Amniote

Newts are semi-aquatic amphibians with tails (Brockes 2005) that are of the family Salamandridea. All newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts. I will be observing specifically California Newts (Taricha torosa) and Rough-Skinned Newts (Taricha granulosa), which are both commonly found in the Northern California Area. Each can also be found in the UC Botanical Garden’s Japanese Pool, which is where I will be observing them. The two species are very close genetically and are able to form hybrids, although it seems to be extremely rare in nature (Davis and Twitty 1964). Therefore, I will be observing and drawing conclusions from both species’ behaviors. Male and female newts typically behave similarly, with the main exceptions being in the mating process. Male newts tend to migrate towards breeding individually and female newts in groups. The influx of males to ponds is gradual and begins about a month before females start to enter (Pimentel 1960). This appears to be the only major difference between sexes as far as their time spent on land. This being said, each sex has considerably different appearances. These variances depend on the genus and species, but for Taricha the most obvious difference is the shape of the tail. Female Taricha have smaller, rounded, more lizard-like tails. Male Taricha have larger, flattened, eel-like tails. My question is why do male Taricha newts have different tails than female Taricha newts? I intend to explore the mating…

Why are mammals considered to be Amniotes, given that most mammals do not lay eggs? What structures do mammals have that are the same, or comparable to an amniotic egg: Even though the “ egg “ is inside the mother the structure still remains the same. There is still a chorion and most of the things you would find in a regular egg. However the major piece in the puzzle that separates an egg from giving birth is the placenta. The placenta is a large piece of tissue that is made up of two parts,…

papilloma virus is only existent inside of humans. As for the microbe papillomaviridae it can appear in animals (book 101 pg). This can be an example on how the virus can develop between different species,which is transposition (POWERPOINT). Papillomaviridae doesn’t just have one type of genetic information it recombines its genetic information in order affect different species (POWERPOINT). Eventually the papillomaviridae that exist inside of turtle it can appear within a human or vice versa…

lungs. Their fleshy fins are sustained by bone, and they can walk around in their natural surrounding. The amphibians are a good example which scientists thought to have evolved from fish like this. As their name indicates ''amphibian'' comes from the Greek word “amphibious,” meaning double life. The modifications of amphibians indeed reveal varied habitats. To live exclusively on land demands the potential to avoid water loss. The next adaptations in vertebrate evolution involved skin that…

Blue light is filtered by the overlaying yellow pigment and thus appears green. Many frogs can adjust their colour to match their background and thus to camouflage themselves. (Integrated Principles of Zoology, 15th edition, Hickman Roberts Keen, McGraw-Hill, 2011, P558) 4.2) The structure of the skull roof permits us to identify three majour groups of amniotes that diverged in the Carboniferous period of the Palezoic era. Synapsids, anapsids and diapsids. The synapsids group which includes,…

Throughout the history of life, organisms have been in a constant evolutionary flight to adaptations that better suit their surroundings, while becoming more complex in nature and achieving evolutionary hallmarks in the process. One such evolutionary leap is the transition from aquatic environment to terrestrial. One of the early terrestrial animals, the primitive amniotic synapsids are an important group of animals that pawed the way for endothermy, a significant adaptation that helped animals…

phase, which differs from most land vertebrates, is the development of a “shelf of bone” above the shaft of the rib bone to form the unique T-shape. The final phase is the development of its teardrop-like shape, which is caused by the widening of the lower ridge of the ribs, which also reinforces the rib. History has shown that the third phase is unique only to the Eunotosaurus, but the second phase is seen in turtles we see today. In turtles, the “shelf of bone” that is formed by the rib shaft…

As the Earth goes through time, we began to see that the species that were developing were slowly evolving into the modern day turtles that we see now. They began to lose their rough scaly shell with the N. argentina and the N.oweni and began to develop a more smooth texture, needed for swimming. This is where we discover the genus Meiolania (“small roamer”). The species within Meiolania have been known to be on earth until about 2000-3000 years ago living between the Oligocene-Holocene eras and…

How do we “classify” organisms? Common names for organisms can cause confusion so they are instead classified by Latin scientific names in italics, the genus is always a capital letter and the species is always a lower case letter. For example a platypus is classified as a Ornithorhynchus anatinus. 8. What characteristics do all organisms in the class “Mammalia” share? All Mammalia share the following characteristics: have distinctive mammary glands and produce milk for their young hair fat…

bridges were formed that allowed mammals and human relatives to expand. The human race has since evolved into the society that we are today, but at a major price. The earth is currently undergoing its sixth mass extinction, which has been primarily caused by humans. There are many humans who do not believe in evolution, but it can be seen through the fossil record, comparative anatomy and embryology, as well as molecular biology and artificial selection. The exhibit held a lot of extremely…