Download Vertebrates

Vertebrates
Other Notes besides power points:
Fish
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The structure of a fish that filters dissolved chemical wastes from the blood is the
kidney.
The urinary bladder and kidney make up the excretory system of a fish.
Lampreys and hagfish have a notochord through all stages of their life cycle.
Agnatha means “without jaws”
Sharks have many small scales embedded in the skin, bass and bream have skin
covered by overlapping scales.
First vertebrates were jawless fish, had thick, bony plates that covered their
bodies, and had no well-developed vertebral column.
Lampreys are parasites.
Chondrichthyes means cartilage fish.
Cartilaginous fishes have spiracles, internal fertilization, and gill slits.
Eggs of sharks are fertilized internally.
Eggs of many species of sharks hatch inside the mother’s body, where the young
sharks continue to grow.
Class Osteichthyes have skeletons made of bones.
The swim bladder allows fishes to become more buoyant.
Amphibians
 Amphibian is derived from Greek words meaning “double life” and “to change in
form”.
 Frogs, toads, and salamanders belong to class Amphibia.
 In frogs, the eardrum is called the tympanic membrane.
 Earliest known land vertebrate was an amphibian.
 Amphibians exchange gases though lung breathing and through skin.
 Toads, like frogs, return to the water to reproduce.
 Amphibians without tails are classified in the order Anura.
 Newts and salamanders are amphibians of the order Urodela.
 Salamanders are cold blooded or ectothermic.
 Amphibians that have slender bodies and no limbs are classified as caecilians.
 The amphibian heart pumps both deoxygenated and oxygenated blood.
 Frogs breathe by changing the volume and pressure of air in their mouth.
 Adults frogs, like amphibians are carnivores.
 Toads must also have access to water to reproduce.
 Amphibians must reproduce in water because their eggs are fertilized externally,
have a jelly-like coating that is freely permeable to water, and will dry out if
removed from moisture.
 Series of changes in the life cycle of a frog is called metamorphosis.
 During metamorphosis in frogs, their lungs are replaced with gills, the tails
disappear, and limbs develop.
Reptiles
 The chorion and amnion are protective membranes in reptiles and bird eggs.
 The amniotic egg is a reptilian adaptation to living on land.
 Eggs of reptiles, birds, and mammals are surrounded by watertight membranes.
 The outermost membrane of a reptilian egg is the chorion.
 The skin of reptiles is dry and watertight.
 Reptiles are cold blooded animals and this means ectothermic. These animals
adjust to the external temperature.
 Endothermic animals have bodies whose metabolisms maintain a constant internal
temperature.
 Unlike other living reptiles, crocodilians care for their young after hatching.
 Some animals are oviparous. This means that their young hatch from eggs laid
outside the mother’s body.
 Most ancient surviving group of reptiles are the turtles.
 Crocodilians are carnivorous.
 Snakes lack limbs, lack movable eyelids, and lack external ears.
 The heat-sensing organs between the eye and nostril on each side of the head of a
rattlesnake are the pit organs.
Birds
Mammals