Chapter 34: The Origin and Evolution of Vertebrates

Term
Vertebrae
Chordates

Definition
the series of bones that make up the backbone
have a notochord and a dorsal, hollow nerve cord;
bilaterian animals that belong to the clade
Deuterostomia; comprise all vertebrates and two
groups of invertebrates (urochordates and
cephalochordates)
Key characters:
-

Notochord

Pharyngeal clefts
Pharyngeal slits

Lancelets

Tunicates

Craniates
Neural crest

Haikouella

Myllokunmingia

Notochord
Dorsal, hollow nerve corddevelops from
a plate of ectoderm that rolls into a tube
dorsal to the notochord; develops into the
central nervous system (brain and spinal
cord)
- Pharyngeal slits or clefts
- Muscular, post-anal tailprovides
propelling force in many aquatic species
a longitudinal, flexible rod between the digestive
tube and nerve cord; provides skeletal support
throughout most of the length of chordate
grooves in the pharynx; develops into slits that
open to the outside of the body
suspension-feeding structures in many
invertebrate chordates; gas exchange (except
vertebrates with limbs, the tetrapods); develop into
parts of the ear, head, and neck in tetrapods
Cephalochordota; named for their bladelike
shape; marine suspension feeders that retain
characteristics of the chordate body plan as adults
Urochordata; more closely related to other
chordates than are lancelets; most resemble
chordates during their larval stage, which may last
only a few minutes; sea squirts
chordates that have a head
feature unique to craniates; a collection of cells
near the dorsal margins of the closing neural tube
in an embryo; give rise to a variety of structures
most primitive of the fossils from the Cambrian
explosion; 3 cm; well-formed brain, eyes,
muscular segments; no skull
had parts of a skull; a true craniate
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Hagfishes

Vertebrates

Myxini; most basal group of craniates; have

cartilaginous skull and axial rod of cartilage
derived from the notochord; lack jaws and
vertebrae; small brain, eyes, ears, tooth-like
formations; marine; mostly bottom-dwelling
scavengers
craniates that have a backbone
Derived characters:

Lampreys

Amniotes

Amniotic egg
Extraembryonic membranes
Mammals

- Vertebrae enclosing a spinal cord

- An elaborate skull
- Fin rays, in the aquatic forms
Petromyzontida; represent the oldest living
lineage of vertebrates; jawless vertebrates that
feed by clamping their mouth onto a live fish;
inhabit various marine and freshwater habitats;
have cartilaginous segments surrounding the
notochord and arching partly over the nerve cord.
tetrapods that have a terrestrially adapted egg; a
group of tetrapods whose living members are the
reptiles, including birds, and mammals
contains membranes that protect the embryo
amnion, chorion, yolk sac, allantois
amniotes that have hair and produce milk; 5,300
species
Derived characters:
-

Eutherians

Primates

Mammary glands, which produce milk

Hair
A high metabolic rate, due to endothermy
A larger brain than other vertebrates of
equivalent size
- Differentiated teeth
placental mammals; have a more complex
placenta than marsupials; embryonic development
within a uterus, joined to the mother by the
placenta
lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, humans
Derived characters:
-

Have hands and feet adapted for

grasping, and flat nails

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Living primates

Old world
New world
Apes

Humans

A large brain and short jaws

Forward-looking eyes close together on
the face, providing depth perception
- Complex social behaviour and parental
care
- A fully opposable thumb (in monkeys
and apes)
3 main groups:
- Lemurs, lorises, pottos
- Tarsiers
- Anthropoids (monkeys and apes)
Africa and Asia; first monkeys evolved
South America; monkeys first appeared roughly
25 million years ago
informal name of primates of a group of
anthropoids including gibbons, orang-utans,
gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans;
diverged from Old World monkeys about 20-25
million years ago
200,000 years old; Mammals that have a large
brain and bipedal locomotion
Derived characters:
-

Paleoanthropology
Hominins

Australopiths
Australopithecus afarensis
Robust
Gracile
Homo habilis
Homo ergaster

Upright posture and bipedal locomotion

Larger brains capable of language,
symbolic though, artistic expression, the
manufacture and use of complex tools
- Reduced jawbones and jaw muscles
- Shorter digestive tract
study of human origins
formerly hominids; more closely related to humans
than to chimpanzees; 20 species extinct;
originated in Africa about 6-7 million years ago;
small brains and increasing bipedalism
a paraphyletic assemblage of hominins living
between 4 and 2 million years ago
species of australopiths that walked fully erect
australopiths that had sturdy skulls and powerful
jaws
australopiths that were more slender and had
lighter jaws
handy man; earliest fossils placed in the genus
Homo; 2.4 to 1.6 million years old
first fully bipedal, large-brained hominid; existed
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Homo erectus
Homo sapiens

Homo floresiensis

between 1.9 and 1.5 million years ago; shows a

significant decrease in sexual dimorphism (a
size difference between sexes) compared with its
ancestors
originated in Africa by 1.8 million years ago; first
hominin to leave Africa
appeared in Africa by 195,000 years ago; all living
humans are descended from these African
ancestors; first group to show evidence of
symbolic and sophisticated thought
hominin whose fossils were found in Indonesia in
2004

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