Vertebrate Evolution (PDF)

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Vertebrate Evolution (PDF) Vertebrate Evolution Torsten Bernhardt Redpath Museum, McGill University This teaching resource was made possible with funding from the PromoScience programme of NSERC. © McGill University 2010 History of the Earth Origins of Origins of Bacteria Eukaryotes Phanerozoic 4.6 3.8-3.5 1.5 0.542 0 (Billions of years) (Millions of years) Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic http://associationpourlasanteetlenvironnement.skynetblogs.be/ archive-day/20060514 Pikaia Chordates http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/54/4054-004-F5EB3891.jpg Tunicates (sea squirts)Tunicates http://permian.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/vida-antes-de-los-dinosaurios-02.jpg The FirstFish?The Haikouichthys Agnathans: Jawless Fish (i) Ostracoderms -armoured, jawless fish -used gills only for respiration -no paired fins, so probably poor swimmers Endeiolepis aneri Agnathans: Jawless Fish (ii) http://www.ne.jp/asahi/fragi/ragi/gallery/cephalaspis.html Cephalaspis Ostracoderms went extinct in the Devonian, most likely due to the placoderms (who we’ll get to in a minute…) Agnathans: Jawless Fish (iii) http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~youson/images/lamprey.jpg A modern agnathan: the lamprey Placoderms: Jaws Evolve (i) -Still armoured -Jaws are a major advantage -First live birth -Paired fins http://www.pangaeadesigns.com/_gra phics/page/retail/large/bothriolepis.jpg Bothriolepis Placoderms: Jaws Evolve (ii) http://www.dinotime.de/pictures/dunkleosteus.jpg Dunkleosteus http://www.nmnh.si.edu/rtp/students/2006/images/paleo_day72.jpg No teeth Cartilaginous Fish (Chondrichthyes) (i) -Sharks, skates, rays, chimeras Fish/chimaera_fish1.jpg http://www.mcaorals.co.uk/Photos/Deep%20Sea%20 -Skeleton is made of cartilage instead of bone -Don’t fossilize well -Are thought to have evolved from placoderms 1.jpg - shark - white - Chimera http://www.divephotoguide.com/user/181/gallery/183/ http://templecuttingedge.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/great Manta ray Great white shark Cartilaginous Fish (Chondrichthyes) (ii) http://www.karencarr.com http://data3.blog.de/media/606/2129606_fb5a2adfe5_m.jpeg Stethacanthus Megalodon (~1.5 mya) (~360 Mya) http://home-aquarium-store.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/beta-fish-pictures.jpg ) Betta Osteichthyes Nile PerchNile Bony Fish( - http://ricomoss.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/big fish.jpg Bony Fish – Ray-finned Fish (Actinopterygii) -25 000 species, 99% of all fish today clown wallpapers.com/wallpapers/iphone http://www.free - -Fins are supported by bony rays fish.jpg - mobile - - wallpaper - Clown fish http://www.gnb.ca/0078/Hey_kids/images/BrookTrout.jpg Brook trout Homalacanthus Bony Fish – Lobe-finned Fish (Sarcopterygii) images/Coelacanth.jpg - http://www.itsnature.org/Sea/images/article Eusthenopteron Coelacanth -Fins have bones and muscle -Live on the bottom -Not especially diverse, as fish From Fish to Amphibians We think that amphibians evolved from sarcopterygian (lobe-finned) fish. Why is this? One group of sarcopterygians, the osteolepiforms, had nostrils that led to an opening in the roof of its mouth. This allowed air to pass into the mouth and then to paired swim bladders (similar to our lungs). Lungfish, which are modern sarcopterygians, can crawl over land from one water body to another. The sturdy fins of the sarcopterygians have bones much like those in our limbs. Other anatomical features, such as skull bones and teeth, also point to a relationship. From Fish to Amphibians nn.jpg - http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/levin/0 471697435/chap_tut/images/nw0276 Amphibian limb (left) and lobe-finned fish fin (right) http://www.hmnh.org/galleries /deadanimalblog/pf_tiktaalik.j pg Early amphibians had as many as eight toes; this was eventually reduced to five, or four Amphibians -Early amphibians didn’t look like modern amphibians -Three-chambered heart -Had lungs, but also breathed through their skin http://www.foundalis.com/bio/cre/Icht hyostega.jpg Ichthyostega -Were tied to water for reproduction -Dominant predators in the Carboniferous http://darwiniana.org/acanthostega1.jpg Eryops Acanthostega http://dic.academic.ru/pictures/wiki/file s/101/eryops1db.jpg Amniotes Outer envelope L.gif - Yolk Amphibian AmnioticEgg - 19 Inner envelope egg - http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/16cm05/1116/34 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil e:ChroniosuchusDB126.jpg Chroniosuchus, which may be an Amniote egg ancestor of amniotes -Amniotes’ eggs allowed them to reproduce away from water and expand to drier areas -They diverged into two lineages: one would eventually become mammals, the other would become reptiles and birds Mammal-like reptiles (Synapsids) http://9thestate.com/images/gorgonopsid.jpg http://lesdinos.free.fr/dimetrodon.jpg Dimetrodon Gorgonopsids -Ancestors of true mammals -Regulated their temperature -Different types of teeth -Very successful until the end of the Permian The Permian Extinction -The most severe extinction event in the Earth’s history -May be related to the Siberian Traps, the largest volcanic eruptions on Earth -96% of species in the oceans go extinct, 70% of vertebrates on land go extinct, 99.5% of all living creatures die -The mammal-like reptiles are severely affected http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/timeline/gallery/images/053.jpg ! Reptiles views/1519/11653653.JPG http://www.dkimages.com/discover/pre -Many different groups -Scales, “3.5”-chambered heart -Almost all lay eggs -Extremely successful in the Mesozoic (which is known as the Age of Reptiles) Scutosaurus aures/Coelurosauravus.jpg http://mrugala.net/Nature/Animaux/Dinos http://www.kidsdinos.com/images/dino saurs/Mesosaurus1139704078.jpg Mesosaurus, one of the Coelurosauravus, a first reptiles to return to gliding reptile the sea Crurotarsi -The group that today includes crocodiles -Ruled the world in the Triassic, content/uploads/postosuchus.jpg - after the mammal–like reptiles were severely affected by the Permian extinction http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp -Were themselves severely affected by the extinction Postosuchus event at the end of the Triassic http://naturescrusaders.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/gex_gr een-sea-turtle.jpg http://naturescrusaders.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/rhabdo phis_tigrinus_06toad.jpg Greensea turtle Snake Other ReptilesOther Tokay gecko Tokay Tuatara s/Tokay_Gecko.jpg http://petzotics.com/Lizards%20Image http://mudpuddle.files.wordpress.com/ 2009/02/henry.jpg Dinosaurs -Were around for 160 million years -May have been warm blooded -Two groups, based on hip structure -Advanced features – bones, gait Triceratops Gorgosaurus Dinosaurs http://bydirigible.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/dinosaurs.jpg http://sciencejunkies.com/media//2009/03/blue_whale_size_comparison.gif http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chi http://www.flashweb.gr/turtle2008/photos/arch.jpg efeditor/world%27s-biggest-snake-picture.jpg Snakes Not Just( Dinosaurs! Turtles http://archeowiesci.files.wordpress.com/20 07/11/sarcosuchus_and_nigersaurus.jpg Crocodylimorphs Tuatara Lizards i ) Not Just Dinosaurs! (ii) - http://www005.upp.so net.ne.jp/JurassicGallery/Ichthyosaurs.jpg Ichthyosaurs http://www.linternaute.com/science/biologie/diaporam as/05/dinosaures/images/pteranodon.jpg resFromTheDeep/CreaturesIMAGES/Plesiosaur_4_large.jpg http://www.discoverynews.us/DISCOVERY%20MUSEUM/Creatu Pterosaurs - the first flying vertebrates http://www.search4dinosaurs.com/miller_mosasaur.jpg Plesiosaurs Mosasaurs True Mammals -Evolved from the synapsids (mammal-like reptiles) -Vaguely rodent-like, small -Showed up not too long after the dinosaurs -Didn’t amount to much in the Mesozoic; lawnmower ecology http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/webimages/0/1000/400/1461_med.jpg Birds -Evolved from dinosaurs; specifically, the meat-eating deinonychosaurs, which includes Dromaeosaurus -Are technically dinosaurs http://centroufologicotaranto.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/archaeopteryx.jpg -Feathers evolved before birds did; T. rex Archaeopteryx may have been fuzzy -May have outcompeted the pterosaurs - bird - and helped drive them to extinction -The second vertebrate group to fly missouri.jpg http://desireestanley.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/blue Cretaceous Extinction http://life7.beyondgenes.com/images115/theend.JPG -Ends the reign of the dinosaurs -Flying and swimming reptiles also go extinct -Many other groups suffer as well -Mammals step into the empty niches ! Mammals Take Over (i) umb/7/7a/Panochthus_frenzelianus.jpg/800px http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/th Panochthus_frenzelianus.jpg - http://s3.amazonaws.com/lcp/first_corner_of_a nita_bokeron/myfiles/elephant.indricotherium.h uman.jpg Indricotherium Glyptodont eptictidium_1.jpg http://www.pts.org.tw/~web02/beasts/factfiles/primary_ff_displays/l http://hiddenway.tripod.com/images/creatures/smilodon.jpg http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/seamonsters/factfile s/images/arsinoitherium1.jpg Arsinoitherium Saber-toothed cat Leptictidium http://www.treehugger.com/bat-organic-coffee-001.jpg http://www.dumbaaldum.org/images/pic- sounds/letter-h/hand.jpg Bat Humpback whale Mammals Take Over (ii) Over Take Mammals http://fascinatingly.com/wp content/uploads/2009/03/humpback_whale.jpg -.
Recommended publications
  • Lecture 20 - the History of Life on Earth
    Lecture 20 - The History of Life on Earth Lecture 20 The History of Life on Earth Astronomy 141 – Autumn 2012 This lecture reviews the history of life on Earth. Rapid diversification of anaerobic prokaryotes during the Proterozoic Eon Emergence of Photosynthesis and the rise of O2 in the Earth’s atmosphere. Rise of Eukaryotes and the Cambrian Explosion in biodiversity at the start of the Phanerozoic Eon Colonization of land first by plants, then by animals Emergence of primates, then hominids, then humans. A brief digression on notation: “ya” = “years ago” Introduce a simple compact notation for writing the length of time before the present day. For example: “3.5 Billion years ago” “454 Million years ago” Gya = “giga-years ago”, hence 3.5 Gya = 3.5 Billion years ago Mya = “mega-years ago”, hence 454 Mya = 454 Million years ago [Note: some sources use Ga and Ma] Astronomy 141 - Winter 2012 1 Lecture 20 - The History of Life on Earth The four Eons of geological time. Hadean: 4.5 – 3.8 Gya: Formation, oceans & atmosphere Archaean: 3.8 – 2.5 Gya: Stromatolites & fossil bacteria Proterozoic: 2.5 Gya – 454 Mya: Eukarya and Oxygen Phanerozoic: since 454 Mya: Rise of plant and animal life The Archaean Eon began with the end of heavy bombardment ~3.8 Gya. Conditions stabilized. Oceans, but no O2 in the atmosphere. Stromatolites appear in the geological record ~3.5 Gya and thrived for >1 Billion years Rise of anaerobic microbes in the deep ocean & shores using Chemosynthesis. Time of rapid diversification of life driven by Natural Selection.
    [Show full text]
  • Timeline of the Evolutionary History of Life
    Timeline of the evolutionary history of life This timeline of the evolutionary history of life represents the current scientific theory Life timeline Ice Ages outlining the major events during the 0 — Primates Quater nary Flowers ←Earliest apes development of life on planet Earth. In P Birds h Mammals – Plants Dinosaurs biology, evolution is any change across Karo o a n ← Andean Tetrapoda successive generations in the heritable -50 0 — e Arthropods Molluscs r ←Cambrian explosion characteristics of biological populations. o ← Cryoge nian Ediacara biota – z ← Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity o Earliest animals ←Earliest plants at every level of biological organization, i Multicellular -1000 — c from kingdoms to species, and individual life ←Sexual reproduction organisms and molecules, such as DNA and – P proteins. The similarities between all present r -1500 — o day organisms indicate the presence of a t – e common ancestor from which all known r Eukaryotes o species, living and extinct, have diverged -2000 — z o through the process of evolution. More than i Huron ian – c 99 percent of all species, amounting to over ←Oxygen crisis [1] five billion species, that ever lived on -2500 — ←Atmospheric oxygen Earth are estimated to be extinct.[2][3] Estimates on the number of Earth's current – Photosynthesis Pong ola species range from 10 million to 14 -3000 — A million,[4] of which about 1.2 million have r c been documented and over 86 percent have – h [5] e not yet been described. However, a May a -3500 — n ←Earliest oxygen 2016
    [Show full text]
  • AMS112 1978-1979 Lowres Web
    --~--------~--------------------------------------------~~~~----------~-------------- - ~------------------------------ COVER: Paul Webber, technical officer in the Herpetology department searchers for reptiles and amphibians on a field trip for the Colo River Survey. Photo: John Fields!The Australian Museum. REPORT of THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM TRUST for the YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE , 1979 ST GOVERNMENT PRINTER, NEW SOUTH WALES-1980 D. WE ' G 70708K-1 CONTENTS Page Page Acknowledgements 4 Department of Palaeontology 36 The Australian Museum Trust 5 Department of Terrestrial Invertebrate Ecology 38 Lizard Island Research Station 5 Department of Vertebrate Ecology 38 Research Associates 6 Camden Haven Wildlife Refuge Study 39 Associates 6 Functional Anatomy Unit.. 40 National Photographic Index of Australian Director's Research Laboratory 40 Wildlife . 7 Materials Conservation Section 41 The Australian Museum Society 7 Education Section .. 47 Letter to the Premier 9 Exhibitions Department 52 Library 54 SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENTS Photographic and Visual Aid Section 54 Department of Anthropology 13 PublicityJ Pu bl ications 55 Department of Arachnology 18 National Photographic Index of Australian Colo River Survey .. 19 Wildlife . 57 Lizard Island Research Station 59 Department of Entomology 20 The Australian Museum Society 61 Department of Herpetology 23 Appendix 1- Staff .. 62 Department of Ichthyology 24 Appendix 2-Donations 65 Department of Malacology 25 Appendix 3-Acknowledgements of Co- Department of Mammalogy 27 operation. 67 Department of Marine
    [Show full text]
  • BOA2.1 Caecilian Biology and Natural History.Key
    The Biology of Amphibians @ Agnes Scott College Mark Mandica Executive Director The Amphibian Foundation [email protected] 678 379 TOAD (8623) 2.1: Introduction to Caecilians Microcaecilia dermatophaga Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia There are more than 20 synapomorphies (shared characters) uniting the group Lissamphibia Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Integumen is Glandular Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Glandular Skin, with 2 main types of glands. Mucous Glands Aid in cutaneous respiration, reproduction, thermoregulation and defense. Granular Glands Secrete toxic and/or noxious compounds and aid in defense Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Pedicellate Teeth crown (dentine, with enamel covering) gum line suture (fibrous connective tissue, where tooth can break off) basal element (dentine) Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Sacral Vertebrae Sacral Vertebrae Connects pelvic girdle to The spine. Amphibians have no more than one sacral vertebrae (caecilians have none) Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Amphicoelus Vertebrae Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Opercular apparatus Unique to amphibians and Operculum part of the sound conducting mechanism Synapomorphies of Lissamphibia Fat Bodies Surrounding Gonads Fat Bodies Insulate gonads Evolution of Amphibians † † † † Actinopterygian Coelacanth, Tetrapodomorpha †Amniota *Gerobatrachus (Ray-fin Fishes) Lungfish (stem-tetrapods) (Reptiles, Mammals)Lepospondyls † (’frogomander’) Eocaecilia GymnophionaKaraurus Caudata Triadobatrachus Anura (including Apoda Urodela Prosalirus †) Salientia Batrachia Lissamphibia
    [Show full text]
  • Categorical Versus Geometric Morphometric Approaches To
    [Palaeontology, 2020, pp. 1–16] CATEGORICAL VERSUS GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRIC APPROACHES TO CHARACTERIZING THE EVOLUTION OF MORPHOLOGICAL DISPARITY IN OSTEOSTRACI (VERTEBRATA, STEM GNATHOSTOMATA) by HUMBERTO G. FERRON 1,2* , JENNY M. GREENWOOD1, BRADLEY DELINE3,CARLOSMARTINEZ-PEREZ 1,2,HECTOR BOTELLA2, ROBERT S. SANSOM4,MARCELLORUTA5 and PHILIP C. J. DONOGHUE1,* 1School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de Valencia, C/ Catedratic Jose Beltran Martınez 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain; [email protected], [email protected] 3Department of Geosciences, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 30118, USA; [email protected] 4School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK; [email protected] 5School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Hall, Lincoln, LN2 2LG, UK; [email protected] *Corresponding authors Typescript received 2 October 2019; accepted in revised form 27 February 2020 Abstract: Morphological variation (disparity) is almost aspects of morphology. Phylomorphospaces reveal conver- invariably characterized by two non-mutually exclusive gence towards a generalized ‘horseshoe’-shaped cranial mor- approaches: (1) quantitatively, through geometric morpho- phology and two strong trends involving major groups of metrics;
    [Show full text]
  • Curious Creatures Using Fossil and Modern Evidence to Work out the Lifestyles of Extinct Animals
    Earthlearningidea http://www.earthlearningidea.com Curious creatures Using fossil and modern evidence to work out the lifestyles of extinct animals Try comparing the features of animals today with • Of what animal(s) alive today does it remind you? those of fossils - can you predict the lifestyles of the • How did the animal move? (swim, crawl, float, extinct animals? wriggle, hop). • How did it catch its food? (predators often have Divide the pupils into groups. Give each group a copy grasping limbs for catching prey. Not all animals of the diagrams of animals shown below and a copy are herbivores or carnivores; some are filter of the reconstruction of life on page 3. Tell the pupils feeders (like mussels) or deposit feeders (like that all of these creatures lived in the sea about 515 worms). million years ago before there were any plants or • Could it see? (predators often have large eyes for animals on land. hunting). (Further background information is given for teachers • Is there evidence of other organs that could sense on page 2). the environment around? (feelers). • Look at the diagram on page 3. Where do you For each of the five animals shown in the diagram, think it lived? (swimming around, on the seabed, ask the pupils to answer the following questions and burrowing, on another animal or plant). to list the evidence they have used:- • Can you deduce anything else about the lifestyles of these five animals? Images reproduced with kind permission of The Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation http://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. The back up: Title: Curious creatures Time needed to complete activity: 20 minutes Subtitle: Using fossil and modern evidence to work Pupil learning outcomes: Pupils can: out the lifestyles of extinct animals • relate characteristics of marine animals today to similar characteristics shown by fossil evidence Topic: A snapshot of the history of life on Earth from long-extinct creatures; • realise that there are no right answers to this Age range of pupils: 10 - 18 years activity.
    [Show full text]
  • Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny and Sexual Dimorphism with Multivariate Allometry Erick Charles Anderson [email protected]
    Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 2016 Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny and Sexual Dimorphism with Multivariate Allometry Erick Charles Anderson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Animal Sciences Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Erick Charles, "Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny and Sexual Dimorphism with Multivariate Allometry" (2016). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1031. http://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1031 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ANALYZING PTEROSAUR ONTOGENY AND SEXUAL DIMORPHISM WITH MULTIVARIATE ALLOMETRY A thesis submitted to the Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences by Erick Charles Anderson Approved by Dr. Frank R. O’Keefe, Committee Chairperson Dr. Suzanne Strait Dr. Andy Grass Marshall University May 2016 i ii ii Erick Charles Anderson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. F. Robin O’Keefe for his guidance and advice during my three years at Marshall University. His past research and experience with reptile evolution made this research possible. I would also like to thank Dr. Andy Grass for his advice during the course of the research. I would like to thank my fellow graduate students Donald Morgan and Tiffany Aeling for their support, encouragement, and advice in the lab and bar during our two years working together.
    [Show full text]
  • Chordates (Phylum Chordata)
    A short story Leathem Mehaffey, III, Fall 201993 The First Chordates (Phylum Chordata) • Chordates (our phylum) first appeared in the Cambrian, 525MYA. 94 Invertebrates, Chordates and Vertebrates • Invertebrates are all animals not chordates • Generally invertebrates, if they have hearts, have dorsal hearts; if they have a nervous system it is usually ventral. • All vertebrates are chordates, but not all chordates are vertebrates. • Chordates: • Dorsal notochord • Dorsal nerve chord • Ventral heart • Post-anal tail • Vertebrates: Amphioxus: archetypal chordate • Dorsal spinal column (articulated) and skeleton 95 Origin of the Chordates 96 Haikouichthys Myllokunmingia Note the rounded extension to Possibly the oldest the head bearing sensory vertebrate: showed gill organs bars and primitive vertebral elements Early and primitive agnathan vertebrates of the Early Cambrian (530MYA) Pikaia Note: these organisms were less Primitive chordate, than an inch long. similar to Amphioxus 97 The Cambrian/Ordovician Extinction • Somewhere around 488 million years ago something happened to cause a change in the fauna of the earth, heralding the beginning of the Ordovician Period. • Rather than one catastrophe, the late-Cambrian extinction seems to be a series of smaller extinction events. • Historically the change in fauna (mostly trilobites as the index species) was thought to be due to excessive warmth and low oxygen. • But some current findings point to an oxygen spike due perhaps to continental drift into the tropics, driving rapid speciation and consequent replacement of old with new organisms. 98 Welcome to the Ordovician YOU ARE HERE 99 The Ordovician Sea, 488 million years 100 ago The Ordovician Period lasted almost 45 million years, from 489 to 444 MYA.
    [Show full text]
  • Horodysky Throws Light on Fish Vision
    3 Horodysky Throws Light on Fish Vision Andrij Horodysky’s research can be The research is part of an emerg- Horodysky also benefits summed up in a simple saying—what ing field called “visual ecology” that from collaborations with Char- you see is what you get. promises to throw new light on animal ter captains like Steve Wray, Horodysky, a VIMS graduate behavior and the interactions between who provide him with the fish student working with faculty members predators and prey. Horodysky and his he needs for his experiments. Drs. Rich Brill, Rob Latour, and Jack advisors are pioneers in applying this Horodysky’s preliminary Musick, is using electroretinography—a field to Bay fishes. results provide basic insight technique first developed for studying The researchers are focusing their into how Bay fishes see the human vision—to explore how fishes initial studies on recreationally impor- world. The results show that see the underwater world of Chesapeake tant Bay species such as striped bass, some species, like striped bass, Bay. weakfish, croaker, and drum. This re- are adapted to see large, swiftly Brill, an internationally recognized flects the source of their funding, which moving prey in daylight. Oth- fish physiologist who heads NOAA’s comes from the Recreational Fishing ers, like weakfish, are adapted Cooperative Marine Education and Advisory Board of the Virginia Marine to see small, sluggish prey at Research (CMER) program at VIMS, Resources Commission. The Board uses night. has recently turned his attention to the money from Virginia’s saltwater fishing He is also comparing the sensory world of fish and other marine license to fund projects that improve the types of prey that fishes are organisms.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CLASSIFICATION and EVOLUTION of the HETEROSTRACI Since 1858, When Huxley Demonstrated That in the Histological Struc
    ACTA PALAEONT OLOGICA POLONICA Vol. VII 1 9 6 2 N os. 1-2 L. BEVERLY TARLO THE CLASSIFICATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE HETEROSTRACI Abstract. - An outline classification is given of the Hetero straci, with diagnoses . of th e following orders and suborders: Astraspidiformes, Eriptychiiformes, Cya­ thaspidiformes (Cyathaspidida, Poraspidida, Ctenaspidida), Psammosteiformes (Tes­ seraspidida, Psarnmosteida) , Traquairaspidiformes, Pteraspidiformes (Pte ras pidida, Doryaspidida), Cardipeltiformes and Amphiaspidiformes (Amphiaspidida, Hiber­ naspidida, Eglonaspidida). It is show n that the various orders fall into four m ain evolutionary lineages ~ cyathaspid, psammosteid, pteraspid and amphiaspid, and these are traced from primitive te ssellated forms. A tentative phylogeny is pro­ posed and alternatives are discussed. INTRODUCTION Since 1858, when Huxley demonstrated that in the histological struc­ ture of their dermal bone Cephalaspis and Pteraspis were quite different from one another, it has been recognized that there were two distinct groups of ostracoderms for which Lankester (1868-70) proposed the names Osteostraci and Heterostraci respectively. Although these groups are generally considered to be related to on e another, Lankester belie­ ved that "the Heterostraci are at present associated with the Osteostraci because they are found in the same beds, because they have, like Cepha­ laspis, a large head shield, and because there is nothing else with which to associate them". In 1889, Cop e united these two groups in the Ostracodermi which, together with the modern cyclostomes, he placed in the Class Agnatha, and although this proposal was at first opposed by Traquair (1899) and Woodward (1891b), subsequent work has shown that it was correct as both the Osteostraci and the Heterostraci were agnathous.
    [Show full text]
  • Running Birds from Quail to Ostrich Prioritise Leg Safety and Economy
    © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | The Journal of Experimental Biology (2014) 217, 3786-3796 doi:10.1242/jeb.102640 RESEARCH ARTICLE Don’t break a leg: running birds from quail to ostrich prioritise leg safety and economy on uneven terrain Aleksandra V. Birn-Jeffery1,*,‡, Christian M. Hubicki2,‡, Yvonne Blum1, Daniel Renjewski2, Jonathan W. Hurst2 and Monica A. Daley1,§ ABSTRACT Daley, 2012; Dial, 2003; Jindrich et al., 2007; Rubenson et al., Cursorial ground birds are paragons of bipedal running that span a 2004). These athletes span the broadest body mass range among 500-fold mass range from quail to ostrich. Here we investigate the extant bipeds, over 500-fold from quail to ostrich. Birds thus provide task-level control priorities of cursorial birds by analysing how they a natural animal model for understanding the functional demands of negotiate single-step obstacles that create a conflict between body striding bipedalism and how these demands change with body size stability (attenuating deviations in body motion) and consistent leg (Gatesy and Biewener, 1991; Hutchinson and Garcia, 2002; Roberts force–length dynamics (for economy and leg safety). We also test the et al., 1998a). hypothesis that control priorities shift between body stability and leg Here, we ask two questions fundamental to locomotor behaviour: safety with increasing body size, reflecting use of active control to (1) what are the task-level leg control priorities of running animals; overcome size-related challenges. Weight-support demands lead to and (2) how do these priorities vary with terrain and body size? a shift towards straighter legs and stiffer steady gait with increasing Running animals must control their legs to balance numerous, body size, but it remains unknown whether non-steady locomotor sometimes conflicting, task-level demands including minimising priorities diverge with size.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mesozoic Era Alvarez, W.(1997)
    Alles Introductory Biology: Illustrated Lecture Presentations Instructor David L. Alles Western Washington University ----------------------- Part Three: The Integration of Biological Knowledge Vertebrate Evolution in the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras ----------------------- Vertebrate Evolution in the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic • Amphibians to Reptiles Internal Fertilization, the Amniotic Egg, and a Water-Tight Skin • The Adaptive Radiation of Reptiles from Scales to Hair and Feathers • Therapsids to Mammals • Dinosaurs to Birds Ectothermy to Endothermy The Evolution of Reptiles The Phanerozoic Eon 444 365 251 Paleozoic Era 542 m.y.a. 488 416 360 299 Camb. Ordov. Sil. Devo. Carbon. Perm. Cambrian Pikaia Fish Fish First First Explosion w/o jaws w/ jaws Amphibians Reptiles 210 65 Mesozoic Era 251 200 180 150 145 Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous First First First T. rex Dinosaurs Mammals Birds Cenozoic Era Last Ice Age 65 56 34 23 5 1.8 0.01 Paleo. Eocene Oligo. Miocene Plio. Ple. Present Early Primate First New First First Modern Cantius World Monkeys Apes Hominins Humans A modern Amphibian—the toad A modern day Reptile—a skink, note the finely outlined scales. A Comparison of Amphibian and Reptile Reproduction The oldest known reptile is Hylonomus lyelli dating to ~ 320 m.y.a.. The earliest or stem reptiles radiated into therapsids leading to mammals, and archosaurs leading to all the other reptile groups including the thecodontians, ancestors of the dinosaurs. Dimetrodon, a Mammal-like Reptile of the Early Permian Dicynodonts were a group of therapsids of the late Permian. Web Reference http://www.museums.org.za/sam/resource/palaeo/cluver/index.html Therapsids experienced an adaptive radiation during the Permian, but suffered heavy extinctions during the end Permian mass extinction.
    [Show full text]