Slide 1

K: Good morning, everyone! For the last presentation today, Margaret and I are going to
discuss the clade Amniota.

K: So the term Amniota actually comes from the Greek word amnion which
denotes the membrane that surrounds a fetus.

Slide 2
K: From this, we can infer that amniotes are a group of tetrapods that undergo embryonic or
fetal development within an amnion (amniotic membrane)
- this includes all species of birds, reptiles, and mammals
- and they are characterized and differentiated from fish and amphibians by their
ability to lay eggs on land or retain the fertilized egg within the mother
- So, yes, since whales are mammals, they are actually considered as amniotes

Slide 3
M: They are often considered as one of the most successful group of organisms
- But why is this?
- The amniotic egg—the egg produced by amniotic organisms—developed protective
extra-embryonic membranes which are membranes that are not a part of the body of
the developing embryo
- We have the amnion *point to screen* which protects the embryo from mechanical
shock and supports hydration
- Meanwhile, the chorion *point to screen* facilitates exchange of oxygen and
carbon dioxide between the embryo and the egg’s external environment
- Lastly, the allantois *point to screen* stores nitrogenous wastes produced by the
embryo and facilitates respiration

Slide 4
M: As an effect of the existence of these membranes, the embryos of amniotes were
provided with their own aquatic environment
- this led to less dependence on water for development
- and enabled them to branch out into drier environments
- In summary, the amniotic egg *point to screen* was an adaptation for terrestrial living

Slide 5
K: Proceeding to the evolution of amniotes
- they actually evolved from amphibian ancestors approximately 340 million years ago
during the Carboniferous period
- The early amniotes diverged into two main lines soon after they first arose
- These are the synapsids and sauropsids
- The synapsids include all mammals, including extinct mammalian species
- and they also include therapsids, which were mammal-like reptiles from which mammals
evolved
 - On the other hand, the sauropsids include reptiles and birds
- and they can be further divided into anapsids and diapsids

Slide 6
- The three highlighted terms mainly differ in the structures of the skull and the number
of temporal fenestrae behind each eye
- Temporal fenestrae is defined as the post-orbital openings in the skull that allow
muscles to expand and lengthen
- So the anapsids do not have any temporal fenestrae, synapsids have one, and
diapsids have two.

Slide 7
M: To learn more about synapsids, they are divided into three extant groups based on
how they reproduce
- Monotremes lay eggs in nests
- and when the young hatch, they feed them milk from glands in their skin
- an example of this is the platypus
- FUN FACT
- the next one are the marsupials
- they represent the median between monotremes and the placental mammals
- they develop their young within a uterus, but the young are born at an extremely early
age
- additionally, they must climb along the mother into the marsupial pouch, where they can
feed on milk for the rest of development
- an example of this are bats
- lastly, the rest of the synapsids represent the placental mammals
- these animals use a placenta, or oxygen and nutrient passing maternal membrane, to
feed and nourish offspring within the womb
- At birth, offspring of these animals are the largest of all amniotes comparatively
- However, as a drawback to this, placental mammals also have fewer offspring compared
to sauropsid amniotes
- an example of placental mammals is us!!!

Slide 8
K: Lastly, the diapsids group can be further divided into Archosauromorpha and
Lepidosauromorpha
- Archosauromorpha means ancient lizard form
- and they include modern crocodiles and alligators, and the extinct pterosaurs (“winged
lizard”) and dinosaurs (“terrible lizard”)
- and as we all know, the dinosaurs or clade dinosaura include birds
- Meanwhile, Lepidosauromorpha means scaly lizard form
- and these include modern lizards, snakes, and tuataras
Slide 9
K: So here’s the tree representing all members of the Amniote clade starting from the
ancestral amniote.

Slide 10

M: That’s all from us, guys. I hope you learned something.

Amniota

- the term amniote comes from the amnion, which derives from Greek ἀμνίον (amnion),
which denotes the membrane that surrounds a fetus

Definition
- a group of vertebrates that undergo embryonic or fetal development within an amnion
(amniotic membrane), including birds, reptiles, and mammals. [merriam-webster
dictionary]
- characterized by having an egg equipped with an amnion
- which was an adaptation to lay eggs on land or retain the fertilized egg within the mother
[lumen learning]
[Amniotes | Biology for Majors II]

- distinguished from amphibians by their terrestrially adapted egg, which is protected by

amniotic membranes. The evolution of amniotic membranes meant that the embryos of
amniotes were provided with their own aquatic environment, which led to less
dependence on water for development and thus allowed the amniotes to branch out into
drier environments
- - post-orbital openings in the skull that allow muscles to expand and lengthen
- - post-orbital openings in the skull that allow muscles to expand and lengthen
- post-orbital openings in the skull that allow muscles to expand and lengthen
- post-orbital openings in the skull that allow muscles to expand and lengthen

Characteristics
- amniotic egg
-

Parts of the amniotic egg

Amnion
Chorion
Allantois

Classes
Fun facts: Platypuses are the only mammals to lay eggs. Bats are the only mammals that can
fly. Regarding bats, the smallest bat, and therefore the smallest mammal, is the Bumblebee Bat.
Its body length is an inch and weighs only two grams (about 2 skittles!). It may not look like it,
but Dolphins and Whales are actually mammals. Not fish!
Source: The Animal Encyclopedia: Amniotes - Amniota