Zoology

Lecture 1
Introduction

Organization of systems within animal bodies

• Body plans – cell layers, body cavities (coelom )
• Pro
tostomes versus deuterostomes
Protostomes:
• Introduction to major Phyla and Classes: Porifera
(sponges) , Cnidaria( e.g. corals), Platyhelminthes (flat
worms), Nematoda (round worms), Annelida
(segmented worms), Crustacea (crustaceans),
Hexapoda (insects), Myriapoda (millipedes),
Chelicerata (spiders), Mollusca (molluscs),
Echinodermata (echinoderms), Chordata (chordates,
including vertebrates)

Course focuses on Opisthokonta clade(?)

Origin of Metazoa
Choanoflagellates
-Solitary/colonial aquatic eukaryotes
-Each cell carriers a flagellum surrounded by a collar of
microvilli
-Beating of flagellum draws water into the collar
-Microvilli (collar) collects tiny particles(typically
bacteria)
-Immobile
-Resemble sponge feeding cells (choanocytes)—>debate whether sponge choanocytes are
ancestral to choanoflagellates

What is an animal?
-Multicellular (many cells that can become specialized for one particular function and carry it out
very efficiently)
-Heterotrophic(obtain organic molecules synthesized by other organisms)
-Cells organized into cell layers and tissues
-Contain collagen
-Cells connected by ‘cell junctions’ and can recognize each other (glycoproteins(allow cells to
communicate with each other and to stick together to form tissues) on cell surface)
 Simplified animal phylogeny

-Sponges have no true tissues(as defined by basement

membranes)—> separated from other animals in the
phylogeny

-Cnidarains(Mostly marine animals,

the cnidarians include the corals, hydras, jellyfish,
Portuguese men-of-war, sea anemones, sea pens, sea
whips, and sea fans.) are the only truly radially
symmetrical

Review of major animal groupings

Lophotrochozoa: Platyhelminthes, Annelida, and Mollusca
Ecdysozoa: Nematoda, Crustacea, Hexapoda, Myriapoda, and Chelicerata
Deuterostomes: Echindodermata and Chordata

Animal biodiversity
-Most major groups appear in the Cambrian (541-485 mya)
-Evolution of respiratory systems
-Radiation tied to atmospheric oxygen content
Jawless fish
-ancestors of modern lampreys and hagfish appear in Cambrian
hagfish (subphylum Myxine):
• lack vertebrae, poorly developed cranium
• marine, feed on invertebrates and scavenge
• four rows of keratinized teeth to bore into flesh
lampreys (class Cephalaspidomorphi)
• skull and vertebrae
• parasitic: attach to fish and people by suction; oral disk rasps a
hole into victim
Major pests
Life cycle: migration b/w streams to spawn and Lakes

Ordovician Era
-Fish radiation
-First land plants
Silurian-Devonian
-Oxygen spike in atmosphere coincides with a move on land
-Terrestrial tetrapods
-Age of Fish

Permian-Triassic extinction
-50% of marine taxa disappear
-Five great extinctions
-140 my cycle of diversity coincides with climate cycles and cosmic ray flux(meterorites)
-The 6th extinction? (Humans)

Triassic
-First dinosaurs
-First flowering plants
-First mammals
—>endothermy(the property or state of being warm-blooded)
Cynodont
-therapsid: evolved from pelycosaurs
-ancestor of modern mammals
-extinct in Cretaceaous

Jurassic- Cretaceous
-Age of Dinosaurs
-Very warm climate
-Birds evolve
-Dinosaurs were the most diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates
-Phylogenetically diverse lineages
-Birds are glorified dinosaurs
Microraptor gui (Dromaeosauridae)
-Early Cretaceous, China
-Down and Flight feathers
-Gliding flight
-“Top down” rather than “bottom up”

K-T boundary (point in between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods)

-Massive extinction event
-Dinosaurs disappear
-Meteorite?

Tertiary
-Radiation of birds and mammals
-Cool climate
-Continental drift separate faunas
-Evolution of modern biodiversity

History of animal diversity

-Recent increase in diversity
-Increase in size and complexity
-Ongoing process

Biodiversity
-75% (animals)
-arthropods are the most diverse
-vertebrates make up a small proportion

Lecture 2
Proifera, Cnidaria and Ctenophora

Most animals are invertebrates

-97% of all animal species
-35 of 36 animal phyla
Big 8
1. Porifera
2. Cnidaria
3. Mollusca
4. Platyhelmintha
5. Annelida
6. Nematoda
7. Arthropoda
8. Echinodermata

Reading Trees

Phylum Porifera
-Sea sponges
-No true symmetry
-No true organs or tissue, cells somewhat independent
-Cups, tubes, irregular, branched, encrusting

- ~15,000 species: mostly marine, some freshwater

- Ancient lineage, pre-Cambrian origin
-Porifera: “pore-bearing”
-Sac like bodies perforated by many pores
-Flagellated “collar cells (choanocytes) move water —>
efficient aquatic filter
-Most eat bacteria, phytoplankton filtered from water but
some deep sea species are carnivorous
- Embryos free-swimming, adults always
attached Choanocytes vs. Choanoflagellates

-Skeletal structure fibrous and/or rigid

-Rigid Skelton consists of calcareous or siliceous spicules; fibrous is flexible spongin
-Composition and shape of spicules is basis of sponge classification

Radial Symmetry
 Radiate animals
-Two phyla
-Cnidaria
-Ctenophora(not truly radial, but close)
-Diploblasts(two layers)
-No cephalization(headless)

Embryonic development

Diploblasty
-Endoderm becomes gut; ectoderm becomes epidermis and nervous tissue
-Diploblasts have greater tissue specialization and complexity then sponges

Phylum Cnidaria
-9000+ species
-Jellyfish, corals, sea anemones
-Radial symmetry, diploblasts
-Pre-Cambrian fossils, 700+ mya
-Mesoglea:”jelly” b/w living cell layers
-mostly acellular; water, proteins and nerves Diffuse nerve net
-Internal “skeleton”(works well in water) -no head, no brain
-Specialized cells: cnidocytes
-Over 20 types
-Specialized for pre capture
-Nematocyst: inject venom
-Incomplete gut
-Extracellular digestion in gastrovascular cavity
-Intracellular digestion in gastrodermal cells One way in, one way out
-2 body types
-free-swimming medusae
-Free-swimming
-Bell-shaped
-Mouth downwards
-Reproduce sexually
-Dioecious
-Sensory organs
-Statocysts-equilibrium
-Ocelli-light

-sessile polyps
 -Sedentary
-Tubular
-Mouth upwards
-Reproduce asexually(budding and fission)
-Reproduce sexually (spawn gametes)
Classes within Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
-Sea anemones and corals
-No medusa stage
-Symbioses with algae
Class Scyphozoa
-Jellyfish
-Medusa stage dominant
-Polyp stage in life stage
Class Hyrdozoa
-Polyp stage dominant
-Often attached to substrate on stalks
-Some solitary, others colonial during polyp stage
When colonial
-Specialized individual ‘zooids’ function as single organism
Phylum Ctenophora
-‘Comb-jellies’
- ~150 species, marine
- Comb-like plates of cilia used for locomotion
- Free-swimming at all life stages
- Bi-radial symmetry due to presence of 2 tentacles, oral-aboral axis, no head
- Diploblastic
- Capture plankton with 2 tentacles and epidermal glue cells(colloblasts)- no sting
- Some cannibals
- Most bioluminescent
- 2 anal pores perform some excretory role

Lecture 3
Mollusca

What defines the main clades?

Protostomes and Deuterostomes

-Protostomes
-Blastopore—>mouth
-Deuterostomes
-Blastopore—>anus
Body cavities(character distinguishing phyla)
-Acoelomate
-Lack a coelom(body cavity)
-Pseudocoelomate
-Have the beginning of a body cavity
-Coelomate
-Has a true body cavity
Phylum Mollusca
-90000+ species
-Marine, freshwater, terrestrial
-Snails, slugs, nudibranchs, chitons, clams, squid,
octopuses, cuttlefish
-Diverse forms, but some key anatomy shared

The Mollusc Mantle

-Encloses the visceral mass(internal organs)
-Secretes matrix on which calcium carbonate crystals grow to form shell
-Often modified for movement or feeding
-Mantle cavity water-filled, contains gills(if aquatic)
Phylum Mollusca pt 2
-Complete gut; complex digestive system
-Radula: scraping mouthpart
-Gills or lungs
-Heart and open circulatory system
-Nervous system of ganglia; nerve collar circles
esophagus
Classes within Mollusca

-Class Polyplacophora
-Chitons
- ~940 species, all marine
-Dorsal shell composed of 8 articulated plates
-Shell plates surrounded by ‘girdle’
-Basal to major Molluscan clades
-Head lacks tentacles or eyes
-Roll into ball as defence
Class Gastropoda
-Snails, slugs, limpets, whelks, nudibranchs
-70000+ species
-‘gastro’=stomach
-‘poda’=foot
-Shell(if present) coiled or uncoiled
-Univavle
-Terrestrial, marine, freshwater
 -Wide variety of feeding habits
How do violet snails feed?
-Float on open ocean using bubble rafts
-Feed on blue bottles
Torsion
-Visceral mass and mantle rotate 180 degrees during development
-Gastropods lose bilateral symmetry
-Mantle cavity, anus rotate posterior to anterior
-Downside: Gastropods release waste near their heads and respiratory organs
Class Cephalopoda
-Squid, octopus, cuttlefish nautilus
-All marine predators
Class Cephalopoda
-Molluscan foot modified into:
-Arms and/or tentacles
-Siphon for propulsion, respiration
-Nautilus shell with air chambers for buoyancy
-Squid, cuttlefish have reduced internal “pen”
-Octopus lost shell completely
-Complex nervous system
-Largest invertebrate brain
-Complex eyes: cornea, lens, chambers, retina
-Chromatophores in skin: communication, crypsis
Giant and Colossal squid
-Largest invertebrates: up to 14m long, 500 kg
-Largest eyes on planet: up to 30cm wide
-Live adult photographed first time 2004, filmed 2012
Class Bivalvia
-Clams, mussels, scallops
-“two shells”(bivalve)
-~9000 species
-Filter feeders
-Gill lamellae for respiration and feeding

Making a pearl
-Immune response to parasite or irritant inside shell: entomb it in nacre

Lecture 4
Platyhelminths, Annelida and Nematoda
WORMS!
Phylum Platyhelminthes
-Flatworms: ‘Platy’=flat, ‘helminthes’=worm
-Free-living, or parasitic(flukes, tapeworms)
-20000+ species
-Bilateral symmetry
-Triploblastic
-Protostomes
-Acoelomate(no body cavity)
-Cephalization-ganglia+nerve cords
-Incomplete gut
-Excretion via flame cells
-No circulatory or respiratory organs
-Rely on diffusion: must stay flat
Class Turbellaria
-Mostly free-living
-Aquatic and terrestrial
Predator s or scavengers
-Ocelli(eyes)
-Pharynx(‘eating tube’) often in middle of
body
-ex. Of Class Turbellaria is the
Planarian which has the ability to
regenerate
Class Trematodes
-Parasitic flukes
-Liver, lung, intestine, blood
-Complex life cycles
-2 or 3 hosts
Class Monogenea
-Mostly ectoparasites on fish
-Posterior hooked attachment organ
-Direct life cycles: one host

Class Cestoda
-Tapeworms

-Can be found in beef, pork, fish

-No digestive system; attach via scolex(not a mouth)
-Complex life cycle
-Segments=proglottids

Phylum Annelida
-Segmented worms
-Bristleworms, earthworms, leeches
-17000+ species
-Bilateral symmetry
-Triploblastic
-Protostomes
-Metametric body: serial repetition of functional units in a body plan
 -Circulatory,
respiratory, nervous,
excretory systems

-Locomotion
-Hydrostatic(‘water pressure’) skeleton
-Fluid-filled coelom allows peristaltic locomotion
-Combined action of longitudinal and circular muscles
-Setae (bristles) allows annelid traction against surfaces or
used for swimming; usually made of chitin
Class Polychaeta
-Bristle worms(setae=bristles)
-10000+ species, mostly marine
-Head well-defined
-Parapodia(appendages)
-Some sedentary filter feeders
-Modified head appendages for filter feeding
-Can retract into tubes
-Some predatory: pharynx (jaws) everted to catch
prey
Class Clitellata
-Earthworms, leeches
-Clitellum: a thickening of the epidermis at female genital pores
that secretes egg cocoon
-Reduced setae
-Earthworm reproduction
-Simultaneous hermaphrodites
-During mating, both transfer and receive sperm
-Egg coccon left in soil
Darwin’s worm stone
Invasive earthworms
-Earthworms are key ecosystem engineers
-75 species of exotic earthworm in Australia
-Alter vegetation communities
Class Hirudinea
-Leeches
-Anterior and posterior suckers
-Lack coelomic compartments
-Carnivores, detritivores or parasites
What defines the main clades?
-Ecdysozoa(Cuticulata)
-Grow by ecdysis: shedding the outer cuticle
-Phylum Nematoda, Tardigrada, Onychophora, Arthropoda
-Shared trait: Cuticle that is mounted
-Cuticle: rigid, nonliving outer covering
-Ecdysis: process of moulting
-Ecdysone: hormone that regulates moulting
-Lophotrochozoa
-Do not grow by ecdysis
-Share set of distinct developmental
HOX genes
-Phylum Platyhelmontha, Annelida,
Mollusca

Phylum Nematoda
-Roundworms
-Billions per hectare
-Estimated >500000 species
-Live everywhere
-Many are parasites
-Nonliving cuticle secreted by epidermis
-Only longitudinal muscles beneath cuticle
-Hydrostatic skeleton
-Undulating locomotion
-Complete digestive system
-Ganglia+ nerve cords(dorsal and ventral)
-Most dioecious, males smaller than females

ex. Guinea worm

-worm migrates through tissue
-Can be pulled out over weeks, a few cm
each day

ex. Loa loa “eye worm”

-Blood dwelling parasite
-Causes filariasis
-Localizes in eye
-Vectored by flies

ex. Wuchereria bancrofti

-Lymphatic filariasis
 -Mosquito vector
-Tropical

Worm Therapy
Phylum Nematoda pt 2
-Caenorhabditis elegans
-Model species for biomedical research
-1000 cells: no cell divisions with growth

Lecture 5
Tardigrada, Onychophora, Arthropoda
Clade Ecdysozoa
-Shared trait: cuticle that is molted
-Cuticle: rigid, nonliving outer covering
-Ecdysis: process of molting
-Ecdysone: hormone that regulates molting
Phylum Onychiphora
-“Velvet worms”
-~70 living species
-Terrestrial; only animal Phylum with no extant aquatic species
-Moist. Leafy rain forests
-Mostly predators
-Segmented body; 14+ pairs of unjointed legs
-Respiratory system with spiracles always open
-Live only in high humidity environments
-Viviparous(bear live young)
-Shoot glue-slime for oral papillae
Phylum Tardigrada
-“Water bears”
-1000+ species
-0.5-1mm
-Aquatic, or wet terrestrial environments
-4 pairs of unjointed legs with claws
-Mouth with piercing stylet ruptures cells
-Cryptobiosis: suspension of all metabolic processes
-They have survived
-exposure to outer space
-10 years of starvation
-30 years frozen in ice
-100C+ and ~Absolute Zero
-Extreme pressures
-Doses of radiation lethal to all other animals
Phylum Arthropoda
-Arthropods take diversity to the next level
-Insects, crustaceans, arachnids and myriapods
-1 million described species
-5-10 million estimated species
-85% of all animals are arthropods
-Jointed appendages(Artho=jointed, poda=foot)
-Exoskeletons made of cuticle(chitin)
-Bilaterally symmetric, tripoblasts, protostomes
-1.Exoskeleton
-Protection from predators and environment
-Muscle attachment
-2. Segmentation
specialization
-Segments
organized into
tagmata

The insect body plan

 -3. Efficient respiration
-Tracheal
system(terrestrial) or
gills(aquatic)
Tracheal respiration
-Insects and some other
terrestrial arthropods
-Spiracles that open
and shut
-Air filled system of tracheae that deliver gas to/from cells

-4. Well-developed sensory systems

Mantis shrimp: extraordinary eyes

3 types of color receptors

12 types of color receptors

-5. Complex behavior
-Migration
-Parental care
-Sociality
-Communication
-6.Metamorphosis
-In many species, allows for one diet as larva and another as adult
-Avoids competition between life stages
Subphylum Chelicerata Subphyla Trilobita(extinct)
-Arachnids, horseshoe crabs, sea spiders
-2 Tagmata: prosoma and opisthosoma
-Chelicerae
-Six pairs of prosodic appendages
-Chelicerae+pedipals+ 4 pair of legs
Chelicerae versus mandibles
-Chelicerae: pincer-like; cannot chew
-Mandibles: jaw-like; capable of chewing

Class Merostomata(horseshoe crabs)

-Good swimmers
-Horsehoe crab haemolymph harvested for biomedical
product
-Coagulogen
-Effective test for bacterial contamination
-Half million crabs harvested manually

Class Arachnida
-spiders, scorpions, solpugids, harvestmen, ticks, and mites
-Pedipalps: sensory, manipulation, sperm transfer
-Four pairs of walking legs
-Predators (mostly)
-Venom(most)
-Extra-oral digestion
-Many are good parents
-Guard, carry, feed young
Class Pyncogonida
-“sea spiders”
-Long legs, small bodies
-All marine
-Predators of soft-bodied invertebrates

Subphylum Myriapoda
Class Chilopoda(centipedes)
-terrestrial, flattened bodies, up to 177 segments
-most segments bear 1 pair legs
-last pair of legs has sensory function, first pair form poison claws

-Centipedes are predators

Class Diplopoda(millipedes)
-Cylindrical bodies with 25-100+ segments
-Thorax of 4 segments, each bearing one pair of legs; other segments have 2 pairs of
legs
-Scavengers/ herbivores
-Noxious odors as defense

Subphylum Crustacea
-65000+ species
-Almost all aquatic
-Major component of
zooplankton and ocean
biomass
-Consumed by humans
in very large quantities
-2 or 3 tagmata
-head+thorax(person)+abdomen(pleon), or
-cephalothorax(fused head and thorax, often under carapace)+ abdomen
- 2 pairs of antennae
- Mouthparts: 1 pair of mandibles + at least 2 pairs of maxilae(extra appendages)

-One pair of appendages on most segments

-Most appendages biramous (branching)

Uniramous versus biramous

Biramous appendage (crayfish limb) Uniramous
appendage (insect limb)
-Small crustaceans: gas exchange through cuticle, no special
respiratory organs
-Larger crustaceans: featherlike gills
-Open circulatory system
-Haemolymph fills the body cavity; pumped by heart in larger

species
-Contains haemocyanin and/or hemoglobin for oxygen transport—> blue blood
-Most brood eggs
-Many have larva unlike the adult and undergo metamorphosis
-Nauplius
-Common larval form of crustaceans
-Daphnia lifecycle includes dormant egg phase; 700 year old egg have been
resurrected
Class Maxillopoda
-Barnacles, copeopods, ostracods(seed shrimp)
Barnacles are very good crustaceans
-Only group of sessile crustaceans
-Head cemented to substrate, legs(cirri) stick up

Parasitic castrator barnacles Cirri for filter feeding

-Sacculina barnacles sterilize and feminize male crabs (secrete
hormones)
-Crab(male or female) tend barnacle eggs as if they were their
own(adult sacculina wraps around organs can go in brain and
tissue)
-Free-swimming larva find and infect new crabs

Class Malacostraca
-Crabs, lobsters, krill, shrimp, crayfish, slaters, amphipods, mantis shrimp and more..
Order Decapoda
-10 legs
-The ones we eat (crabs, lobsters, prawns)

Terrestrial decapods?
-As adults yes, but larval stage needs water
-ex, red crabs of Christmas Island
Order Isopoda
-Includes the only truly terrestrial crustaceans: slaters(roly poly)
-Also includes deep sea giants and fish parasites
-ex. Cymothoa exigua: Tongue snatcher
isopod, parasite of fish

Subphylum Hexapoda
-Insects! Plus springtails, bristletails and proturans
-6 legs
-3 magmata: head, abdomen, thorax
-1 pair of antennae(differ from crustacea)
-Uniramous appendages
-Wings(usually)

Class Entognatha
-Six legs but not true insects
-Enclosed mouthparts
-(Collembolans, Diplurans, Proturans)

Class Insecta
-Ectognathus (exposed) mouthparts
-Represent bulk of arthropod diversity
-( a few million species at least)

Two types of metamorphosis

Holometabolous(complete)
-Pupa
-ex. Butterflies and moths

Hemimetabolous(incomplete)
-No pupa
-ex. True bugs and cockroaches

Insect Flight
-Most insects have wings as adults
-Only invertebrates to have mastered flights
-Short flights(beetles) or life on wing(dragonflies)

Insect classification
-~ 30 insect orders
-4 orders especially diverse
-Coleoptera(beetles)
-Diptera(flies)
-Hymenoptera(bees, ants, wasps)
-Lepidoptera(butterflies, moths)

Strepsiptera
-The insect order even most entomologists will never see

Male

Female

Insect and us
-Vectors of malaria, dengue, yellow fever, schistosomiasis, many
others
-Insect-bvectored disease: 2.7 million deaths per year
-Pollination: 1/3 of food crops insect-pollinated
-But also many insect pests of crops
-ex. thrips, caterpillars
-Food in many parts of the world
-High in protein
-Meat of the future?

Lecture 7
Echinodermata and Chordata
Protostomes and Deuterostomes

Protostomes
-Mouth forms from the blastopore

Deuterostomes
-Anus forms from the blastopore

Phylum Echinodermata
-‘spine skins’: sea stars, sea urchins, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, feather stars, sea
lilies
-~7000 species
-Calcareous endoskeleton of plates
-Unique water-vascular system
-Bilateral symmetry as larva, but…
-Secondary pentaradial symmetry as adults
-Parts arranged in fives around oral-aboral axis
-Still classed as bilaterians, because evolved from ancestor with bilateral
symmetry
-Bilateral symmetry of free-swimming larvae
-Endoskeleton of mesodermal origin
-Calcium carbonate plates(ossicles) and often also spines(spicules)
-Thin dermal layer atop skeleton
-Ossicles may bed fused(ex. urchin, sea star) or unfused(ex. sea cucumber)
-Water-vascular system: network of fluid-filled canals
-Function in locomotion, gas change, feeding

Class Crinoidea
-Sea lilies(with stalk), feather stars (no stalk)
-Filter feeders; oral surface points up
-5-200 arms

Class Asteroidea
-Sea stars(star fish)
-Usually 5 arms
-Mostly predators
-Pedicellariae(Pincer like structures of endoskeleton)

-Mouth on underside or oral surface

-Many starfish feed by turning their stomach inside
out through the mouth

Limb regeneration in sea stars

Class Ophiurodea
-Brittle stars; largest group of
Echinoderms
-Many deep sea species
-Long and thin arms
-Tube feet used for feeding
only

Class Echinoidea
-Sea urchins, sand dollars and
heart urchins
-Lack arms

-Body spherical or flattened along the oral-aboral

axis
-Sea urchins feed with Aristotle’s lantern: 5
calcium carbonate teeth, surrounding fleshy
tongue

Class Holothuroidea
-Sea cucumbers
-No arms
-Mouth with tentacles
-Most live on ocean floor; a few walk or swim

The multipurpose anus of sea cucumbers

1.They breath through their anus
2. Some ingest food through their anus
3. They expel their intestines via anus as a
defence(then regenerate the intestines)

Phylum Chordata
-Tunicates, Cephalochordates, Vertebrates
-Bilaterally symmetric
-Possess (at least at some stage of life):
-Hollow dorsal nerve
-Notochord
-Post-anal tail
-Gill slits
-Endostyle(filter-feeding organ)

Subphylum Tunicata
-Sea squirts, sea tulips, pyrosomes, salps
-Marine filter-feeders
-Mostly sessile as adults, some planktonic
-Solitary or colonial
-Larval “tadpole” possesses chordate features that
are lost as adult

Subphylum Tunicata
-Filter feeders
-Heart and circulatory system

Subphylum Cephalocordata
-Lancelets, amphioxi
-Clsoed circulatory system(but no heart)
-Notochord persists throughout life

Subphylum Vertebrata
 Seven impediments to invertebrate conservation
1. The public doesn’t know much about invertebrates
9. 2.Stakeholders and politicians are unaware of invertebrate
conservation issues
10. Basic research on invertebrates is scarce
11. Most species are undescribed
12. The distribution of described species is mostly unknown
13. The abundance in space and time of most species is unknown
14. Species sensitivities to habitat loss and environmental change are unknown

Lecture 8
Fishes
Vertebrata(Craniata)
-Cranium (bony/cartilaginous brain case)
-Head with paired sense organs
-Vertebrae (usually)
-Chambered heart
-Muscularized gut
-Pharynx with slits and gills
-Paired kidneys

-~50% of vertebrates are fishes

Fishes
-34100 described species, and counting
-Abundance decrease
-Marine decrease 83%
-Not a monophyletic group-0 term of convenience for all vertebrates that are not
tetrapods
-Common ancestor of fishes also ancestor of land vertebrates
-Origin ~550 mya

Fish features
-Aquatic
-Gills efficiently extract o2 from water
-water has 5% of the o2 of air
-Limb(if present) are fins
-Skin usually covered in scales of dermal origin
-Lateral line system-detects vibrations

Agnathans
-Earliest fishes
-Extinct Ostracoderms
-Hagfishes
-Lampreys

-Cranium and other vertebrate homologies

-But unique enough to be separate class:
-No: jaws, internal ossification, scales, paired fins
-Agnathan= “without jaw”
-Pore-like gill openings
Hagfishes
-No vertebrae
-Body fluids isosmotic with seawater
-Nearly blind, acute smell/touch
-Glands on body secrete fluid—> slimy in seawater
-3 accessory hearts+ heart behind gills

Lampreys

Gnathostomes
-Monophyletic lineage
-Extinct groups:
-Placoderms(armoured)
-Acanthodians
-Extant groups:
-Chondrichtheys
-Actinopterygians
-Sarcopterygians

Major Gnathostome innovations

-Jaws
-Modified gill arches plus associated musculature
-One of the most important events in vertebrate evolution
-Feeding on large, active food forms
-Manipulation of objects
-Gnathosome=“jaw mouth”
-Paired pectoral and pelvic appendages
-In fish-fins
-Modified ventrolateral folds with skeletal supports added
-Stability!
 -Controls yaw, pitch, roll
-Secondary loss in a few lineages

Chondricthyes
-Cartilaginous fishes
-Cartilaginous skeleton
-No swim bladder
-Males have claspers
-Teeth not fused to jaw
-Spiral valve in intestine
-Elasmobranchs
-Sharks, skates, rays
-Holocephalans
-Chimaeras( aska ghost shark/rat fish/ rabbit fish)
-~1200 species, mostly marine
-True bone completely absent
-Phosphatized mineral tissue, scales, and spines
-Teeth not fused to jaws; constantly replaced in sharks

Sharks
-Fusiform body
-Tough, leathery skin with placoid scales
-Reduce turbulence
-Asymmetrical; tail for thrust and lift
-Fins

Shark as predators
-Well-developed sense organs
-Olfaction detects prey>1 km away
-Lateral line senses low frequency vibrations
-Receptor organs(neuromasts) in interconnected
tubes and pores
-Up close
-Most have good vision!
-Electroreceptors (ampullae of Lorenzini) detect bioelectric fields
-Powerful jaws
- After whales, sharks include largest living vertebrates

Rays
-Specialized for benthic life
-Dorsoventrally flattened body, enlarged pectoral fins
-Respiratory water large spiracles on top of head

Chondrichthyan physiology
-Spiral valve in intestine slows
passage of food; absorptive
area
-Specialized osmoregulation
with rectal gland and urea in
blood

Chondrichthyan reproduction
-Male pelvic fin modified—> clasper for copulation
-55% are viviparous

Bony fishes
-Osteichthyes
-Not a monophyletic
group; term of
convenience
-Operculum over gill
-Ray-finnned fishes(Actinopterygii)
 -diversified—> modern bony fishes (teleosts)
-Lobe-finned fishes(Sarcopterygii)
-relict group, few species today- sister to tetrapods
-96% of living fishes(and all tetrapods)
-3 features unite bony fishes and tetrapods
-Endochondral bone(replace cartilage during development)
-Unique cranial and dental characters
-Gas-filled organ derived from esophagus
-Lung (if used primarily for gas exchange) or
-Swim bladder (if used primarily for buoyancy)
Actinopterygii
-Ray-finned fishes
-Paired fins with dermal rays
-Swim bladder may be present
-Sturgeons, gars, and teleosts(modern bony fish)

Teleosts
-The most diverse group of fishes

-Thin, flexible scales (or total loss)

-Fin adaptations for manoeuvrability, speed, other functions (camouflage,
communication, venom delivery…)
-ex. dorsal fins

Sarcopterygii
-Lung-like swim bladder
-Today only 6 lungfishes, 2 coelacanths

Respiration
-Gills: filaments with thin epidermal membranes
folded into plate-like lamellae
-Bony fish:
-covered by operculum( protects delicate filaments)
-Pumping action moves water through gills—> continuous water flow
-Water flow opposite to blood flow—> countercurrent exchange

Fish are heavier than water

-Sharks: no swim bladder
-continually move forward (or they will sink), tail
fin “angled up”
-liver has special lipid(squalene), which is
buoyant
-Bony fishes: swim bladder
-Adjust volume of gas—> depth control
-Absent in tunas, most abyssal fishes and
bottom dwellers

Lecture 9
Amphibians
Movement onto Land
-Physical differences
-Moving from water to land
-Lack of water- dehydrating environment
-Oxygen is 20 times more abundant in air
-Diffuses much more rapidly through air
-Air is 800 times less dense
-Provides less buoyancy than water
-Limbs and skeleton must support more weight
-Air fluctuates in temperature more rapidly than water
-Animals must adjust to these extremes
-Increase in solar/UV radiation
-Advantages to living on land…
-medium less dense and viscous
-oxygen more abundant
-new habitats
 -availability of new food sources
-Disadvantages to living on land
-Dehydration(impact on respiration, excretion, reproduction etc.)
-Greater influence of gravity (less buoyant)
-UV radiation
-Internal fertilization necessary

Physiological Issues- Water

-Still closely tied to water
-Reproduction
-Gas exchange
-Waste removal
-Key-minimizing loss

Physiological Issues- Gas Exchange

-Larval amphibians retain gills
-Swim bladder homologous to lungs (adapted later for buoyancy control, not original function)
-Two structures connected to pharynx
-Air filled cavity functioned as a swim bladder
-Paired nares(choana) used to draw air into the air-filled cavity

Respiration
-Buccal + cutaneous in amphibians
-Positive pressure respiration vs. negative pressure respiration
-Allow for sound communication
Amphibian Circulatory System
-More complex circulatory system required
-Pump blood “uphill” against gravity
-“Double circulation”

‘Lung-less’ Amphibians
-Increased surface area
-Smaller body size
-Retention of gills in adulthood
-Restricted habitat type

Skin Function
-Integument
-Frog skin is thin and moist
-Skin is composed of an outer stratified epidermis and an inner spongy dermis
-Epidermal layer is shed periodically
-More terrestrial amphibians have heavier deposits if keratin
-Epidermis has 2 types of integumentary glands
 -Mucus glands secret protective waterproofing
-Large granular glands produce
a whitish, watery poison

Skin Function-“Drinking”
-Frogs don’t drink water
-Terrestrial amphibians exchange water and
salts across skin (‘pelvic patch’)

Skin Function- Minimize Water Loss

-Avoid desiccating conditions
-Stay near water
-Burrow
-Aestivate or hibernate
-‘Structural’ or ‘behavioral’ adaptions to
minimize loss
-Posture
-Thicker skin
-Waxy secretions

Reproduction- still ‘tied to water’

Amphibian: “Double life”
Metamorphosis of an aquatic larva into a terrestrial

adult
-External fertilization (One species known
to have internal fertilization with birth to
tadpoles)
-Mouth brooders
-Marsupial frogs
-Brood Frogs

Physiological Issues- Waste

-Move from gills to kidney
-Remove nitrogenous waste

Mechanical Issues- Structure and Support

-Bone density increase
-Shoulder disconnect from skull
-Increase in pelvic girdle size

-Limbs
-Senses(ear canals, eyelids, internal nostrils)
Evolution of Amphibians
~400 M.Y.A -Tetrapods ‘arose’
Amphibian Fossil Record
-Stronger. More rigid vertebral column
-Zygaphophyses on vertebrae (support weight)
-More protective rib cages

Modern Amphibians

->6000 species
- Remain tied to wate
- Classification
- Urodela or Caudata
- Gymnopiona or Ap
- Anura (Frogs and T

Urodela (Salamanders and Newts)

-Temperate and tropicals zones~ 700 species
-Lizard-like with long tails
-Typically have aquatic larvae with semi-aquatic or terrestrial adults
-Some species have direct development (pass through larval stage while till in egg)
-Some species never metamorphose and are sexually mature in the larval body (paedomorphic)

Gymnophiona (Caecilians)
-Tropical and semi-tropical distribution-~200 species
-Body specialized for burrowing:
-no limbs and limb girdles
-short or no tail
-Unique lower jaw-closing system- allows strong bite with small head
-Some have tiny ossified scales
-Some are viviparous and developing young eat surface of uterus
Anura(Frog and Toads)
-Anura means without tail
-> 5,800 species (85% amphibian sp.)
-High specialized/shortened body form

Specialized Body Form

‘Flight’

Amphibians of
Australia
-6 families of Anura (1 non-native)
-No (native) Urodela or Apoda

Hylidae- “Tree Frogs”

-World-wide distribution
->80 Australian sp.
-Tree frogs, but many terrestrial and also aquatic
species
-Climbing (tree) species:
-tend to have flattened bodies
-long limb and toes
-toes pads-“suction” caps + “glue”
-Most have webbed feet- aquatic sometimes

Myobatrachidae and Limnodynastidae

-Myobatrachidae- “Ground Frogs”
- 13
genera, 84 species( about 5 of these presumed extinct)
- Pre
dominantly ground- dwelling or burrowing
- Ma
ny breeding strategies
- Dir
ect development
- Bro
oding
- Gas
tric
- Hip-pocket
-Limnodynastidae- “Marsh Frogs”
-8 genera, 44 species
-Some desert specialist (Notaden)

Microhylidae-“Small Tree Frogs”

-Occur throughout tropics of World
-~10 species of Australia
-Far North Queensland and Top End
-Recent invaders to Australia
-Terrestrial breeders

Ranidae- “True Frogs”

-1 in Australia (Papurana daemelii)
- Far
North Queensland and Arnhem Land
- Rec
ent invaders to Australia

Toads- Rhinella marina

-Originated from South America
-Up to 230 mm SVL
-Outbreed local species
-Toxic

Lecture 10
Reptiles

Modern Reptiles- polyphyletic

Characters of Reptiles
-Independent from water because:
-Anatomical changes
-Waterproof Skin
-Amniote egg
-Cardiovascular and respiratory physiology
-Water retention

Amniotic egg
- Mo
ve towards internal fertilization
- Shell forms protecti
- Semi-permeable ba
- Embryonic membra
- Absorption of nutri
)
- Nitrogen excretion
- Respiration (
- Protection (
Reproduction
-Intromittent organ( except tuatara)
-penis(turtles, crocs, mammals)
-Oviparity ancestral
-Viviparity- 20% of Squamata
-Parthenogenesis
-Little to some parental care
-Temperature-dependent sex determination

Waterproof skin
-Evolved keratin
-Armoured scutes(osteoderms)
-Claws
-Hair
-Feathers
-Consequence of being ‘thick-skinned’
-Inability to exchange gas
-Inability to regulate water balance

Ventilation
-Diaphragm(in synapsids) or gastralia
(ventral ribs in sauropsids) for ventilation
(negative pressure ventilation)
Cardiovascular System

-This better separation of circuits permits higher

systemic blood pressure in amniotes
-Fishes and amphibians typically (15 to 40 mm Hg)
-Lizards like paranoids (80 mm Hg)

Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrate Hearts

 Other Adaptations
- Str
onger jaws and skeleton
(allow them to reach huge
size)
- Wat
er conserving nitrogen excretion
- Uri
c acid(prev.lec.)
- Wat
er absorption in cloaca
- Salt
glands
- Exp
ansion of sensory system

Snake evolution
-Burrowing or aquatic origin?

Chelonia
-Carapace and plastron
-In Australia: 4 families
(out of 13)
-Origin of the shell still
unknown

Crocodylia
-3 families, 8 genera, 22 sp.
-Physiological and anatomical features indicate derived from an endothermic ancestor
-Sophisticated heart and unidirectional respiration (similar to birds)
-Bipedal ancestor that were active hunters
-Vascularization of firbolamellar bone in juveniles
-Complex parental care

Sphenodontida
-tuatara (formerly in Rhynchocephalia)
-1 family, 1 genus, 1 species
-Only found in New Zealand
-Ancestral features
-represented in living tuatara
-2 rows of upper teeth, lower teeth fit between; primitive form of skull, vertebrae,
ribs
-Functional pineal eye with rudimentary retina + lens
-Derived features
-Specialist predators of nesting seabirds and insects
-Nocturnal
-Adapted to cold climates

Squamata
-3 suborders
-Sauria (lizards)
-16 families, 383 genera, 3800 species
-Serpentes(snakes)
-11-15 families, 417 genera, 2400 species
-Amphisbaenia (amphisbaenians)
-4 families, 21 genera, 140 species
-None in Australia

Sauria in Australia
- 5
families
- 1.
Gekkonidae (geckos)> 90 sp
- Anc
ient group, possibly Gondwanaland origin
- Ad
hesive toe pads
- Mo
st vocal lizards
-2. Pygopodidae(legless lizard)> 30 sp
- Restricted to Australia and New Guinea
- Related to geckos
-3.Agamidae(dragons)> 60 sp
- Complex visual displays
 - Fast, bipedal runners
-ex. Crests, frills
-4. Scincidae(skinks)>300 sp
- Social species (Egernia)
-5. Varanidae (goannas) ~25 sp
-Diurnal, active hunters
-Venomous with serrated teeth

Serpentes in Australia
-5 families
-1. Typhlopidae (blind snakes)~30 sp
-Burrowing, cryptic species
-Some are ant specialist
-2. Pythonidae (pythons) ~15 sp
-Constrictors
-Mainly nocturnal
-3. Colubridae(+ Achrochordidae) (harmless snakes)
<20 wp
- Some venomous but not dangerous
-Mainly nocturnal
-1 species resistant to road toxins (keelback)
-4. Achrochordidae (file snakes) 2 sp
-Adapted to aquatic life
- Constrict prey
-5. Elapidae (+Laticaudidae + Hydrophiidae) (cobra family and sea snakes)~115 sp
-Diurnal, active hunters
- Includes some of the worlds venomous snakes