Vertebrates 2 Flashcards
What are the fish that gave rise to the tetrapods often known as?
Tetrapodomorph fish
The spiracular region is the beginnings of a tetrapod … …
middle ear
Tiktaalik was discovered in … …
arctic canada
- dates to 383MYA
… -> Tiktaalik -> Tetrapods
Panderichthys
Tiktaalik had reduced … …, allowing more … flexibility, larger … and a longer …. It also had flexible pectoral fins that may have acted as …
gill covers, head, ribs, snout, props (bones homologous to tetrapod limbs)
Name two of the first tetrapods (from 365MYA)
Acanthostega and icthyostega
- had pelvis, limb formation, ribs
- although still had long tail and operculum
- had polydactyly
What is the most basal described tetrapod (described recently)?
Parmastega
- eyes on top of head
- spiracle on top of head - for gaining air?
These tetrapods had features advantageous to life … …. It is important to distinguish the evolution of tetrapods and the evolution of terrestrial vertebrate life as 2 separate events
in water
Name a fish that uses fins for walking
Frog fish (type of angler fish)
Tetrapod like tracks have been found before panderichthyes
which really throws a spanner in the works dunnit?
Reduction of digits in birds and mammals is usually associated with…
high speed running (e.g. ostriches and some artiodactyls e.g. antelopes)
What are the two ways in which number of digits can be reduced?
- Reduced expression of a gene called PTCH1
- Cell death (apoptosis)
convergent evolution is shown in these ways of reducing digits (e.g. pigs and cattle reduced gene expression, camels and horses cell death)
The amniotes are all tetrapods except…
amphibians
Which tetrapods gave rise to the amphibians?
Batrachomorphs
temnospondylls and lepospondylls
What are the three amphibian groups?
- urodeles, anurans, caecilians
Amphibians have … skin
permeable - susceptible to water loss and vulnerable to things in their environment
The African clawed frog has…
a lateral line and fish like eyes as it is a purely aquatic animal
Anuran body form evolved because of advantage in…
swimming with hind legs
Anurans have reduced … and an enlarged … called a …
vertebrae, pelvis, urostyle
Toads hop more than they jump, leaving them vulnerable to predation. Therefore, many have evolved…
poison gland in their skin for protection
Caecilians are either … or …
burrowing, aquatic
- why they have lost limbs
Unlike anurans and urodeles, caecilians have …
scales
Amphibians have the … … and the …-… … in their ears
papilla amphibiorum, operculum-columella complex
Amphibians gained … rods in their retina, in addition to the .. rods (excluding caecilians)
green, red
Amphibians have … teeth
pedicellate (dentine separated by connective tissue)
Amphibians have a … … muscle which causes their eyes to bulge forward, enlarging their … …, and allows the bilateral turning of their eyes for hunting
levator bulbi, buccal cavity
Caecilians have … fertilisation and…
internal, give birth to live young or lay eggs
Female caecilians can give birth to up to … offspring, which have up to … the body length of adults. Energy for growth is first supplied by yolk, then by the mother (“… …” secretions from walls of oviducts)
nine, 60%, uterine milk
Foetal caecilians have foetal … for scraping the oviduct walls for nourishment (evolved several times independently)
dentitions
Axolotls are a … species
paedomorphic
Urodeles fertilise internally using … made of a … base with a sperm cap
spermatophores, gelatinous
Salamanders display … and … cues for mate attraction
visual, pheromonal
Salamanders transfer pheromones by … … in aquatic environments and skin slapping, biting or rubbing in terrestrial species
tail fanning
Most urodeles have aquatic eggs and larvae. Purely terrestrial species are …
ovoviviparous
In some species of urodele, paedomorphosis depends on….
ecological conditions
All frogs are …
carnivorous
The tibia and fibula of anurans are …
fused
- for extra leg strength
The amphibian life cycle we know and love is…
only really common in temperate regions
There is less predation pressure…
on land than in aquatic habitats
-> requires various, often convergent adaptations against desssication
Increasing egg and larval size enhances…
their survival rate
Another way to enhance survival is to increase…
parental care
- this has also evolved many times convergently
- trade-off of production of fewer, more costly eggs with longer developmental time vs many eggs
Foam nests are produced from secretions from the …
oviduct - frothed up by males and females hind legs - protects eggs from drying out and hides them fro predators - has evolved six times across different continents
Some frogs lay eggs on leaves that…
overhang water, so they fall in once they hatch - has evolved 3 times - sometimes folded into large leaves, sometimes guarded by male
Some terrestrial frogs display … and some even display … or … brooding
ovoviviparity (and 3 true viviparity), mouth, stomach
Male poison dart frogs often have (and defend) territories of up to several hundred m2. They have terrestrial egg clutches, and tadpoles hatch and…
climb onto their parent’s (male or female) back, where they are transported to aquatic sites. Small ephemeral water bodies are usually predator-free, but also contain no food, so some species feed tadpoles with unfertilised eggs
For reproduction, frogs (mostly) communicate …
acoustically (unlike pheromones and visual cues in salamanders) - generally only males call - amplified by vocal sack in circle around frog
What are the pros and cons of acoustic signalling?
Pros - easy, circumvent obstacles, works in the dark
Cons - usually travel short distances and cover short time periods. Can attract predators. Costly to produce
Tungara frogs - whines or whines+chucks
Chucks increase predation risk but males who produce more chucks chosen by females
- only one male - no chucks only whines
- more males = Whines+chucks
Frogs that live in very noisy environments, e.g. waterfalls, use … signals
visual - e.g. lifting legs (evolved convergently 3 times)
When did the most amniote diversification occur?
Permian period
There was a division of the tetrapods into the … (which gave rise to the amphibians) and the … (which gave rise to the amniotes)
batrachomorphs, reptilomorphs
The diversification of the tetrapods was thought to be driven by the radiation of … and possibly increased diversification of …
insects, vegetation
The Amniotes (during the permian period) diversified into the … (which gave rise to the mammals) and the … (which gave rise to all the other amniotes (reptiles and birds)
Synapsids, sauropsids
What is the main feature that draws together the amniotes?
The amniote egg - 3 extraembryonic membranes (chorion, allantois, amnion) - no larval stage - has to be laid on land (egg is porous and we don’t want no drowning up in here)
What is the allantois for?
Waste products + gaseous exchange (as heavily vascularised)