Vert. Morph. Test 2 Organisms

Front 1

Describe Osteolepiformes

Back 1

- Tetrapod ancestor
- Heavily scaled
- Large heads
- Labyrinthodont (tooth enamel folded inward)

Front 2

Describe Elitostegidae

Back 2

- Sister group to tetrapods
- Flatter body
- Elevated eyes
- Loss of dorsal and anal fins

Front 3

What were the stem tetrapods?

Back 3

-Ichthyostega
- Acanthostega
- Ventastega

Front 4

What are some characteristics of the stem tetrapods?

Back 4

- Heavy
- 7-8 toed limbs
- Some had internal fish-like gills
- First to walk on land

Front 5

Describe Tiktaalik roseae

Back 5

- Fossil found in Canada in 2006
- 385 mya (late Devonian)
- "Fishapod"
- Retained fin rays
- Humerus with flexible wrist

Front 6

What groups make up Lissamphibia?

Back 6

- Caudata
- Anura
- Gymnophonia

Front 7

What are some Lissamphibia synapomorphies?

Back 7

-Moist, permeable skin
- Glandular skin
- Middle ear bones from fusion of columella to old operculum bones
- Pedicellate teeth
- Green rods
- Levator bulbi

Front 8

What are some Caudata characteristics?

Back 8

- Generalized tetrapod body plan
- Limbs splayed to side
- Some are paedomorphic
- Some exhibit direct development

Front 9

What are some characteristics of Anurans?

Back 9

- Hindlimbs modified for swimming and jumping
- Elongated ilium and urostyle
- Live in a variety of habitats
- Most numerous of the amphibians

Front 10

What are some characteristics of Gymnophiona?

Back 10

- Elongate and limbless
- Ring-like dermal folds (annuli)
- Protrusible sensory tentacles
- Fossorial lifestyle

Front 11

What symplesiomorphies distinguish reptiles from birds and mammals?

Back 11

- Ectomorphic
- Divided atria, incompletely divided ventricle
- Locomotor stance w/legs splayed to the side; lateral undulation

Front 12

True or False, Reptiles are a polyphyletic group?

Back 12

False, they are paraphyletic

Front 13

What living members make up reptiles?

Back 13

- Testudines
- Rhynchocephalia
- Squamata
- Crocodilia

Front 14

What are some synapomorphies of Testudines?

Back 14

- Shell (carapace and plastron)
- Covered in scutes
- Ribs external to limb girdles
- Horny beak
- Flexible cervical vertebrae
- Plastron may be hinged

Front 15

What are Lepidosaurs and what groups are included?

Back 15

- Reptiles with overlapping scales
- Rhynchocephalia and Squamata

Front 16

What are some characteristics of tuatara?

Back 16

- Lizard-like body
- Found in New Zealand
- Nocturnal and frequently burrow
- Low active internal body temperature

Front 17

What groups are included in Squamata?

Back 17

- Lizards (including amphisbaenians)
- Snakes

Front 18

What are some general characteristics of Squamates?

Back 18

- Most diverse reptiles
- Shed their skin periodically
- Mobile jaws
- Males have a hemipenes

Front 19

What are some characteristics of lizards?

Back 19

- Relatively diverse
- Most are small and insectivorous
- Great diversity in xeric conditions
- Some exhibit tail autotomy

Front 20

What are some characteristics of amphisbaenians?

Back 20

- Fossorial
- Elongate and limbless
- Nipping tooth
- Annuli
- Heavy skull

Front 21

What are some characteristics of snakes?

Back 21

- Ancestral forms likely fossorial
- Limbless, elongate
- Transparent eyelids fused to cornea
- No external ear openings
- Forked tongue

Front 22

What are some synapomorphies of snakes?

Back 22

- Kinetic skull
- Broad body scales
- Hollow venom fangs

Front 23

What living groups make up Archosauria?

Back 23

- Order Crocodilia
- Class Aves

Front 24

What are some basic characteristics of crocodilians?

Back 24

- Large and semi-aquatic
- Laterally compressed tail used for propulsion
- Elevated eyes and nostrils
- Bony, dermal armor

Front 25

What species make up crocodilians?

Back 25

-Crocodiles
- Alligators
- Caimans
- Gharials

Front 26

What Archosaur groups are extinct?

Back 26

- Crurotarsi
- Pterosaurs
- Dinosaurs

Front 27

What are some characteristics of Pterosaurs?

Back 27

- Flying
- Late triassic to vertebrae
- Wing formed from stretched skin by elongate 4th digit
- Hollow bone
- Enlarged sternum?

Front 28

What are some characteristics of Dinosaurs?

Back 28

- Dominant land vertebrates from Jurassic-Cretaceous
- Ancestrally bipedal, many became quadrapedal
- Made up of Saurischia and Ornithischia

Front 29

What are Saurischians and what groups did they include?

Back 29

- "Reptile-hipped" dinosaurs
- Sauropods- Long necked herbivores
- Therapods- bipedal predators such as T. Rex

Front 30

What are Orntithischians and what groups did they include?

Back 30

- "Bird-hipped" dinosaurs
- Herbivores
- Duckbills
- Stegosaurs
- Horned dinosaurs
- Armored dinosaurs