You are on page 1of 60

Vertebrates

 The animals called vertebrates


 Get their name from vertebrae, the series
of bones that make up the backbone

 There are approximately 52,000


species of vertebrates
 They include the largest organisms ever
to live on the Earth
s
y of
Chordate
Phylogen

Echinodermata
(sister group to chordates)

Urochordata
(tunicates)
Cephalochordata
(lancelets)

Ancestral deuterostome
Myxini
(hagfishes)

Notochord
Cephalaspidomorphi

Brain
(lampreys)

Chondrichthyes
Head

(sharks, rays, chimaeras)

Actinopterygii
Chordates

(ray-finned fishes)

Actinistia
Craniates

(coelacanths)
Vertebral column

Dipnoi
Vertebrates

(lungfish
es)
Amphibia
Gnathostomes

(frogs
Jaws, mineralized skeleton
Lobed fins
Osteichthyans

Reptilia
Lungs or lung derivatives
Lobe-fins

(turtles, birds)
Legs

Mammalia
(mammals)
Tetrapods

Milk
Amniotes

Amniotic egg
Derived Characters of
Chordates
 All chordates share a set of derived
characters
 Although some species possess some of
these traits only during embryonic
Dorsal,

development hollow
nerve cord

Muscle Notochord Brain


segments

Mouth

Anus
Pharyngeal
slits or clefts
Muscular,
32.1 post-anal tail
Notochord
 The notochord
 Is a longitudinal, flexible rod located
between the digestive tube and the nerve
cord
 Provides skeletal support throughout most
of the length of a chordate
 In most vertebrates, a more complex,
jointed skeleton develops
 And the adult retains only remnants of the
embryonic notochord
32.1
Dorsal, Hollow Nerve
Cord
 The nerve cord of a chordate embryo
 Develops from a plate of ectoderm that
rolls into a tube dorsal to the notochord
 Develops into the central nervous
system: the brain and the spinal cord

32.1
Pharyngeal Slits or Clefts
 In most chordates, grooves in the
pharynx called pharyngeal clefts
 Develop into slits that open to the outside
of the body
 These pharyngeal slits
 Function as suspension-feeding structures
in many invertebrate chordates
 Are modified for gas exchange in aquatic
vertebrates
 Develop into parts of the ear, head, and
neck in terrestrial vertebrates
32.1
Muscular, Post-Anal Tail
 Chordates have a tail extending
posterior to the anus
 Although in many species it is lost during
embryonic development
 The chordate tail contains skeletal
elements and muscles
 And it provides much of the propelling
force in many aquatic species

32.1
Craniates are chordates
that have a head
 The origin of a head
 Opened up a completely new way of
feeding for chordates: active predation
 Craniates share some common
characteristics
 A skull, brain, eyes, and other sensory
organs
Derived Characters of
Craniates
 One feature unique to craniates
 Is the neural crest, a collection of cells
that appears near the dorsal margins of
the closingDorsal
neuraledges tube
Neural in an Neural
embryo
of neural plate crest Ectoderm tube

Ectoderm

Notochord Migrating neural


crest cells
(a) The neural crest consists of (b) Neural crest cells migrate to
bilateral bands of cells near distant sites in the embryo.
32.2 the margins of the embryonic
folds that form the neural tube.
 Neural crest cells
 Give rise to a variety of structures,
including some of the bones and
cartilage of the skull

(c) The cells give rise to some


of the anatomical structures
unique to vertebrates, including
some of the bones and cartilage
of the skull.

32.2
Hagfishes
 The least derived craniate lineage
that still survives
 Is class Myxini, the hagfishes
Slime glands
Vertebrates are craniates
that have a backbone
 During the Cambrian period
 A lineage of craniates evolved into
vertebrates
 Vertebrates have
 Vertebrae enclosing a spinal cord
 An elaborate skull

 Fin rays, in aquatic forms


Lampreys
 Lampreys, class Cephalaspidomorphi
 Represent the oldest living lineage of
vertebrates
 Have cartilaginous segments
surrounding the notochord and arching
partly over the nerve cord

32.3
 Lampreys are jawless vertebrates
 Inhabiting various marine and
freshwater habitats

32.3
Gnathostomes are
vertebrates that have jaws
Today, jawless
Gill slits
 Cranium

vertebrates
Mouth
 Are far outnumbered Skeletal rods

by those with jaws


 Gnathostomes have
jaws
 That evolved from
skeletal supports of
the pharyngeal slits
Chondrichthyans (Sharks,
Rays, and Their Relatives)
 Members of class Chondrichthyes
 Have a skeleton that is composed
primarily of cartilage
 The cartilaginous skeleton
 Evolved secondarily from an ancestral
mineralized skeleton

32.4
 The largest and most diverse
subclass of Chondrichthyes
 Includes the sharks and rays

(a) Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus).


Fast swimmers with acute senses, sharks have
paired pectoral and pelvic fins.
Pectoral fins Pelvic fins

(b) Southern stingray (Dasyatis americana).


Most rays are flattened bottom-dwellers that
crush molluscs and crustaceans for food. Some
rays cruise in open water and scoop food into
their gaping mouth.

32.4
Ray-Finned Fishes and
Lobe-Fins
 The vast majority of vertebrates
belong to a clade of gnathostomes
called Osteichthyes
 Nearly all living osteichthyans have a
bony endoskeleton
 Aquatic osteichthyans
 Are the vertebrates we informally call
fishes
 Control their buoyancy with an air sac
32.4 known as a swim bladder
 Fishes breathe by drawing water
over four or five pairs of gills
 Located in chambers covered by a
protective bony flap called the
operculum
Dorsal fin Adipose fin Caudal
(characteristic of fin
Spinal cord Swim bladder
trout)
Brain
Nostril

Cut edge of Urinary Anal fin


operculum Gills Anus bladder
Gonad
Heart Liver Lateral
Stomach Pelvic fin line
Kidney

32.4 Intestine
Ray-Finned Fishes
 Class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes
includes nearly all the familiar aquatic
osteichthyans
 The fins, supported mainly by long, flexible
rays are modified for maneuvering, defense,
and other (a)functions
Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus
albacares), a fast-swimming,
schooling fish that is an important
commercial fish worldwide

(b) Clownfish (Amphiprion


ocellaris), a mutualistic
symbiont of sea anemones

(c) Sea horse (Hippocampus


ramulosus), unusual in (d) Fine-spotted moray eel
the animal kingdom in that (Gymnothorax dovii), a
the male carries the young predator that ambushes
during their embryonic prey from crevices in its
32.4 development coral reef habitat
32.4

Lobe-Fins
 The lobe-fins, class Sarcopterygii
 Have muscular and pectoral fins
 Include coelacanths, lungfishes, and
tetrapods

Coelacanth – In the fossil record for over


400 million years, this fish was thought
extinct until somebody caught one in 1938. Lungfish – Molecular evidence
supports the theory that ancestors
of this fish gave rise to terrestrial
Tetrapods are
gnathostomes that have
limbs and feet
 One of the most significant events in
vertebrate history was when the fins of
some lobe-fins evolved into the limbs
and feet of tetrapods
 Tetrapods have some specific
adaptations
 Four limbs and feet with digits
 Ears for detecting airborne sounds
32.5
The Origin of Tetrapods
 In one lineage of lobe-fins
 The fins became progressively more
limb-like while the rest of the body
retained adaptations for aquatic life

Bones
supporting
gills

Tetrapod
limb
skeleton
Millions of years ago
 Extraordinary 420 415 400 385 370 355 340 325 310 295 280 265

fossil Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian To


present
Paleozoic
discoveries
over the past Ray-finned fishes

20 years have Coelacanths

allowed Lungfishes
paleontologists Eusthenopteron
to reconstruct Panderichthys
the origin of Elginerpeton
tetrapods Metaxygnathus

Acanthostega

lchthyostega

Hynerpeton
Greerpeton

Amphibians

Amniotes
Amphibians
 Class Amphibia
 Is represented by about 4,800 species of
organisms
 Most amphibians
 Have moist skin that complements the
lungs in gas exchange
 Amphibian means “two lives”
 A reference to the metamorphosis of an
aquatic larva into a terrestrial adult
(b) The tadpole is
an aquatic
herbivore with
a fishlike tail
and
internal gills.

(a) The male grasps the female, stimulating her to (c) During metamorphosis, the
release eggs. The eggs are laid and fertilized in gills and tail are resorbed, and
water. They have a jelly coat but lack a shell and walking legs develop.
would desiccate in air.
Amniotes are tetrapods
that have a terrestrially
adapted egg
 Amniotes are a group of tetrapods
 Whose living members are the reptiles,
birds, and the mammals
 Amniotes are named for the major
derived character of the clade, the
amniotic egg
 Which contains specialized membranes
that protect the embryo

32.5
Pa
rar
ep
tile
s
Tu
rtle
s

Cr
oc
od

Archosaurs
ilia
ns
Pte

Reptiles
ros
Or au
nit rs
h
d i n is c
os hia
au
rs n
Sa
u
din risc
o h
Dinosaurs

tha sau ian


n b rs o

Diapsids
ird th
s e r
Saurischians

Bir
ds

amniote
Ancestral
Ple
sio
s au
rs
Ich
thy
os
au
rs
Tu
ata
ra

Sq
Lepidosaurs

ua
ma
tes
Ma
mm
als
Synapsids
A Phylogeny of Amniotes
 The extraembryonic membranes
 Have various functions
Extraembryonic membranes

Allantois. The allantois is a disposal Chorion. The chorion and the membrane of the
sac for certain metabolic wastes pro- allantois exchange gases between the embryo
duced by the embryo. The membrane and the air. Oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse
of the allantois also functions with freely across the shell.
the chorion as a respiratory organ.
Yolk sac. The yolk sac contains the
Amnion. The amnion protects yolk, a stockpile of nutrients. Blood
the embryo in a fluid-filled vessels in the yolk sac membrane transport
cavity that cushions against nutrients from the yolk into the embryo.
mechanical shock. Other nutrients are stored in the albumen (“egg white”).

Embryo

Amniotic cavity
with amniotic fluid

Yolk (nutrients)

Albumen
Shell

32.6
 Amniotes also have other terrestrial
adaptations
 Such as relatively impermeable skin
and the ability to use the rib cage to
ventilate the lungs

32.7
Reptiles
 The reptile clade includes
 The tuatara, lizards, snakes, turtles,
crocodilians, birds, and the extinct
dinosaurs
 Reptiles
 Have scales that create a waterproof
barrier
 Lay shelled eggs on land

32.7
 Most reptiles are ectothermic
 Absorbing external heat as the main
source of body heat
 Birds are endothermic
 Capable of keeping the body warm
through metabolism
Derived Characters of

Birds
Many of the characters of birds are adaptations
that facilitate flight
 For example, wings and feathers

Finger 1

(b) Bone structure


Palm
(a) wing
Finger 2
Forearm
Wrist
Finger 3

Vane Shaft

Shaft Barb
Barbule
32.8 Hook
(c) Feather structure
The Origin of Birds
 Birds probably descended from
theropods
 A group of small, carnivorous dinosaurs
Mammals are amniotes
that have hair and
produce milk
 Mammals, class Mammalia
 Are represented by more than 5,000
species
 Mammary glands, which produce milk
 Are a distinctively mammalian
character
 Hair is another mammalian
characteristic
 Mammals generally have a larger
32.9brain
Monotremes
A small group of egg-laying mammals
consisting of echidnas and the
platypus

32.10
Marsupials
 Marsupials
 Include opossums, kangaroos, and
koalas

32.10
 A marsupial is born very early in its
development
 And completes its embryonic
development while nursing within a
maternal pouch called a marsupium
(a) A young brushtail possum. The young of
marsupials are born very early in their
development. They finish their growth
while nursing from a nipple (in their
mother’s pouch in most species).
 Phylogenetic relationships of
mammals
This clade of eutherians evolved
in Africa when the continent
All members of this clade,
which underwent an adaptive
This is the largest eutherian
clade. It includes the rodents,
This diverse clade includes terrestrial
and marine mammals as well as bats,
was isolated from other radiation in South America, which make up the largest the only flying mammals. A growing
landmasses. It includes belong to the order Xenarthra. mammalian order by far, with body of evidence, including Eocene
Earth’s largest living land One species, the nine-banded about 1,770 species. Humans fossils of whales with feet,
animal (the African elephant), armadillo, is found in the belong to the order Primates. supports putting whales in
as well as species that weigh southern United States. the same order (Cetartiodactyla)
less than 10 g. as pigs, cows, and hippos.

Proboscidea Sirenia
Tubulidentata Rodentia Carnivora
Hyracoidea Lagomorpha Cetartiodactyla
Afrosoricida (golden Primates Perissodactyla
moles and tenrecs) Dermoptera Chiroptera
Macroscelidea (flying lemurs) Eulipotyphla
Scandentia Pholidota
Monotremata Marsupialia (elephant shrews) Xenarthra (tree shrews) (pangolins)

Monotremes Marsupials Eutherians

Possible phylogenetic tree of mammals.


All 20 extant orders of mammals are listed
at the top of the tree. Boldfaced orders
are explored on the facing page.

32.10 Ancestral mammal


ORDERS MAIN ORDERS MAIN
AND EXAMPLES CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES CHARACTERISTICS

Monotremata Lay eggs; no Marsupialia Embryo completes


Platypuses, nipples; young Kangaroos, development in
suck milk from opossums, pouch on mother

The
echidnas
fur of mother koalas

Echidna Koala

Long, muscular Tubulidentata Teeth consisting of


Proboscidea
Aardvark

major
trunk; thick, many thin tubes
Elephants
loose skin; upper cemented together;
incisors elongated eats ants and termites
African elephant as tusks Aardvark

eutherian
Aquatic; finlike Hyracoidea Short legs; stumpy tail;
Sirenia
forelimbs and Hyraxes herbivorous; complex,
Manatees,
no hind limbs; multichambered
dugongs
herbivorous Rock hyrax stomach
Manatee

Rodentia Chisel-like, continuously

orders
Xenarthra Reduced teeth or
Sloths, no teeth; herbivorous Squirrels, growing incisors worn
anteaters, (sloths) or carnivorous beavers, rats, down by gnawing;
armadillos (anteaters, porcupines, herbivorous
armadillos) mice Red squirrel
Tamandua
Primates Opposable thumbs;
Lagomorpha Chisel-like incisors;
Lemurs, forward-facing eyes;
Rabbits, hind legs longer than
monkeys, well-developed
hares, picas forelegs and adapted
apes, cerebral cortex;
for running and
humans Golden lion omnivorous
jumping
Jackrabbit tamarin

Sharp, pointed canine Perissodactyla Hooves with an


Carnivora
teeth and molars for Horses, odd number of toes
Dogs, wolves,
bears, cats, shearing; carnivorous zebras, tapirs, on each foot;
rhinoceroses herbivorous
weasels, otters,
seals, walruses Coyote Indian rhinoceros

Cetartiodactyla Hooves with an Chiroptera Adapted for flight; broad


Artiodactyls even number Bats skinfold that extends
Sheep, pigs of toes on each from elongated fingers
cattle, deer, foot; herbivorous to body and legs;
giraffes carnivorous or
Bighorn sheep Frog-eating bat
herbivorous
Aquatic; streamlined Eulipotyphla Diet consists mainly
Cetaceans body; paddle-like “Core insecti- of insects and other
Whales, forelimbs and no vores”: some small invertebrates
32.10 dolphins,
porpoises Pacific white-
hind limbs; thick
layer of insulating
moles, some
shrews Star-nosed
sided porpoise blubber; carnivorous mole
 The oldest known anthropoid fossils,
about 45 million years old
 Indicate that tarsiers are more closely
related to anthropoids
Anthropoids

Lemurs, lorises, and pottos

Old World monkeys


New World monkeys

panzees
Orangutans
0

Gibbons
Tarsiers

Humans
Gorillas

Chim-
10
Millions of years ago

20

30

40

50

60 Ancestral primate
Derived Characters of
Primates
 Most primates
 Have hands and feet adapted for grasping
 Primates also have
 A large brain and short jaws
 Forward-looking eyes close together on
the face, providing depth perception
 Well-developed parental care and
complex social behavior
 A fully opposable thumb

32.11
 New World and Old World monkeys
 Underwent separate adaptive radiations
during their many millions of years of
separation

(a) New World monkeys, such as spider (b) Old World monkeys lack a prehensile tail, and their nostrils
monkeys (shown here), squirrel monkeys, and open downward. This group includes macaques (shown here),
capuchins, have a prehensile tail and nostrils mandrills, baboons, and rhesus monkeys.
that open to the sides.
 The other group of anthropoids, the
hominoids
(a) Gibbons, such as this Muller's gibbon, are
 Consists of primates informally called
found only in southeastern Asia. Their very
long arms and fingers are adaptations for

apes brachiation.

(b) Orangutans are shy, solitary apes that live in


the rain forests of Sumatra and Borneo. They
spend most of their time in trees; note the (c) Gorillas are the largest apes: some
foot adapted for grasping and the opposable males are almost 2 m tall and weigh
thumb. about 200 kg. Found only in Africa, these
herbivores usually live in groups of up to
about 20 individuals.

(e) Bonobos are closely


related to chimpanzees
but are smaller. They
survive today only in the
African nation of Congo.
(d) Chimpanzees live in tropical Africa. They
feed and sleep in trees but also spend a
great deal of time on the ground. Chimpanzees
are intelligent, communicative, and social.
Humans are bipedal
hominoids with a large
brain
 Homo sapiens is about 160,000 years old
 Which is very young considering that life has
existed on Earth for at least 3.5 billion years
 A number of characters distinguish
humans from other hominoids
 Upright posture and bipedal locomotion
 Larger brains
 Language capabilities
 Symbolic thought
 The manufacture and use of complex tools
 Shortened jaw
32.11
The Earliest Humans
 The study of human origins
 Is known as paleoanthropology
 Paleoanthropologists have discovered
fossils of approximately 20 species of
extinct hominoids
 That are more closely related to humans
than to chimpanzees

32.12
 These species are known as hominids
32.12

Paranthropus Homo Homo


robustus neanderthalensis
sapiens
0
Paranthropus Homo ?
boisei ergaster
0.5

1.0
Australopithecus
1.5 africanus

2.0
Millions of years ago

Kenyanthropus
platyops
2.5
Australopithecus
garhi Homo
3.0 erectus
Australopithecus
anamensis
3.5
Homo Homo
rudolfensis habilis
4.0

4.5
Ardipithecus Australopithecus
ramidus afarensis
5.0

5.5

6.0 Orrorin tugenensis

6.5
Sahelanthropus
tchadensis
7.0
32.12
Early Hominids
 Hominids originated
in Africa
 Approximately 6–7
million years ago
 Early hominids
 Had a small brain,
but probably walked
upright, exhibiting
mosaic evolution

32.12
Australopiths
 Australopiths are a paraphyletic
assemblage of hominids
 That lived between 4 and 2 million years
ago

32.12
 Some species
walked fully
erect
 And had human-
like hands and
teeth
(a) Lucy, a 3.24-million-year-old skeleton,
represents the hominid species
Australopithecus afarensis.

(b) The Laetoli footprints, more than


3.5 million years old, confirm that
upright posture evolved quite early
in hominid history.

(c) An artist’s reconstruction of what


32.12 A. afarensis may have looked like.
Bipedalism and Tool Use
 Hominids began to walk long
distances on two legs
 About 1.9 million years ago
 The oldest evidence of tool use—cut
marks on animal bones
 Is 2.5 million years old

32.12
Early Homo
 The earliest fossils that
paleoanthropologists place in our
genus Homo
 Are those of the species Homo habilis,
ranging in age from about 2.4 to 1.6
million years
 Stone tools have been found with H.
habilis
 Giving this species its name, which means
32.12 “handy man”
 Homo ergaster
 Was the first fully bipedal, large-brained
hominid
 Existed between 1.9 and 1.6 million
years

32.12
 Homo erectus
 Originated in Africa approximately 1.8
million years ago
 Was the first hominid to leave Africa

32.12
Neanderthals
 Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis
 Lived in Europe and the Near East from
200,000 to 30,000 years ago
 Were large, thick-browed hominids

 Became extinct a few thousand years


after the arrival of Homo sapiens in
Europe

32.12
Homo sapiens
 Appeared in Africa at least 160,000
years ago
 The oldest fossils of Homo sapiens
outside Africa
 Date back about 50,000 years ago

32.12
 The rapid expansion of our species
 May have been preceded by changes to
the brain that made symbolic thought
and other cognitive innovations possible

32.12

You might also like