Biology of the Vertebrates Study Questions F2011
Note: These study questions are not comprehensive. They are meant to
supplement your lecture notes as you review them, and alert you to the ways in which you should be thinking about
the material, and formulate questions to test yourself. Exams will NOT be limited to the material highlighted in these
questions, or their formats, so your lecture notes and handouts should be your primary reference.
Lecture 1 (30 August 2011)
1. What are the reasons for studying a particular group of organisms such as vertebrates?
2. Which major taxonomic group of vertebrates is the most speciose? The least? What might account for these differences in numbers of species? Roughly what fraction of animals do vertebrates comprise?
3. What is “cladistics”? Define “monophyly,” and describe how this differs from “paraphyly.”
4. Define “synapomorphy” and “plesiomorphy.” Explain how a synapomorphy at one level can be plesiomorphic at another (or vice-versa).
5. List at least four character types used to reconstruct phylogenies. Provide an example of a bad character to use when reconstructing the evolutionary history of an organism.
6. What is the evolutionary significance of Pikaia?
Lecture 2 (1 September 2011)
1. Describe three major evolutionary trends in the vertebrate body plan.
2. List, and briefly describe, each of the major organ systems shared by vertebrates.
3. What are ‘homologous’ bones? Provide an example.
4. What is bone comprised of, and how does it differ from cartilage? Provide an example of an animal, or group of animals that lack true bone.br>
4. Describe the two major components of the vertebrate skeletal system. What features does each part contain?
5. Describe the three major embryological regions of the skull, and what each gives rise to. What were each of these regions initially derived from?
6. How does the tetrapod vertebral column differ from the ancestral condition, both in its morphology and capacity for movement?
7. Briefly explain the major transitions in the appendicular skeleton from sharks, to bony fishes, to lobe-finned fishes, and to terrestrial tetrapods.
8. In ancestral vertebrates, such as bony fishes, axial muscles are divided into _________. What are the major regions of axial musculature called? With which features are the hypobranchial muscles associated?
9. What is paedomorphosis? Please provide an example of a paedomorphic vertebrate.
