Comparative

Vertebrate Anatomy
Chordate Origins & Phylogeny
Presented by: Geonyzl Lepiten
 Comparative vertebrate anatomy - the
study of structure, of the function of
structure, & of the range of variation in
structure & function among vertebrates:
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
 Vertebrate characteristics:
1 - notochord (at least
in the embryo)
2 - pharynx with
pouches or slits in
wall (at least in the
embryo)
3 - dorsal, hollow
nervous system
4 - vertebral column
 Notochord = rod of living cells ventral to
central nervous system & dorsal to
alimentary canal

Fate of notochord during development:

 Head region - incorporated into floor of
skull
 Trunk & tail - surrounded by cartilaginous
or bony vertebrate (except in Agnathans)
 Adults:
 Fishes & amphibians - notochord persists the
length of the trunk & tail but is constricted
within the centrum of each vertebra
 Reptiles, birds, & mammals - notochord almost
disappears during development (e.g., remains as
a pulpy nucleus in the vertebrae of mammals)
 Protochordates - notochord remains as the chief
axial skeleton
 Agnathans - lateral neural cartilages are located
on notochord lateral to the spinal cord
 Pharynx - region of alimentary canal
exhibiting pharyngeal pouches in embryo;
pouches may open to the exterior as slits:

 permanent slits - adults that live in water

& breathe via gills
 temporary slits - adults live on land
 Dorsal, hollow central nervous system - consists
of brain & spinal cord & contains a central cavity
(called the neurocoel)
Vertebrate beginnings
 Among the oldest & best known
= ostracoderms

 fishes that occurred in the late Cambrian period

(see The Cambrian Explosion) through the
Devonian (about 400 - 525 million years before
present)
 had bony plates and scales (&, therefore, were
easily fossilized)
 jawless vertebrates called 'armored fishes'
 Before ostracoderms?
Myllokunmingia fengjiaoa (pictured below) &
Haikouichthys ercaicunensis - primitive fish that
have many similarities to living hagfishes and
are the oldest vertebrates (530 mybf) ever
found.
 Before Vertebrates?
 Cathaymyrus diadexus (literally the
'Chinese eel of good fortune')

= is not the fossil of an eel. At just 5 cm

long, but 535 m.y. old, it is the earliest
known chordate.
= Researchers think that Cathaymyrus is a
fossil relative of modern lancelets
(amphioxus).
Cathaymyrus
 Phylum Chordata - established in 1874
& included organisms with:
 1 - notochord
 2 - pharyngeal pouches or slits
 3 - dorsal, hollow nervous system
 4 - cells that produce the hormone
thyroxine
 Subphylum Urochordata = tunicates
 Chordate 'ancestor' of vertebrates:
 sessile (like adult tunicates)
 tail evolved as adaptation in
larvae to increase mobility
 'higher forms' - came about by
retention of tail (neoteny)
 Tunicate larva - also called 'sea squirt'
 notochord is confined to the tail
 notochord is lost during metamorphosis
into sessile adult
 possess pharyngeal slits
Tunicate anatomy Larval stage of the
tunicate
Subphylum Cephalochordata=
Amphioxus (or Branchiostoma)
 Vertebrate features:
 notochord
 dorsal, hollow nervous system
 pharyngeal gill slits
 'circulatory' system - vertebrate pattern with
'pumping vessels' (but no heart)
 Hemichordates = acorn worms
Bateson added acorn worms to the
phylum Chordata in 1884 because
they have:
 1 - a dorsal, hollow nervous system
 2 - gill slits
 3 - a short diverticulum of the gut
called the stomochord
Present consensus = the stomochord is
not homologous with the notochord
and Hemichordates are placed in a
separate phylum
 Possible invertebrate ancestors:
 1 - annelid worms

 Evidence for:
– bilateral symmetry
– segmented
– central nervous system with brain
& longitudinal nerve cord
 Evidence against:
– nerve cord is solid
– nerve cord is ventral
 2 - echinodermata - chordate
characteristics include:
– radial cleavage - blastomeres in adjacent tiers
lie directly above one another (as opposed to
spiral cleavage)
– anus forms near or at blastopore
(deuterostomous)
– mesoderm arises as outpocketing of the gut
wall
– indeterminate cleavage (i.e., fate of
blastomeres isn't predetermined)
 Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Superclass: Pisces
 Class Agnatha
Class Placodermii
Class Chondricthyes
Class Acanthodii
Class Osteichthyes
 Superclass: Tetrapoda
 Class Amphibia
Class Reptilia
Class Aves
Class Mammalia
 Agnathans vs. Gnathostomes:
 semicircular canals
– agnathans have 1 or 2
– gnathostomes have 3
 jointed, paired lateral appendages
– agnathans have none
– gnathostomes do
 jaws
– agnathans have none
– gnathostomes do
 Class Agnatha
 Orders:
 1 - Osteostraci 2 - Anaspida
 3 - Thelodonti
 4 - Galeaspida
 5 - Pituriaspida
 6 - Petromyzontia (lampreys)
 7 - Myxinoidea (hagfishes)
 Ostracoderms (Osteostraci, Anaspida,
Heterostraci, & Coelolepid):
 1 - extinct Paleozoic (Cambrian to Devonian)
jawless fish with an external skeleton of bone
('bony armor')
2 - oldest known vertebrates
3 - many had flattened appearance (some
may have been bottom-dwellers)
 Cyclostomes (Petromyzontia & Myxinoidea):
 Lampreys - parasitic with horny, rasping teeth
(see drawing at right) Hagfishes - primarily
scavengers
 Gnathostomes
 Acanthodians:
 1 - earliest known gnathostomes (Silurian;
about 440 mybp)
 2 - probably related to modern bony fishes
 3 - small (less than 20 cm long) with large
eyes
 4 - Acanthodians most likely died out
because of the rapidly increasing number
of ray-finned fishes and sharks during the
Permian
 Class Placodermii:
 1 - Silurian (about 420 million years before
present) 2 - probably off the main line of
vertebrate evolution
 3 - many had bony dermal shields
 4 - some were probably predators (with
large, sharp 'tooth plates')
Vertebrate Eggs
 Types Eggs
A. Alecithal = Eggs with little yolk
ex. Amphioxus egg
b. Mesolecithal = eggs with moderate
amount of yolk
ex. Freshwater lampreys
ganoid fishes
lungfishes
amphibians
C. Megalecithal = massive amount of yolk
ex. Monotremes
marine lampreys
teleost
reptiles
birds
 Types of distribution of yolk
a. Isolecithal = even distribution of yolk
present in alecithal eggs
b. Telolecithal = the cytoplasm and yolk
tends to concentrate or accumulate at
the oposite poles.
present in mesolecithal eggs
and in megalecithal eggs
 Oviparity and Viviparity
 vivipary: the embryo develops inside the body
of the mother and living young is delivered
: reared by the mother.
: but the eggs of viviparous animals
lack a hard outer covering or shell like the
chicken egg.
:Viviparous young grow in the adult
female until they are able to survive on their
own outside her body.
 :developing fetuses of viviparous
animals are connected to a placenta in the
mother's body
 Egg-laying, or oviparous, animals obtain
all nourishment as they develop from the
yolk and the protein-rich albumen, or
"white," in the egg itself, not from direct
contact with the mother, as is the case
with viviparous young.
: expulsion of undeveloped eggs
rather than live young.
 ovoviviparity :animals develop within
eggs that remain within the mother's body
up until they hatch or are about to hatch
: employed by many
aquatic life forms such as fish and some
sharks, reptiles, and invertebrates. The
young of ovoviviparous amphibians are
sometimes born as larvae, and undergo
metamorphosis outside the body of the
mother.
 In fertilization:
Gametes are essential in fertilizing the
eggs
- sperm which came from the male
- ovum from the females
 when the female and male gametes
unite it will form into zygote.
 Cleavage
 The fertilized egg (zygote) is
transformed by cell division
(cleavage) into a mutlicellular cells
called Blastula

 During cleavage the individual cells

are called blastomere
 The blastula is a hollow ball of cells
with a cavity is called blastocoel
 In microlecithal eggs like
in amphioxus have total
or holoblastic cleavage
(the cleavage furrows
the entire yolk)
 Divided equally
 The resultant blastula is
a hollow ball of cells with
a cavity called
blastocoel
 In mesolecithal egg like in
frog have a total but
unequal cleavage
 Blastomere near the
vegetal pole are larger
than those in the animal
pole.
 Development is slow
 The blastocoel is
displaced on the animal
hemisphere.
 Macrolecithal egg have unequal
and partial or meroblastic cleavage
 Limited to the relatively small yolk-
free region at the animal pole
 Yolk mass is to great to be
penetrately by the cleavage
furrows
 A cellular blastoderm is separated
from the uncleaved yolk by a
narrow cavity
Fish blastula
Grastula
 Gastrula
 When the blastula developed into an embryo
= at first the gastrula has two germ layer
(ectoderm and endoderm)
= and then later to three germ layers
(ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm)
Gastrulation of a
diploblast: The
formation of germ layers
from a (1) blastula to a (2)
gastrula. Some of the
ectoderm cells (orange)
move inward forming the
endoderm (red).
 Neurulation and Neural Crest
 Neurulation is a process to convert the gastrula
into neurula.
 is a part of organogenesis in vertebrate embryos
 Steps of neurulation include the formation of the
dorsal nerve cord, and the eventual formation of
the central nervous system.
 The process begins when the notochord induces
the formation of the central nervous system
(CNS) by signaling the ectoderm germ layer
above it to form the thick and flat neural plate
 The neural plate folds in upon itself to form the
neural tube, which will later differentiate into the
spinal cord and the brain, eventually forming the
central nervous system.
 Neurulation in vertebrates results in the
formation of the neural tube, which gives
rise to both the spinal cord and the brain.
Neural crest cells are also created
during neurulation. Neural crest cells
migrate away from the neural tube and
give rise to a variety of cell types,
including pigment cells and neurons.
1. Neurulation begins with the formation of a
neural plate, a thickening of the ectoderm
caused when cuboidal epithelial cells become
columnar.
2. Changes in cell shape and cell adhesion cause
the edges of the plate fold and rise, meeting in
the midline to form a tube.
3. The cells at the tips of the neural folds come
to lie between the neural tube and the
overlying epidermis.
4. These cells become the neural crest cells.
Both epidermis and neural plate are capable
of giving rise to neural crest cells.
 Organogenesis
 Organogenesis is the period of animal
development during which the embryo is
becoming a fully functional organism capable of
independent survivial.
 process by which specific organs and
structures are formed,
 and involves both cell movements and cell
differentiation.
 Organogenesis requires interactions between
different tissues. These are often reciprocal
interactions between epithelial sheets and
mesenchymal cells.
The endoderm produces tissue within the lungs, thyroid, and
pancreas. The mesoderm aids in the production of
cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, tissues
within the kidneys, and red blood cells. The ectoderm
produces tissues within the epidermis and aids in the
formation of neurons within the brain, and melanocytes.
 Organogenesis from Ectoderm
1. From Somatic Ectoderm
- epidermis of skin
- enamel
- Stomodeum (mouth)
- Proctodeum (cloaca or anus )
- Gill Epithelium
- Amnion and Chorion (in part)
2. Neural Plate ectoderm
- Brain and Spinal Cord
3. Epidermal Placodes
- Olfactory capsules
- Optic capsule
- Otic Capsule
- Epibranchial capsule
- Electroreceptors/ neuromsst organs
- ganglia of some cranial nerves
4. Neural Crest
- Spinal Ganglia
- Splanchnocranium
- Neurocranium
- Dermatocranium
- Dentine
- Cornea
- Chromatophores
- Branchiomeric muscles
- aortic arches
- heart septa
 Organogenesis From the
mesoderm
1. Epimere (dermatome) – Dermis
2. Epimere (myotome) – Axial Muscle
- Appendicular Muscle
- Branchiomeric Muscle
- Hypobranchial
3. Epimere (sclerotome) – Vertebrae
4. Chordamesoderm – notochord
5. Intermediate mesoderm (Mesomere)
-kidney and Urogenital ducts
6. Somatic hypomere =
- ribs - Parietal peritoneum
- Sternum - Genital Ridge
- appendicular skeleton
- appendicular muscle
- amnion and chorion
7. Splanchnic hypomere
- Blood
- heart
- gut
- smooth muscle
- visceral peritoneum
- yolk sac and allantois
 Organogenesis of the Endoderm
1. Foregut – Oral Cavity - Gill Epithelium
- nasal cavity - Lung epithelium
- Pharynx epithelium
2. Midgut - Stomach - Liver
- Bladder - Pancreas
- intestines - Allantois
- germ cells of gonads
- yolk sac membrane
3. Hindgut – Urinary Bladder and Cloaca or anus
The End of the Chapter