Download Vertebrates

Vertebrates
Vertebrates
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Animals with backbones
Brains encased in a skull
Closed circulatory systems
Veins and arteries to transport blood
2 groups
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Ectotherms – organisms that use
environment to regulate body temperature
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Endotherms – organisms that internally
regulate body temperature
Reptiles
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Have lungs and scaly skin
Shed outer skin all at once
Scales form a waterproof barrier to prevent drying
out
Bone skeletons and teeth; hollow needlelike fangs
Well developed organs
Deaf
Reproduce through internal fertilization
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Eggs hatch fully developed young
Major groups
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Turtles
Lizards and Snakes
Alligators and Crocodiles
Turtles
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Shell formed of plates
of bone
Toothless
Beaklike structure for
eating
Legs or flippers
Tortoises – turtles that
live completely or
almost completely on
land
Lizards
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Slender bodies
Long tails
Eat insects with sticky
tongue
Largest – Komodo
dragon
Komodo Dragon
Snakes
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No limbs
More than 400 vertebrae in backbone
Scales used for gripping
Don’t see or hear well
Sense vibrations on the ground
Swallow food whole
About 400 poisonous snakes
Constrictor – snake that squeezes its prey to death
Alligators
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Live in fresh water and salt water
Found in SE USA and China
Nostrils and eyes on top of head
Broad, heavy head
Teeth fit evenly in jaws when mouth closed
Crocodiles
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Narrow snouts
Live in salt water
Salt glands on tongue
4th tooth on lower jaw show when mouth
closed
Crocodile attack
Alligator vs. Crocodile
Amphibians
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Double life
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1st part – under water
2nd part – on land
Breathe through skin and lungs
Reproduce through external fertilization (female lays
egg and male fertilize it)
All, except salamander, lose tail and grow legs
Moist, scale-less skin
Small teeth for grasping prey
Flexible sticky tongue
3 groups
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Caecilians
Salamanders
Toads and Frogs
Caecilians
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Live underground
Burrowing animals
Small or no eyes
No legs
Caecilian Facts
Salamanders
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Means “lives in fires”
Bright colors
Poisonous secretions
Toads and Frogs
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Plump bodies
Rough skin
Lives on land and near
water
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Streamlined bodies
Smooth skin
Live in water
Male – sounds of
attraction
Female - silent
Fish
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Smooth scale covered body
Gill slits for underwater breathing
Eyes can see color
Detect vibrations in water
Reproduce through internal and external
fertilization
3 main groups
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Jawless fish
Sharks, skates and rays
Bony fish
Jawless Fish
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Round mouth like suction cup
No scales
Sharks, Skates, and Rays
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Rough skin like
sandpaper
Largest ray – manta ray
Largest shark and fish
– whale shark
Shark Attack
Bony Fish
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Skeletons of bone and scales
Smallest – gobie
2 large eyes without eyelids
Swim bladders – balloon-like organs that fill
or empty of gases to allow rise and sink in
water
Birds
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Have feathers made of Keratin (protein)
Have hair, claws, horn made of Keratin
Feathers give insulation and help fly
Reproduce by laying eggs in nests
Produce sounds = songs
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Sound an alarm
Court mates
Warn other birds
Migrate – travel from one place to another in
response to seasons or environmental conditions
Mammals
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Have hair or fur
Mammary glands to feed young milk
Breathe with lungs
Highly developed senses
Highly developed brain
Reproduce through internal fertilization
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Egg laying – anteaters, platypus
Marsupials – pouches for young (possum)
Placental – inside mother’s womb
Orders of Mammals
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Insect eaters
Flying mammals (bats)
Rodents
Rabbits and hares
Toothless mammals
Carnivores
Hoofed mammals
Sea mammals
Primates