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Chordates exam

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  • Chordates
    Bilateral deuterostome animals with a dorsal hollow nerve cord, notochord, postanal tail, and pharyngeal gill slits at some point in their life cycle.
  • What are the four key features of chordates?
    Dorsal hollow nerve cord, notochord, postanal tail, and pharyngeal gill slits.
  • Dorsal hollow nerve cord
    A hollow tube formed from the ectoderm, which can develop into the central nervous system.
  • What is the function of the notochord?
    Provides a place for muscle attachment and can develop into the vertebrae in some chordates.
  • Postanal tail
    A tail that extends beyond the anus, present at some stage in all chordates.
  • Pharyngeal gill slits
    Openings between the pharynx and the external environment, used for feeding or respiration.
  • Cephalochordates
    Primitive chordates like lancelets that use pharyngeal gill slits for suspension feeding.
  • What are urochordates?
    Chordates like tunicates that exhibit chordate features only in their larval stage.
  • Vertebrates
    Chordates with a bony or cartilaginous skeleton, including a vertebrae and cranium.
  • What are the three regions of the vertebrate brain?
    Forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain.
  • Gnathostomes
    Jawed vertebrates, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.
  • What is the significance of jaws in vertebrate evolution?
    Jaws allowed for more efficient feeding and are a major evolutionary milestone.
  • Bony endoskeleton
    An internal skeleton made mostly of bone, providing support and protection.
  • What are ray-finned fish?
    Bony fish with fins supported by parallel bones and webs of skin, the most diverse group of vertebrates.
  • Lobe-finned fish
    Fish with muscular fins that are precursors to the limbs of tetrapods.
  • Tetrapods
    Four-limbed vertebrates that include amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.
  • What is a swim bladder?
    A gas-filled sac in bony fish that helps maintain buoyancy.
  • Operculum
    Bony flaps that protect the gills in bony fish.
  • Amphibians
    Ectothermic tetrapods that live both in water and on land, including salamanders, frogs, and apodens.
  • What is the function of the closed circulatory system in tetrapods?
    Delivers sufficient oxygen to limb muscles for life on land.
  • Amniotic egg
    An egg with specialized membranes that protect the embryo, seen in reptiles and some mammals.
  • What are cyclostomes?
    Jawless fish like hagfish and lampreys, characterized by a circular mouth.
  • Hagfish
    Jawless fish that secrete slime for defense and have a cartilage skeleton.
  • Lampreys
    Parasitic jawless fish with a circular mouth filled with teeth, and a cartilage skeleton not made from collagen.
  • Chondrichthyans
    Cartilaginous fish like sharks, rays, and skates, with a skeleton made of cartilage.
  • What is the lateral line system?
    A sensory system in fish that detects movements and vibrations in the water.
  • What are the three types of reproduction in sharks?
    Oviparous (egg-laying), ovoviviparous (eggs hatch inside the mother), and viviparous (live birth).
  • What is the significance of the coelacanth?
    A lobe-finned fish once thought extinct, providing insight into the evolution of tetrapods.
  • What does ectothermic mean?
    Organisms that rely on external sources for body heat.