Chapter 34

PowerPoint Lectures for

Biology, Seventh Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece

Lectures by Chris Romero

• Overview: Half a Billion Years of Backbones

• By the end of the Cambrian period, some 540

million years ago
An astonishing variety of animals inhabited
Earth’s oceans

• One of these types of animals

Gave rise to vertebrates, one of the most
successful groups of animals
• The animals called vertebrates
Get their name from vertebrae, the series of
bones that make up the backbone

Figure 34.1
• There are approximately 52,000 species of
vertebrates
Which include the largest organisms ever to live
on the Earth
• Concept 34.1: Chordates have a notochord
and a dorsal, hollow nerve cord
• Vertebrates are a subphylum of the phylum
Chordata
• Chordates are bilaterian animals
That belong to the clade of animals known as
Deuterostomia
• Two groups of invertebrate deuterostomes, the
urochordates and cephalochordates
Are more closely related to vertebrates than to
invertebrates
Figure 34.2
Echinodermata
(sister group to chordates)

Urochordata
(tunicates)

Cephalochordata
(lancelets)

Ancestral deuterostome
Myxini
(hagfishes)

Notochord
Cephalaspidomorphi

Brain
(lampreys)

Chondrichthyes

Head
(sharks, rays, chimaeras)
Chordates

Actinopterygii
(ray-finned fishes)
Craniates

Actinistia
Vertebral column (coelacanths)
Vertebrates

Dipnoi
(lungfishes)
Gnathostomes

Amphibia
Jaws, mineralized skeleton

(frogs, salamanders)
Lobed fins
Osteichthyans

Reptilia
Lungs or lung derivatives

(turtles, snakes,
Lobe-fins

crocodiles, birds)
Legs

Mammalia
Tetrapods

(mammals)
Amniotes

Milk

Amniotic egg
• A hypothetical phylogeny of chordates
Derived Characters of Chordates
• All chordates share a set of derived characters
Although some species possess some of these
traits only during embryonic development
Dorsal,
hollow
nerve cord

Muscle Notochord Brain

segments

Mouth

Anus
Pharyngeal
slits or clefts
Muscular,
post-anal tail
Figure 34.3
Notochord
• The notochord
Is a longitudinal, flexible rod located between the
digestive tube and the nerve cord

Provides skeletal support throughout most of the

length of a chordate

• In most vertebrates, a more complex, jointed

skeleton develops
And the adult retains only remnants of the
embryonic notochord
Dorsal, Hollow Nerve Cord
• The nerve cord of a chordate embryo
Develops from a plate of ectoderm that rolls into a
tube dorsal to the notochord

Develops into the central nervous system: the

brain and the spinal cord
Pharyngeal Slits or Clefts
• In most chordates, grooves in the pharynx
called pharyngeal clefts
Develop into slits that open to the outside of the
body
• These pharyngeal slits
Function as suspension-feeding structures in
many invertebrate chordates
Are modified for gas exchange in aquatic
vertebrates
Develop into parts of the ear, head, and neck in
terrestrial vertebrates
Muscular, Post-Anal Tail
• Chordates have a tail extending posterior to the
anus
Although in many species it is lost during
embryonic development

• The chordate tail contains skeletal elements

and muscles
And it provides much of the propelling force in
many aquatic species
Tunicates
• Tunicates, subphylum Urochordata
Belong to the deepest-branching lineage of
chordates

Are marine suspension feeders commonly called

sea squirts
• Tunicates most resemble chordates during
their larval stage
Which may be as brief as a few minutes
Notochord

Dorsal, hollow
nerve cord
Tail
Excurrent
siphon
Muscle
segments
Incurrent
siphon
Intestine
Stomach
Atrium

Pharynx with slits

Figure 34.4c (c) A tunicate larva is a free-swimming but

nonfeeding “tadpole” in which all four
chief characters of chordates are evident.
• As an adult
A tunicate draws in water through an incurrent
siphon, filtering food particles
Incurrent
siphon
to mouth

Excurrent
siphon
Excurrent
siphon

Atrium

Pharynx
with
numerous
slits Anus
Intestine
Tunic
Esophagus
Stomach

(a) An adult tunicate, or (b) In the adult, prominent

sea squirt, is a sessile pharyngeal slits function
animal (photo is in suspension feeding,
but other chordate
Figure 34.4a, b approximately life-sized).
characters are not obvious.
Lancelets
• Lancelets, subphylum Cephalochordata
Are named for their bladelike shape
Tentacle 2 cm

Mouth

Pharyngeal slits
Atrium

Notochord
Digestive tract

Dorsal, hollow Atriopore

nerve cord Segmental
muscles

Anus

Tail
Figure 34.5
• Lancelets are marine suspension feeders
That retain the characteristics of the chordate
body plan as adults
Early Chordate Evolution
• The current life history of tunicates
Probably does not reflect that of the ancestral
chordate
• Gene expression in lancelets
Holds clues to the evolution of the vertebrate form
BF1

Otx Hox3

Nerve cord of lancelet

embryo

BF1
Otx Hox3

Brain of vertebrate embryo

(shown straightened)
Midbrain
Figure 34.6 Forebrain Hindbrain
• Concept 34.2: Craniates are chordates that
have a head
• The origin of a head
Opened up a completely new way of feeding for
chordates: active predation

• Craniates share some common characteristics

A skull, brain, eyes, and other sensory organs
Derived Characters of Craniates
• One feature unique to craniates
Is the neural crest, a collection of cells that
appears near the dorsal margins of the closing
neural tube in an embryo
Neural Neural
Dorsal edges
crest tube
of neural plate Ectoderm
Ectoderm

Migrating neural
Notochord crest cells

(a) The neural crest consists of (b) Neural crest cells migrate to
bilateral bands of cells near distant sites in the embryo.
the margins of the embryonic
Figure 34.7a, b folds that form the neural tube.
• Neural crest cells
Give rise to a variety of structures, including some
of the bones and cartilage of the skull

(c) The cells give rise to some

of the anatomical structures
unique to vertebrates, including
some of the bones and cartilage
of the skull.

Figure 34.7c
The Origin of Craniates
• Craniates evolved at least 530 million years
ago
During the Cambrian explosion
• The most primitive of the fossils
Are those of the 3-cm-long Haikouella

(a) Haikouella. Discovered in 1999 in

southern China, Haikouella had eyes
and a brain but lacked a skull, a
Figure 34.8a derived trait of craniates.
• In other Cambrian rocks
Paleontologists have found fossils of even more
advanced chordates, such as Haikouichthys
5 mm

(b) Haikouichthys. Haikouichthys had a

Figure 34.8b skull and thus is considered a true craniate.
Hagfishes
• The least derived craniate lineage that still
survives
Is class Myxini, the hagfishes
Slime glands

Figure 34.9
• Hagfishes are jawless marine craniates
That have a cartilaginous skull and axial rod of
cartilage derived from the notochord

That lack vertebrae

• Concept 34.3: Vertebrates are craniates that
have a backbone
• During the Cambrian period
A lineage of craniates evolved into vertebrates
Derived Characters of Vertebrates
• Vertebrates have
Vertebrae enclosing a spinal cord

An elaborate skull

Fin rays, in aquatic forms

Lampreys
• Lampreys, class Cephalaspidomorphi
Represent the oldest living lineage of vertebrates

Have cartilaginous segments surrounding the

notochord and arching partly over the nerve
cord
• Lampreys are jawless vertebrates
Inhabiting various marine and freshwater habitats

Figure 34.10
Fossils of Early Vertebrates
• Conodonts were the first vertebrates
With mineralized skeletal elements in their mouth
and pharynx

Dorsal view
of head

Dental
Figure 34.11 elements
• Armored, jawless vertebrates called
ostracoderms
Had defensive plates of bone on their skin

Pteraspis

Pharyngolepis

Figure 34.12
Origins of Bone and Teeth
• Mineralization
Appears to have originated with vertebrate
mouthparts

• The vertebrate endoskeleton

Became fully mineralized much later
• Concept 34.4: Gnathostomes are vertebrates
that have jaws
• Today, jawless vertebrates
Are far outnumbered by those with jaws
Derived Characters of Gnathostomes
• Gnathostomes have jaws
That evolved from skeletal supports of the
pharyngeal slits Gill slits Cranium

Mouth
Skeletal rods

Figure 34.13
• Other characters common to gnathostomes
include
Enhanced sensory systems, including the lateral
line system

An extensively mineralized endoskeleton

Paired appendages
Fossil Gnathostomes
• The earliest gnathostomes in the fossil record
Are an extinct lineage of armored vertebrates
called placoderms

(a) Coccosteus, a placoderm

Figure 34.14a
• Another group of jawed vertebrates called
acanthodians
Radiated during the Devonian period

Were closely related to the ancestors of

osteichthyans

(b) Climatius, an acanthodian

Figure 34.14b
Chondrichthyans (Sharks, Rays, and Their Relatives)
• Members of class Chondrichthyes
Have a skeleton that is composed primarily of
cartilage

• The cartilaginous skeleton

Evolved secondarily from an ancestral
mineralized skeleton
 • The largest and most diverse subclass of
Chondrichthyes
Includes the sharks and rays

(a) Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus).

Fast swimmers with acute senses, sharks have Pelvic fins
Pectoral fins
paired pectoral and pelvic fins.

(b) Southern stingray (Dasyatis americana).

Most rays are flattened bottom-dwellers that
crush molluscs and crustaceans for food. Some
rays cruise in open water and scoop food into
Figure 34.15a, b their gaping mouth.
 • A second subclass
Is composed of a few dozen species of ratfishes

(c) Spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei). Ratfishes,

or chimaeras, typically live at depths greater
than 80 m and feed on shrimps, molluscs,
and sea urchins. Some species have a poisonous
spine at the front of their dorsal fin.
Figure 34.15c
• Most sharks
Have a streamlined body and are swift swimmers

Have acute senses

Ray-Finned Fishes and Lobe-Fins
• The vast majority of vertebrates
Belong to a clade of gnathostomes called
Osteichthyes
• Nearly all living osteichthyans
Have a bony endoskeleton

• Aquatic osteichthyans
Are the vertebrates we informally call fishes

Control their buoyancy with an air sac known as a

swim bladder
• Fishes breathe by drawing water over four or
five pairs of gills
Located in chambers covered by a protective
bony flap called the operculum
Adipose fin Dorsal fin Caudal
Swim bladder (characteristic of fin
Spinal cord trout)
Brain
Nostril

Cut edge of Urinary Anal fin

operculum Gills Anus bladder
Gonad
Heart
Liver Lateral
Stomach Pelvic fin line
Kidney
Figure 34.16
Intestine
Ray-Finned Fishes
• Class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes
Includes nearly all the familiar aquatic
osteichthyans
(a) Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus
albacares), a fast-swimming,
schooling fish that is an important
commercial fish worldwide

(b) Clownfish (Amphiprion

ocellaris), a mutualistic
symbiont of sea anemones

(c) Sea horse (Hippocampus

ramulosus), unusual in (d) Fine-spotted moray eel
the animal kingdom in that (Gymnothorax dovii), a
the male carries the young predator that ambushes
during their embryonic prey from crevices in its
Figure 34.17a–d development coral reef habitat
• The fins, supported mainly by long, flexible
rays
Are modified for maneuvering, defense, and other
functions
Lobe-Fins
• The lobe-fins, class Sarcopterygii
Have muscular and pectoral fins

Include coelacanths, lungfishes, and tetrapods

Figure 34.18
• Concept 34.5: Tetrapods are gnathostomes
that have limbs and feet
• One of the most significant events in vertebrate
history
Was when the fins of some lobe-fins evolved into
the limbs and feet of tetrapods
Derived Characters of Tetrapods
• Tetrapods have some specific adaptations
Four limbs and feet with digits

Ears for detecting airborne sounds

The Origin of Tetrapods
• In one lineage of lobe-fins
The fins became progressively more limb-like
while the rest of the body retained adaptations
for aquatic life

Bones
supporting
gills

Tetrapod
Figure 34.19 limb
skeleton
• Extraordinary fossil discoveries over the past
20 years
Have allowed paleontologists to reconstruct the
origin of tetrapods
Millions of years ago
420 415 400 385 370 355 340 325 310 295 280 265
Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian To
Paleozoic present

Ray-finned fishes

Coelacanths

Lungfishes

Eusthenopteron

Panderichthys

Elginerpeton

Metaxygnathus

Acanthostega

lchthyostega
Hynerpeton
Greerpeton

Amphibians

Amniotes

Figure 34.20
Amphibians
• Class Amphibia
Is represented by about 4,800 species of
organisms

• Most amphibians
Have moist skin that complements the lungs in
gas exchange
 • Order Urodela
Includes salamanders, which have tails

(a) Order Urodela. Urodeles

(salamanders) retain their tail as adults.

Figure 34.21a
 • Order Anura
Includes frogs and toads, which lack tails

(b) Order Anura. Anurans, such as

this poison arrow frog, lack a tail as adults.

Figure 34.21b
 • Order Apoda
Includes caecilians, which are legless and
resemble worms
(c) Order Apoda. Apodans, or caecilians,
are legless, mainly burrowing amphibians.

Figure 34.21c
 • Amphibian means “two lives”
A reference to the metamorphosis of an aquatic
larva into a terrestrial adult

(b) The tadpole is

an aquatic
herbivore with
a fishlike tail and
internal gills.

(a) The male grasps the female, stimulating her to (c) During metamorphosis, the
release eggs. The eggs are laid and fertilized in gills and tail are resorbed, and
water. They have a jelly coat but lack a shell and walking legs develop.
Figure 34.22a–c would desiccate in air.
• Concept 34.6: Amniotes are tetrapods that
have a terrestrially adapted egg
• Amniotes are a group of tetrapods
Whose living members are the reptiles, including
birds, and the mammals
Figure 34.23
Pa
rar
ep
t ile
s
Tu
rtl
es

Cr
o co
d i lia

Archosaurs
ns
Pte
r

Reptiles
os
au
Or rs
nit
din hisc
os hia
au n
rs
Sa
u
• A phylogeny of amniotes

din risch
os ia
Dinosaurs

tha aurs n
Diapsids n b ot
ird her
s
Saurischians

Bir
d s

amniote
Ple
Ancestral s ios
au
rs
Ich
thy
os
au
rs
Tu
ata
r a

Sq
Lepidosaurs

u am
ate
s
Ma
mm
als
Synapsids
Derived Characters of Amniotes
• Amniotes are named for the major derived
character of the clade, the amniotic egg
Which contains specialized membranes that
protect the embryo
• The extraembryonic membranes
Have various functions Extraembryonic membranes

Allantois. The allantois is a disposal Chorion. The chorion and the membrane of the
sac for certain metabolic wastes pro- allantois exchange gases between the embryo
duced by the embryo. The membrane and the air. Oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse
of the allantois also functions with freely across the shell.
the chorion as a respiratory organ.
Yolk sac. The yolk sac contains the
Amnion. The amnion protects yolk, a stockpile of nutrients. Blood
the embryo in a fluid-filled vessels in the yolk sac membrane transport
cavity that cushions against nutrients from the yolk into the embryo.
mechanical shock. Other nutrients are stored in the albumen (“egg white”).

Embryo

Amniotic cavity
with amniotic fluid

Yolk (nutrients)

Albumen
Shell
Figure 34.24
• Amniotes also have other terrestrial
adaptations
Such as relatively impermeable skin and the
ability to use the rib cage to ventilate the lungs
Early Amniotes
• Early amniotes
Appeared in the Carboniferous period

Included large herbivores and predators

Reptiles
• The reptile clade includes
The tuatara, lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodilians,
birds, and the extinct dinosaurs
• Reptiles
Have scales that create a waterproof barrier

Lay shelled eggs on land

Figure 34.25
• Most reptiles are ectothermic
Absorbing external heat as the main source of
body heat

• Birds are endothermic

Capable of keeping the body warm through
metabolism
The Origin and Evolutionary Radiation of Reptiles
• The oldest reptilian fossils
Date to about 300 million years ago

• The first major group of reptiles to emerge

Were the parareptiles, which were mostly large,
stocky herbivores
• As parareptiles were dwindling
The diapsids were diversifying

• The diapsids are composed of two main

lineages
The lepidosaurs and the archosaurs
• The dinosaurs
Diversified into a vast range of shapes and sizes

Included the long-necked giants called the

theropods
• Traditionally, dinosaurs were considered slow,
sluggish creatures
But fossil discoveries and research have led to
the conclusion that dinosaurs were agile and
fast moving

• Paleontologists have also discovered signs of

parental care among dinosaurs

Figure 34.26
Lepidosaurs
• One surviving lineage of lepidosaurs
Is represented by two species of lizard-like
reptiles called tuatara

Figure 34.27a (a) Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)

• The other major living lineage of lepidosaurs
Are the squamates, the lizards and snakes

• Lizards
Are the most numerous and diverse reptiles,
apart from birds

Figure 34.27b (b) Australian thorny devil

lizard (Moloch horridus)
• Snakes are legless lepidosaurs
That evolved from lizards

(c) Wagler’s pit viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri), a snake

Figure 34.27c
Turtles
• Turtles
Are the most distinctive group of reptiles alive
today

• Some turtles have adapted to deserts

And others live entirely in ponds and rivers
• All turtles have a boxlike shell
Made of upper and lower shields that are fused to
the vertebrae, clavicles, and ribs

Figure 34.27d (d) Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)

Alligators and Crocodiles
• Crocodilians
Belong to an archosaur lineage that dates back to
the late Triassic

Figure 34.27e (e) American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis)

Birds
• Birds are archosaurs
But almost every feature of their reptilian anatomy
has undergone modification in their adaptation
to flight
Derived Characters of Birds
• Many of the characters of birds
Are adaptations that facilitate flight
• A bird’s most obvious adaptations for flight
Are its wings and feathers

Finger 1

(b) Bone structure

Palm
(a) wing
Finger 2
Forearm
Wrist
Finger 3

Vane Shaft

Shaft Barb
Barbule
Hook
Figure 34.28a–c (c) Feather structure
The Origin of Birds
• Birds probably descended from theropods
A group of small, carnivorous dinosaurs
• By 150 million years ago
Feathered theropods had evolved into birds

• Archaeopteryx
Remains the oldest bird known
Wing claw
Toothed beak

Airfoil wing with

contour feathers
Long tail with
Figure 34.29 many vertebrae
Living Birds
• The ratites, order Struthioniformes
Are all flightless

(a) Emu. This ratite lives in Australia.

Figure 34.30a
• The demands of flight
Have rendered the general body form of many
flying birds similar to one another
(b) Mallards. Like many bird species,
the mallard exhibits pronounced color
differences between the sexes.

(c) Laysan albatrosses. Like most birds,

Laysan albatrosses have specific
mating behaviors, such as this
courtship ritual.

(d) Barn swallows. The barn swallow is a member of

the order Passeriformes. Species in this order are
called perching birds because the toes of their feet
can lock around a branch or wire, enabling the bird
Figure 34.30b–d to rest in place for long periods.
• Foot structure in bird feet
Shows considerable variation

Perching bird Grasping bird Raptor Swimming bird

(such as a (such as a (such as a (such as a duck)
cardinal) woodpecker) bald eagle)
Figure 34.31
• Concept 34.7: Mammals are amniotes that
have hair and produce milk
• Mammals, class Mammalia
Are represented by more than 5,000 species
Derived Characters of Mammals
• Mammary glands, which produce milk
Are a distinctively mammalian character

• Hair is another mammalian characteristic

• Mammals generally have a larger brain

Than other vertebrates of equivalent size
Early Evolution of Mammals
• Mammals evolved from synapsids
In the late Triassic period
• The jaw was remodeled during the evolution of
mammals from nonmammalian synapsids
And two of the bones that formerly made of the
jaw joint were incorporated into the
mammalian middle ear
Jaw joint Jaw joint Key
Dentary
Angular
Squamosal
Articular
Quadrate

Dimetrodon Morganucodon

(a) The lower jaw of Dimetrodon is composed of several fused bones; two small bones, the quadrate
and articular, form part of the jaw joint. In Morganucodon, the lower jaw is reduced to a single bone,
the dentary, and the location of the jaw joint has shifted.
Middle ear Stapes Inner ear Eardrum Middle ear

Inner ear
Eardrum Stapes

Incus (evolved
Sound Sound from quadrate)
Malleus (evolved
from articular)

Dimetrodon Morganucodon
(b) During the evolutionary remodeling of the mammalian skull, the quadrate and articular bones became incorporated
into the middle ear as two of the three bones that transmit sound from the eardrum to the inner ear. The steps in
Figure 34.32a, b this evolutionary remodeling are evident in a succession of fossils.
• Living lineages of mammals originated in the
Jurassic
But did not undergo a significant adaptive
radiation until after the Cretaceous
Monotremes
• Monotremes
Are a small group of egg-laying mammals
consisting of echidnas and the platypus

Figure 34.33
Marsupials
• Marsupials
Include opossums, kangaroos, and koalas
 • A marsupial is born very early in its
development
And completes its embryonic development while
nursing within a maternal pouch called a
marsupium
(a) A young brushtail possum. The young of
marsupials are born very early in their
development. They finish their growth
while nursing from a nipple (in their
mother’s pouch in most species).

Figure 34.34a
 • In some species of marsupials, such as the
bandicoot
The marsupium opens to the rear of the mother’s
body as opposed to the front, as in other
marsupials
(b) Long-nosed bandicoot. Most bandicoots
are diggers and burrowers that eat mainly
insects but also some small vertebrates and
plant material. Their rear-opening pouch helps
protect the young from dirt as the mother digs.
Other marsupials, such as kangaroos, have a
pouch that opens to the front.

Figure 34.34b
• In Australia, convergent evolution
Has resulted in a diversity of marsupials that
resemble eutherians in other parts of the world
Marsupial mammals Eutherian mammals
Plantigale Deer mouse

Marsupial mole Mole

Sugar glider
Flying squirrel

Wombat
Woodchuck

Wolverine
Tasmanian devil

Patagonian cavy
Kangaroo

Figure 34.35
Eutherians (Placental Mammals)
• Compared to marsupials
Eutherians have a longer period of pregnancy

• Young eutherians
Complete their embryonic development within a
uterus, joined to the mother by the placenta
• Phylogenetic relationships of mammals
This clade of eutherians evolved All members of this clade, This is the largest eutherian This diverse clade includes terrestrial
in Africa when the continent which underwent an adaptive clade. It includes the rodents, and marine mammals as well as bats,
was isolated from other radiation in South America, which make up the largest the only flying mammals. A growing
landmasses. It includes belong to the order Xenarthra. mammalian order by far, with body of evidence, including Eocene
Earth’s largest living land One species, the nine-banded about 1,770 species. Humans fossils of whales with feet,
animal (the African elephant), armadillo, is found in the belong to the order Primates. supports putting whales in
as well as species that weigh southern United States. the same order (Cetartiodactyla)
less than 10 g. as pigs, cows, and hippos.

Proboscidea Sirenia
Tubulidentata Rodentia Carnivora
Hyracoidea Lagomorpha Cetartiodactyla
Afrosoricida (golden Primates Perissodactyla
moles and tenrecs) Dermoptera Chiroptera
Macroscelidea (flying lemurs) Eulipotyphla
(elephant shrews) Scandentia Pholidota
Monotremata Marsupialia Xenarthra (tree shrews) (pangolins)

Monotremes Marsupials Eutherians

Possible phylogenetic tree of mammals.

All 20 extant orders of mammals are listed
Ancestral mammal at the top of the tree. Boldfaced orders
are explored on the facing page.
Figure 34.36
• The major eutherian orders
ORDERS MAIN ORDERS MAIN
AND EXAMPLES CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES CHARACTERISTICS

Monotremata Lay eggs; no Marsupialia Embryo completes

Platypuses, nipples; young Kangaroos, development in
echidnas suck milk from opossums, pouch on mother
fur of mother koalas

Echidna Koala

Tubulidentata Teeth consisting of

Proboscidea Long, muscular Aardvark
Elephants many thin tubes
trunk; thick,
cemented together;
loose skin; upper
eats ants and termites
incisors elongated
as tusks
African elephant Aardvark

Aquatic; finlike Hyracoidea Short legs; stumpy tail;

Sirenia
forelimbs and Hyraxes herbivorous; complex,
Manatees,
no hind limbs; multichambered
dugongs
herbivorous stomach
Rock hyrax
Manatee

Rodentia Chisel-like, continuously

Xenarthra Reduced teeth or
Squirrels, growing incisors worn
Sloths, no teeth; herbivorous
beavers, rats, down by gnawing;
anteaters, (sloths) or carnivorous
porcupines, herbivorous
armadillos (anteaters,
armadillos) mice
Red squirrel
Tamandua

Lagomorpha Primates Opposable thumbs;

Chisel-like incisors; Lemurs, forward-facing eyes;
Rabbits, hind legs longer than
hares, picas monkeys, well-developed
forelegs and adapted apes, cerebral cortex;
for running and humans omnivorous
jumping Golden lion
tamarin
Jackrabbit

Sharp, pointed canine Perissodactyla Hooves with an

Carnivora Horses, odd number of toes
Dogs, wolves, teeth and molars for
shearing; carnivorous zebras, tapirs, on each foot;
bears, cats, rhinoceroses herbivorous
weasels, otters,
seals, walruses Indian rhinoceros
Coyote

Chiroptera Adapted for flight; broad

Cetartiodactyla Hooves with an
Bats skinfold that extends
Artiodactyls even number
Sheep, pigs of toes on each from elongated fingers
cattle, deer, foot; herbivorous to body and legs;
giraffes carnivorous or
Frog-eating bat herbivorous
Bighorn sheep

Aquatic; streamlined Eulipotyphla Diet consists mainly

Cetaceans body; paddle-like “Core insecti- of insects and other
Whales, forelimbs and no vores”: some small inv ertebrates
dolphins, hind limbs; thick moles, some
porpoises layer of insulating shrews Star-nosed
Pacific white- blubber; carnivorous mole
Figure 34.36 sided porpoise
Primates
• The mammalian order Primates include
Lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes

• Humans are members of the ape group

Derived Characters of Primates
• Most primates
Have hands and feet adapted for grasping

• Primates also have

A large brain and short jaws

Forward-looking eyes close together on the face,

providing depth perception

Well-developed parental care and complex social

behavior

A fully opposable thumb

Living Primates
• There are three main groups of living primates
The lemurs of Madagascar and the lorises and
pottos of tropical Africa and southern Asia

Figure 34.37
The tarsiers of Southeast Asia

The anthropoids, which include monkeys and

hominids worldwide
• The oldest known anthropoid fossils, about 45
million years old
Indicate that tarsiers are more closely related to Anthropoids

anthropoids
0

Old World monkeys

panzees
New World monkeys

Orangutans
Lemurs, lorises, and pottos

Gibbons

Gorillas
Tarsiers

Humans
Chim-
10
Millions of years ago

20

30

40

50

60 Ancestral primate
Figure 34.38
• The fossil record indicates that monkeys
First appeared in the New World (South America)
during the Oligocene

• The first monkeys

Evolved in the Old World (Africa and Asia)
• New World and Old World monkeys
Underwent separate adaptive radiations during
their many millions of years of separation

(a) New World monkeys, such as spider (b) Old World monkeys lack a prehensile tail, and their nostrils
monkeys (shown here), squirrel monkeys, and open downward. This group includes macaques (shown here),
capuchins, have a prehensile tail and nostrils mandrills, baboons, and rhesus monkeys.
Figure 34.39a, b that open to the sides.
• The other group of anthropoids, the hominoids
Consists of primates informally called apes
(a) Gibbons, such as this Muller's gibbon, are
found only in southeastern Asia. Their very
long arms and fingers are adaptations for
brachiation.

(b) Orangutans are shy, solitary apes that live in the rain
forests of Sumatra and Borneo. They spend most of
their time in trees; note the foot adapted for grasping (c) Gorillas are the largest apes: some
and the opposable thumb. males are almost 2 m tall and weigh
about 200 kg. Found only in Africa, these
herbivores usually live in groups of up to
about 20 individuals.

(e) Bonobos are closely

related to chimpanzees
but are smaller. They
(d) Chimpanzees live in tropical Africa. They
survive today only in the
feed and sleep in trees but also spend a
African nation of Congo.
great deal of time on the ground. Chimpanzees
Figure 34.40a–e are intelligent, communicative, and social.
• Hominoids
Diverged from Old World monkeys about 20–25
million years ago
• Concept 34.8: Humans are bipedal hominoids
with a large brain
• Homo sapiens is about 160,000 years old
Which is very young considering that life has
existed on Earth for at least 3.5 billion years
Derived Characters of Hominids
• A number of characters distinguish humans
from other hominoids
Upright posture and bipedal locomotion

Larger brains

Language capabilities

Symbolic thought

The manufacture and use of complex tools

Shortened jaw
The Earliest Humans
• The study of human origins
Is known as paleoanthropology
• Paleoanthropologists have discovered fossils
of approximately 20 species of extinct
hominoids
That are more closely related to humans than to
chimpanzees
• These species are known as hominids
Paranthropus Homo Homo
robustus neanderthalensis sapiens
0
Paranthropus Homo ?
boisei ergaster
0.5

1.0
Australopithecus
1.5 africanus

2.0
Kenyanthropus
Millions of years ago

platyops
2.5
Australopithecus
garhi Homo
3.0 erectus
Australopithecus
anamensis
3.5
Homo Homo
rudolfensis habilis
4.0

4.5
Ardipithecus Australopithecus
ramidus afarensis
5.0

5.5

6.0 Orrorin tugenensis

6.5
Sahelanthropus
tchadensis
Figure 34.41 7.0
• Hominids originated in Africa
Approximately 6–7 million years ago

• Early hominids
Had a small brain, but probably walked upright,
exhibiting mosaic evolution
• Two common misconceptions of early
hominids include
Thinking of them as chimpanzees

Imagining human evolution as a ladder leading

directly to Homo sapiens
Australopiths
• Australopiths are a paraphyletic assemblage of
hominids
That lived between 4 and 2 million years ago
• Some species walked fully erect
And had human-like hands and teeth

(b) The Laetoli footprints, more than

(a) Lucy, a 3.24-million-year-old skeleton, 3.5 million years old, confirm that
represents the hominid species upright posture evolved quite early
Australopithecus afarensis. in hominid history.

(c) An artist’s reconstruction of what

A. afarensis may have looked like.
Figure 34.42a–c
Bipedalism
• Hominids began to walk long distances on two
legs
About 1.9 million years ago
Tool Use
• The oldest evidence of tool use—cut marks on
animal bones
Is 2.5 million years old
Early Homo
• The earliest fossils that paleoanthropologists
place in our genus Homo
Are those of the species Homo habilis, ranging in
age from about 2.4 to 1.6 million years

• Stone tools have been found with H. habilis

Giving this species its name, which means “handy
man”
• Homo ergaster
Was the first fully bipedal, large-brained hominid

Existed between 1.9 and 1.6 million years

Figure 34.43
• Homo erectus
Originated in Africa approximately 1.8 million
years ago

Was the first hominid to leave Africa

Neanderthals
• Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis
Lived in Europe and the Near East from 200,000
to 30,000 years ago

Were large, thick-browed hominids

Became extinct a few thousand years after the

arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe
Homo sapiens
• Homo sapiens
Appeared in Africa at least 160,000 years ago

Figure 34.44
• The oldest fossils of Homo sapiens outside
Africa
Date back about 50,000 years ago
• The rapid expansion of our species
May have been preceded by changes to the brain
that made symbolic thought and other
cognitive innovations possible

Figure 34.45