Chapter 25: Vertebrate Diversity

25.1: Vertebrate Origins

• 25.1: Vertebrate Origins
• Objectives: Identify and give examples of
the three groups of organisms in the phylum
Chordata.
• Describe the characteristics and origins of
vertebrates.
• Warm Up: In what obvious way is a snake
different from a worm?
• Words to Know: Chordate, Notochord,
Endoskeleton
 Phylum Chordata
• The phylum Chordata is made of three groups: Urochordata,
Cephalochordata, and Vertebrates
• Both Urochordates and Cephalochordates are invertebrates.
• Urochordates are Tunicates like sea squirts.
• Cephalochordates are Lancelets that spend most of their lives buried in the
sand.
• Vertebrates are large, active animals that have a well-developed brain
encased in a hard skull.
• ALL Chordates share the same four features at some stage in development:
– Notochord – a flexible skeletal support rod embedded in the animal’s back.
– Hollow Nerve Cord – runs along the animal’s back.
– Pharyngeal Slits – slits through the body wall in the pharynx, where water can
enter the mouth and leave the animal through these slits without passing
through the entire digestive system.
– Tail – extends beyond the anal opening and contain muscles for movement.
• Most chordate groups lose some or all of these characteristic in adulthood,
but they are present in the embryo.
• How are humans similar to sea squirts? How are they different?
Phylum Chordata
 Vertebrate Common Features
• Endoskeletons
• An Endoskeleton is an internal
skeleton built of bone or
cartilage.
• Vertebrate endoskeletons can be
divided into distinct parts.
– Braincase – protects the brain.
– Vertebrae – a series of short,
stiff vertebrae are separated by
joints and protect the spinal
cord.
– Bones – support and protect the
body’s soft tissues and provide
points for muscle attachment.
– Gill Arches – found in fish and
some amphibians; help support
the gills.
• Vertebrate endoskeletons can
slowly change size and shape.
 Vertebrate Common Features
• Vertebrate Classes
• There are currently 7 classes of vertebrates:
• Agnatha – jawless fish including lampreys.
• Chondrichthyes – cartilaginous fish that include sharks, rays, and
chimeras.
• Osteichthyes – bony fish that include ray-finned fish, trout, and
goldfish.
• Amphibia – first vertebrates adapted to land and include frogs,
toads, salamanders, and caecilians.
• Reptilia – can retain moisture and live exclusively on land. Include
snakes, lizards, crocodiles, alligators and turtles.
• Aves – Birds, animals with feathers.
• Mammals – animals with fur, mammary glands, and three middle
ear bones. Includes humans, elephants, kangaroos etc…
• How does growth differ between an animals with an endoskeleton
and an animal with an exoskeleton?
Vertebrate Classes
 Origins of Vertebrates
• Much of what we
know comes from
fossil evidence found
in the Burgess Shale
locates in the
Canadian Rocky
Mountains in the early
1900’s.
• Many are dated
around the Cambrian
explosion.
Closest Relatives
• Tunicates may
actually be the closest
relatives of
vertebrates.
• Scientists have found
that tunicates have
cells that resemble
the neural crest that is
also found in
vertebrates.
 Early Vertebrates
• The first recognizable
vertebrates were fish.
• The oldest fish fossils
date back 530 million
years.
• Early fish were small,
jawless bottom-
feeders.
Lampreys
• There are more than 35
species of Lampreys.
• They are highly specialized
fish parasites.
• Physical Characteristics
include:
– Long and slender body plans
with NO paired fins.
– Mouths surrounded by large
suckers.
– Tongues covered by tooth-like
projections.
• The accidental introduction of
sea lampreys into the Great
Lakes in the early 1900’s had
a devastating effect on the
fishing industry.
 Hagfish
• A jawless eel-like
animal with a partials
skull but NO
vertebrae.
• It uses a notochord
for support.
• How have scientists’
views on the origins
of vertebrates
changed?
 25.2: Fish Diversity
• 25.2: Fish Diversity
• Objectives: Identify the characteristics of the
two classes of jawed fishes.
• Describe the evolution and advantage of
jaws.
• Warm Up: If you dive into a cold lake without
scuba gear or a wetsuit, and you remain
underwater and motionless for a few
moments, what problems will you have?
• Words to Know: Gill, Countercurrent Flow,
Lateral Line, Operculum
 Fish
• Fish use specialized organs called gills to take in
the oxygen dissolved in water.
• Gills are large sheets of thin frilly tissue filled
with capillaries that take in dissolved oxygen
from the water and release carbon dioxide.
• Fish circulatory systems pump blood in a single
circulatory loop through a heart with two main
chambers.
 Countercurrent Flow
• Countercurrent Flow is the opposite movement
of water against the flow of blood in the fish’s
gills.
• Countercurrent flow maximizes the amount of
oxygen the fish can pull from the water by
diffusion.
 Swimming and Maneuvering
• Most fish swim by
contracting large
segmented muscles on
either side of their
vertebral column from the
head to the tail.
• Fins help keep fish
stable.
• What is the connection
between countercurrent
flow and a fish’s
movement in the water?
Jaws
• Jaws evolved from gill arches.
• Gill arches are structures
made of bone or cartilage that
function as a support for fish’s
fills.
• Jaws developed from gill
arches near the mouth, which
fused to the cranium.
• Jaws gave vertebrates a huge
advantage as predators and
quickly pushed them to the top
of the food chain.
• What advantages are provided
to an animal that has jaws,
compared with an animal that
does not have jaws?
 Two Groups of Jawed Fish
• Jawed fish diversified very
quickly after their first
appearance about 440 million
years ago.
• Four groups appeared at this
time:
– Acanthodians – were fish
covered with spines and
became extinct 250 million
years ago.
– Placoderms – were heavily
armored with huge bony
plates and became extinct 350
million years ago.
– Cartilaginous Fish – Skeletons
are made of cartilage and
include sharks, rays and
chimera.
– Bony Fish – Include all other
living fish
Cartilagenous Fish (Chondrichthyes)
• Have skeletons made of cartilage.
• Their cartilage contains calcium deposits
that make it stiffer than the squishy stuff
around human joints.
• Chimeras are a small group of deep-sea
fish with plate-like grinding teeth that feed
on crustaceans.
• There are more than 300 species of
shards and nearly 400 species of rays
and skates.
• All are predators.
• Cartilaginous fish have internal
fertilization and many give birth to live
young.
• They are also powerful simmers with
good eyesight and an excellent sense of
smell.
• All fish have a Lateral Line system, which
is a series of shallow canals on the sides
of the fish made up of cells that are
sensitive to small changes in water
movement.
• This give fish a sense of “distant touch”
letting them sense movement in the
water far away.
 Bony Fish (Osteichthyes)
• All other living fish have
skeletons made of bone.
• There are more than
20,000 species of bony
fish living in almost all
aquatic environments.
• The gills of all bony fish
are in a chamber covered
by a protective plate
called the operculum.
– This helps fish move water
over their gills.
• What is the difference
between cartilaginous
and bony fish?
 25.3: A Closer Look at Bony
Fish
• 25.3: A Closer Look at Bony Fish
• Objectives: Differentiate between the fins of
ray-finned fish and lobe-finned fish.
• Describe the diversity of body plans of bony
fish.
• Explain the origin and function of a fish’s
swim bladder.
• Warm Up: Write common names of fish.
Which of those are bony fish?
• Words to Know: Ray-fin, Swim Bladder,
Lobe-fin
Ray-finned Fish
• All ray-finned fish,
such as goldfish and
tuna, have fins
supported by a fan
shaped array of
bones called a ray-fin.
• Ray-finned fish can
quickly change a fin’s
shape, making it
easier for the fish to
maneuver in the
water.
 Diversity of Body Plans
• Long torpedo-shaped fish,
such as barracuda are ambush
predators.
• Fish that are flattened from
side to side, like butterfly fish,
are great at maneuvering
through corals.
• Fish that feed on the surface of
the water have flattened heads
and mouths that point up.
• Flatfish are flat-shaped and lie
on the sea floor waiting for
their prey to swim by.
• Some slow-swimming fish use
camouflage to hide from
predators or prey.
 Staying Afloat
• Most ray-finned fish have lungs modified into a
buoyancy organ called a Swim Bladder.
• The Swim Bladder, helps a fish float higher or
lower in the water, by increasing and decreasing
oxygen levels.
• What is a swim bladder and how does it work?
 Lobe-Finned Fish
• The lob-finned fish
include the ancestors of
all terrestrial vertebrates.
• Most species are extinct.
• Lobe-fins are paired
pectoral and pelvic fins
that are round in shape.
• These fins are arranged
around a branching
series of bony struts, like
the limbs of a land
vertebrate.
 Coelacanths
• Are distinctive-looking fish with thick,
fleshy fins and a tail with three lobes.
• They breathe with gills.
 Lungfish
• Live in streams and
swamps in Australia,
South America, and
Africa.
• They can breathe with
either gills or lungs.
• How are lobe-fins
related to vertebrae
evolution?
 25.4: Amphibians
• 25.4: Amphibians
• Objectives: Describe the adaptations of amphibians
that help them live on land.
• Summarize the reproduction and development of
amphibians.
• Distinguish among the three groups of modern
amphibians.
• Warm Up: Of the following animals, which are
amphibians: frog, turtle, snake, alligator, toad,
salamander, iguana?
• Words to Know: Tetrapod, Amphibian, Tadpole
 Amphibians
• One of the oldest known fossils of a
four-limbed vertebrate was found in
360 million-year-old rocks from
Greenland.
• All of the vertebrates that live on
land, as well as their descendants
that have returned to aquatic
environments, are Tetrapods.
• A Tetrapod is a vertebrate that has
four limbs.
• Amphibians are animals that can live
BOTH on land and in water.
• Amphibian literally means “life on
both sides”.
• Depending on the species,
amphibians breathe through their
skin or with the use of gills or lungs.
• Amphibians have a three-chambered
heart.
• What adaptations helped
amphibians move from water to live
on land?
Amphibian Reproduction
• Amphibians need a source
of water to reproduce.
• Amphibians have several
ways to stop eggs from
drying out that include:
– Laying eggs directly in water,
– Laying eggs on moist ground.
– Wrapping eggs in leaves.
– Brooding eggs in pockets on
the female’s back.
• Some frogs start off as
Tadpoles – aquatic larvae
that have gills and a broad-
finned tail.
 Amphibian Metamorphosis
• To grow into terrestrial adults,
tadpoles must undergo
metamorphosis.
– Eggs hatch to release tadpoles.
– As the tadpole matures, the gills
are reabsorbed and lungs
develop.
– The circulatory system is
reorganized to send blood to the
lungs.
– The tail fin is reabsorbed.
– The body grows limbs and
completely reorganizes its
skeleton, muscles, and parts of
the nervous system.
• Many Amphibians do NOT
undergo metamorphosis and
develop directly into their
terrestrial forms.
• Describe the stages of
amphibian metamorphosis.
Three Groups of Amphibians
• Salamanders
• There are more than
300 species of
salamanders.
• They have a long
body, four walking
limbs, and a tail.
• They walk with a side-
t-side movement.
• They are carnivores.
 Three Groups of Amphibians
• Frogs and Toads
• There are over 3000
species of frogs.
• Toads are a family of
frogs that have
rougher and bumpier
skin and are poor
jumpers.
• Frogs and toads can
make toxins that
protect them from
predators.
Three Groups of Amphibians
• Caecilians
• Are legless, burrowing
amphibians that live in the
tropics.
• There are 160 species
ranging in length from
about 10 cm to 1.5 meters.
• Have banded bodies that
make them look like
earthworms.
• How are caecilians different
from other amphibians?
 25.5: Vertebrates on Land
• Objectives: Describe two important
characteristics of amniotes that help
them retain water.
• Explain the evolutionary importance of
the amniotic egg.
• Warm Up: Why is the amniotic egg so
significant to life on land?
• Words to Know: Amniote, Keratin,
Amniotic Egg, Placenta
 Amniotes
• An Amniote is a vertebrate that has a
thin, though, membranous sac that
encloses the embryo or fetus.
• Amniotes first appeared as small
lizard-like creature in the late
Carboniferous period.
• All Amniotes share a set of
characteristics that prevent water loss.
• Skin cells are waterproof with Keratin –
a protein that binds to lipids inside the
cell forming a hydrophobic layer that
keep water inside the animal from
reaching the skin.
• Kidneys and large intestines are bigger
in amniotes than in amphibians,
because they can reabsorb water.
• What makes your skin cells
waterproof? Why is this important?
Reproduction Without Water
• The Amniotic Egg is an almost
completely waterproof container
that keeps the embryo from
drying out as it develops.
• Once the amniotic egg evolved,
vertebrates no longer had to go
back to water for reproduction.
• Most Mammal embryos develop
inside of the mother’s
reproductive tract.
• The Placenta is a membranous
organ that develops in female
mammals during pregnancy.
• It carries nutrients from mother
to embryo.
• How is an amniotic egg
protected from water loss?