closest relatives evolutionarily, yet they have traditionally been treated as though they are related.
Amphibians and reptiles (collectively, herps)
The recent discovery of many specimens of this elpistostegalian sarcopterygian from a single Late Devonian locality in Arctic Canada greatly improved our understanding of the transition to tetrapods within fishes.
Tiktaalik
___________, a fossil that represents the divergence of birds within reptiles
Archaeopteryx
MAJOR FEATURES OF EARLY TETRAPOD EVOLUTION
- Movement
- Respiration
- Feeding
- Skin
- Sense Organs
What period is the first TETRAPOD known from?
Late Devonian
What period is the first AMPHIBIAN known from?
Middle Mississippian
What period is the first AMNIOTES known from?
Middle Pennsylvanian
The first amniotes were:
Archaeothyris (synapsid)
Hylonomus, and
Paleothyris (repltiles)
had a mix of amphibian and reptilian traits
Casineria
the earliest known reptile, from the Early Permian of Nova Scotia, about 42 cm SVL
Hylonomus lyelli
Evolution of Reptiles in Cenozoic Era:
Turtles, Snakes, Lizards, Tuataras, Crocodiles and Alligators
