Tetropods Flashcards
What matters in Traditional Classification?
Anatomy and Physiology
Tetrapod
Has 4 legs. (Some have been modified to wings)
What are the traditional tetrapod classes?
Amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Which tetrapod classes lay amniote eggs and which lay anamniote eggs?
Amphibians lay anamniote and reptiles, birds, and mammals lay amniote eggs.
Which tetropods are ectothermic?
Amphibians and reptiles.
Which tetropods are endothermic?
Birds and mammals.
Amniote egg.
Does not need a moist environment to survive. It also has a yolk to feed the baby.
Anamniote egg
Must stay moist to survive.
An Endothermic reptile.
Python
Ectotherms are at the mercy of…?
The environment.
Carolina miss in amphibians.
Caecilians: These are tropical.
What order do salamanders fall under?
Caudata (The tailed ones)
Why must salamanders stay moist?
They lack scales. Their body does not conserve water very well.
How do sallies’ legs differ from lizards?
They are weak and to the side; not land efficient.
How do salamanders communicate?
Pharamones
Since salamanders let the eggs fend for themselves, what precautions do they take to defend the eggs?
The eggs are covered in a gelatinous mass.
Why do salamanders lay a lot of eggs?
They leave the eggs to fend for themselves and need at least some to survive.
How many eggs do salamanders lay?
200-300
What kind of fertilization do most salamanders do?
Internal
Where do salamanders lay their eggs?
Most lay them in the water, but some more terrestrial species, like the marbled salamander, lay them in a moist environment.
Metamorphasis
Begins life as a larva and transforms into an adult.
Direct Development
Born as a miniature adult (with a big head and big eyes).
Salamander metamorphosis.
This is the norm for salamanders. They hatch out as a larva and use their tail to get around. They have wimpy legs and external gills. Most will get rid of the gills as they morph into an adult.
Which salamanders do direct development?
Some of the terrestrial salamanders; for example the Green Salamander. They lay their eggs in a moist environment. When they are born they use their gills or skin to breathe.
Where do green salamanders live?
In trees.
Terrestrial adult salamanders
Mole salamanders and woodland salamanders
Semi-Aquatic adult salamanders
Dusky salamanders
Aquatic adult salamanders
Newts, Mudpuppies, Hellbenders, Sirens, Amphiumas
Mole salamanders
Sturdy terrestrial salamanders, made for digging, and have aquatic larvae. One species is the spotted salamander
What is the largest global family of salamanders?
Plethodontinae. The woodland salamanders fall under this category.
Woodland Salamander
Slimy. Slender and delicate compared to the mole salamander. One of the terrestrial salamanders.
Characteristics of woodland salamanders.
Breathe purely through skin, slow moving, direct development, internal fertilization.
Species of Woodland Salamanders.
Green salamander, Eastern Newt (which is poisonous), Redback salamander.
Where can you find Dusky salamanders?
Near a falls.
How do you tell the difference between a Northern and Southern Dusky?
Tail
Do Dusky Salamanders come up on land much?
They might come up on a rock in a creek for a little bit, but they stay pretty near the water.
Newts are what kind of salamander?
Aquatic
Name two newts.
Spotted and eastern
Characteristics of newts.
No gills, breathe through their skin or lungs; this is why they hang out at the surface of the water. They use their tail for maneuverability.
Do aquatic salamanders ever live on land?
Yes, some morph into a form suitable for land after living in the water for a while, like the red eft (which also changes color). After living on land for about a year the red eft turns green and morphs back into a water dwelling salamander.
Mudpuppies
Aquatic salamander with a flattened tail and is found in highly oxygenated water. It keeps its gills as an adult.
Hellbender
Aquatic salamander about 2.5-3 feet long. They look like Mudpuppies; flattened tail, internal gills. Rare around here, but can be found in flat rock areas. A relative of the Japanese Giant Salamander.
Which groups of salamanders are the weirdos?
Amphiuma and Siren.
Amphiuma
Aquatic salamander that looks like an eel. It has little tiny feet and internal gills. It is mean; will bite and hang on.
Amphiuma habitat
Murky, low-country swamp.
Siren
Aquatic salamander with external gills and front feet, but no back feet.
Siren habitat
Coastal plain, in cleaner water than the amphiuma.
From what order are frogs and toads?
Salientia, aka Anura: “no tails”.
Frogs and toads lay what kind of eggs?
Anamniote
Frogs and toads lay eggs in the form of…
Sometimes a bunch, sometimes a string.
What kind of fertilization do frogs and toads use?
External fertilization.
What reproductive mechanism do frogs and toads use to attract a mate?
Their voice. This is important because they lay a lot of eggs and the bigger the male, the more eggs that can be fertilized.
In comparison to salamanders, how many times more eggs do frogs lay?
3-4 times as many.
Frog and toad lifecycle.
Starts out as an anamniote egg. Almost universally, frogs and toads undergo metamorphosis. They start out as a larva (tadpole) with internal gill, then they start to develop (hind legs first). They will lose their tail.
What characterizes frogs and toads?
No tail.
What are the three groups of frogs?
True toads, true frogs, and hylid frogs.
True Toads
Most adapted to dry conditions because they have more carotin in their skin, so that they can absorb and retain water. They have poison glands in their warts, especially the ones behind their eyes. Not very good jumpers.
What makes true toads more adapted to dryness.
The amount of carotin in their skin.
Which group of frogs and toads are good jumpers?
The true frogs.
Name two true frogs.
The Southern Leopard frog and the green frog. This group also contains the bull frogs.
If a frog makes a peep before it jumps in the water, what kind of frog is i most likely?
Green Frog.
What are the three groups of hylid frogs?
Tree frogs, Chorus frogs, and Cricket frogs.
Which frogs are better at climbing than jumping?
Tree frogs
Name a tree frog.
Gray Tree Frog.
What is the gray tree frog camouflaged to look like?
Lichen