VERTEBRATES

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The most abundant – the most diverse
 GENERAL
CHARACTERISTICS
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1. BODY
 Head –
 Mouth and Pharynx

 Skull (Cranium) and Brian

 Trunk –
 Coelom

 Body viscera

 Tail –
 Skeleton

 Muscles

 No viscera
2. BODY WALL

 Epidermis –
 Ectodermic – stratified – keratinized – avascular layer

 Stratum Corneum – tough, upper most layer

 Stratum Malpighii – Basal layer, produces stratum corneum

 It contain mucous and secretary cells

 Dermis –
 Mesodermic – Vascularized – thick layer - below epidermis

 Contain – connective tissue fibers – appendages, sensory receptors

3. INTEGUMENTARY DERIVATIVES
 Covered with different type of protective structures
 Scales – eg. Fish

 Scutes and bony plates – eg. Reptiles

 Feathers – eg. Birds

 Hair – eg. Mammals

4. MUSCULATURE
 Layers of muscles beneath skin

 Zig-zag muscles segments

5. SKELETON
 Supports body shape

 Help in locomotion

 Exoskeleton
 Bony

 Epidermal or dermal

 Scales, feather, hair, claw, nails, horn, hoof

 Endoskeleton
 Extends to tail at posterior of the body

 Connects to cranium at anterior end of the body

 Notochord is the central axis

6. LIMBS
 Paired appendages

 Help in locomotion and other functions

 Fins – in fish (Pelvic or pectoral)

 Pentadactyle Limbs – reptiles, amphibians, mammals

 Wings – Birds
7. GILLS / PHARYNX
 Perforated – in fish and immature of higher animals

 Gill slits open to exterior

 Number varies from 5 – 7 (or more sometimes)

 Helps in respiration

 Some fish do have swim (air) bladder

 Known to evolve into lungs in higher form animals.
8. CIRCULATION
 Closed circulatory system

 Renal & Hepatic Portal System

 Heart – well developed

 Muscular - 2 – 3 – 4 Chambers
9. NERVOUS SYSTEM
 Highly developed
 Brain

 Spinal nerves

 Cranial nerves

 Well developed eyes

10. OTHER SYSTEMS
 Endocrine system – glands etc

 Excretory systems – kidneys

 Urino-genetal organs – closely located

 Teeth – along the ridge of the jaws

SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA
 Notochord replaced by a vertebral column

 Vertebral column - bone and/or cartilage

 The vertebral column, along with the cranium, limb girdles,

and limbs, make up the endoskeleton.

 This internal skeleton is an adaptation for efficient

locomotion
 CLASSIFICATION
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SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA

 Subphylum Vertebrata has several divisions you need to be

familiar with:

 Superclass Agnatha
 Class Ostracodermata – (Extinct / fossil)

 Class Petromyzontia - (Lampry)

 Class Maxinoidea; - (Hag fish)

SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA

 Superclass Gnathostomata
 Class Placodermi – First Jawed Fish (Fossils)

 Class Chondricthyes – Cartilaginous Fish

 Subclass Elasmobranchii – Shark, Rays

 Subclass Holocephali - Chimaera, rat fish

 Class Osteicthyes – Bony Fish

 Subclass Actinopterygii – Ray-finned Fish; Goldfish; Sea Horse

 Subclass Sarcopterygii – Lobe-finned Fish; Coelocanth

SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA

 Superclass Tetrapoda

 Class Amphibia
 Order Caudata – Tailed Amphibians; Salamanders; Newts

 Order Anura – Tail-less Amphibians; Frogs; Toads

 Order Gymnophiona – Caecillians

SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA

 Superclass Tetrapoda

 Class Reptilia

 Subclass Anapsida – Turtles; Tortoises

 Subclass Diapsida – Crocodiles; Snakes; Lizards

SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA

 Superclass Tetrapoda

 Class Aves

 Subclass Archaeornithes – Archaeopteryx (Extinct)

 Subclass Neornithes – All Other Birds

SUBPHYLUM VERTEBRATA

 Superclass Tetrapoda

 Class Mammailia

 Subclass Prototheria – Platypus; Echidna

 Subclass Metatheria – Marsupial – Kangaroo; Koala

 Subclass Eutheria – Placental

 SUPERCLASS AGNATHA
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The Jawless Fish-like Animals
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
 Absence of jaws and paired fins (any appendages)
 Presence of a notochord both in larvae and adults

 Seven or more paired gill pouches

 Smooth skin (no scales)

 A light sensitive pineal eye (Lampreys)

 Do not have an identifiable stomach

 Fertilization and development are both external

 No parental care; Ectothermic

 Cartilaginous skeleton

 2 chamber heart
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SUPERCLASS AGNATHA
 Classification of Agnatha

 1. Ostrachodermata (Ostrachoderms)

 2. Petromyzontia (Lamprey)

 3. Myxinoidea (Hag Fish)

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 CLASS OSTRACODERMATA
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Heavy Armoured Fish
SUPERCLASS AGNATHA

 The agnaths – an evolutionary dead end,

a side branch in the phyogenetic tree –
did not lead to the more advanced fish

 The first agnaths were ostracoderms

 Though extinct, they give us clues into

how vertebrates evolved from the
cephalochordates
OSTRACHODERMS
 Jaw-less –sucking mouths
 Flattened head – Single nostril

 Use of gills not for feeding, but

exclusively for respiration
 Bottom dwellers

 Heavy external armour like

skeleton (around head)
 Dermal bone – tooth like
structures, fused to make head
encasing – protection against
predators 26
 CLASS PTEROMYZONTIA
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Lampreys
CLASS PETROMYZONTIA

 Today’s living species

 Fibrous skeleton
 Slimy skin
 No scales
 Completely unprotected
 Heart 2-chambered
 Numerous unicellular glands – slime glands
 About 7 gill slits per side
 Eggs with gelatinous covering (aquatic)
CLASS PETROMYZONTIA

 Suctorial mouth parts (rasping)

 Elongated eel-like bodies
 Well developed dorsal fin
 Developed branchial basket (pharynx)
 Single nostril
 Example:
 Sea Lamrey – Petromyzon marius
 Fresh water Lamprey – Petromyzon fluviatilis
FEEDING

 Teeth are sharp and conical

 Embedded in mesodermal papillae

 Usually replaced if lost

 Mouth – downward oriented

 Mouth have special glands that secrete

blood anticoagulant material

 Buccal cavity leads to 2 openings

 The dorsal – oesophagial opening

 The ventral – respiratory opening

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 Two-chambered muscular heart

 Heart enclosed in pericardium

 Ventral Aorta – passes forward through gills

 Then divides into branchial arteries leading to gills

 Gaseous exchange happens in its capillaries

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 Branchial arteries join
dorsal aorta

 Dorsal aorta is beneath

notochord

 Cardinal Artery arise from

dorsal aorta – supply to head

 Mesentric Arteries – supply

to alimentary canal
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 Cardinal vein collects blood from head

 Caudal vein collects blood from tail – bifurcates and leads to posterior
cardinal veins.

 Subcardinal sinus collects all this blood and the cycle starts again
LIFECYCLE
 CLASS MYXINOIDAE
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Hagfish
CHARACTERISTICS
 Slime-eels (Hag fish)
 Upto 45 cm – 1 m in length
 Produce large amount of slime – thread
cells
 Large buccal cavity – no funnel –
tentacles
 Teeth like scales on dental plates of the
tongue
 Single nostril – opens to olfactory organ
 14 pharyngeal openings for respiration
 Eyes are vestigial (Blind)
 Well developed olfactory senses
 Dorsal fin absent
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