Biology of the Vertebrates Study Questions F2012

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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.

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Lecture 1 (27 August 2012)

1. What are the reasons for studying a particular group of organisms such as vertebrates?

2. When an organism is considered an "ecosystem engineer"?

3. Organize the vertebrate groups from the most to the least diverse (# of spp.).

4. What might account for the differences in numbers of species among vertebrate groups? Roughly what fraction of animals do vertebrates comprise?

5. What is “cladistics”? Define “monophyly,” and describe how this differs from “paraphyly.”

6. What is a "monophyletic group"? Draw the vertebrate phylogeny and label all major monophyletic groups discussed in lecture.

7. Define “synapomorphy” and “plesiomorphy.” Explain how a synapomorphy at one level can be plesiomorphic at another (or vice-versa).

8. Provide an example of a bad character to use when reconstructing the evolutionary history of an organism.

9. What is evolutionary convergence and how could it bias a phylogenetic reconstruction?

10. What is a "paraphyletic group"? Give an example for vertebrates.

11. What is the blastopore? Explain the importance of understanding the embryonic development of the blastopore.

12. What is the evolutionary significance of Pikaia?

Lecture 2 (29 August 2012)

1. Describe three major innovations in the vertebrate history reviewed in today's lecture.

2. What are ‘homologous’ structures? Provide an example.

3. 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.

4. Describe the two major components of the vertebrate skeletal system. What features does each part contain?

5. Describe the three basic elements of the skull. 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. Compare the skulls of humans and fish, how are they different and what are the evolutionary reasons for these differences?

10. What is paedomorphosis? Please provide an example of a paedomorphic trait.

11. What are zygapophyses and what is their evolutionary significance?

12. Why are ribs reduced in amphibians when compared to other vertebrates?

Lecture 3 (3 September 2012)

1. What does the term plate tectonics refer to? Why do plate tectonics matter for vertebrate evolution? Define continental drift'’ and ‘'subduction'’, and provide examples for each.

2. The first fossil evidence of vertebrates is from which geologic period? How were most of the continental land masses situated during this time, and what were the environmental conditions like?

3. Describe some key features of Myllokunmingia. When did it evolve? Why is this fossil significant when discussing vertebrate evolution?

4. What are conodonts? When did they evolve? Why did it take so long to determine what they actually were (i.e., what organism they belonged to)? Where would you place conodont fossils on the vertebrate phylogeny?

5. Describe some key features of the ostracoderms. When did they evolve, and roughly when did they go extinct? Which group experienced a major radiation during the Silurian? Some ostracoderms had hypocercal tails, and others heterocercal tails – what does this mean?

6. Which group of ostracoderms is a potential ancestor lampreys? Why do scientists think that?

7. Describe some similarities and differences in morphology and ecology between the two living (extant) jawless vertebrates.

8. Describe how the feeding apparati of hagfishes and lampreys are different when compared to gnathostomes.

9. Both hagfish and lampreys are similar in overall body size and shape (e.g., elongate, and without paired appendages). What are some key morphological/anatomical features that can be used to differentiate between these two groups?

10. Describe the life history and reproductive behavior of the lamprey (Petromyzontoidea). In which ways does it differ from that of the hagfish (Myxinoidea)?

11. List the six main gnathostome characteristics. Roughly when did jaws evolve? Briefly explain Mallatt’s hypothesis regarding the evolution of jaws from jawless, filter-feeding ancestors. List the four main gnathostome groups present between the Silurian and Devonian.

12. Describe some of the major characteristics of placoderms, and how they differ from the ostracoderms. Why are the "teeth" of Dunkleosteus not homologous (i.e., evolutionarily related structures) to the teeth of other vertebrate lineages, like sharks, bony fishes, and mammals?

Lecture 4 (5 September 2012)

Lecture 5 (10 September 2012)

Lecture 6 (12 September 2012)

Lecture 7 (17 September 2012)

Lecture 8 (19 September 2012)

Lecture 9 (24 September 2012)

EXAM 1 (26 September 2012)



Lecture 10 (1 October 2012)

Lecture 11 (3 October 2012)

Lecture 12 (8 October 2012)

Lecture 13 (10 October 2012)

Lecture 14 (15 October 2012)

Lecture 15 (17 October 2012)

Lecture 16 (22 October 2012)

Lecture 17 (24 October 2012)

Lecture 18 (29 October 2012)

EXAM 2 (31 October 2012)



Lecture 19 (5 November 2012)

Lecture 20 (7 November 2012)

Lecture 21 (12 November 2012)

Lecture 22 (14 November 2012)

Lecture 23 (19 November 2012)

Lecture 24 (21 November 2012)

Lecture 25 (December 3, 2012)

Lecture 26 (December 5, 2012)




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