By: Danielle Jones Savannah Slasor Chelsi Pulley

1. Vertebrates By: Danielle Jones Savannah Slasor Chelsi Pulley

2. What is a Vertebrate? • Vertebrates are animals that have a backbone (vertebrate). • They are members of the phylum Chordata which include all animals that posses an organ called a notochord (A rodlike cord of cells in lower chordates that forms the main lengthwise support structure of the body). • The notochord is surrounded by a series of bony growths that develop into the vertebrate. • In humans however, the notochord is seen mostly in embryos and becomes almost replaced by vertebrate as the animals mature.

3. The First Vertebrate • Primitive vertebrates are first shown to have appeared about 525 million years ago in the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic era. • The first of vertebrates were the Myllokunmingia. • This is the oldest vertebrate known, it was found in rocks of the Cambrian period, and appeared to have skull and skeletal structures made of cartilage. It is described as 28 mm long and 6 mm high. • They adapted to grazing algae in shallow ocean waters and moving about from place to place. • This was made possible by three important characteristics of the vertebrate, a vertebral column made for flowing back and forth to allow active swimming. • A brain and complex nervous system ( allowed the animal to maneuver and keep track of it’s changing environment). Gill system which acts as a vacuum to help suck in food, and acts as an active ventilation system that allows for breathing. Myllokunmingia

4. Characteristics Of All Vertebrates • Some characteristics of vertebrates are muscular systems, which mostly consist of paired masses, as well as a central nervous system which is partly located inside the backbone (if one is present). • But the main characteristics that define a vertebrate are a backbone or spinal cord , a brain case, and an internal skeleton. • ALL vertebrates are most easily distinguished from ALL other chordates by having sensory organs.

5. Vertebrates Sensory Organs

6. Vertebrates • Out of 1.5 million named species, 50,000 of them happen to Vertebrates. • The main vertebrates that we are familiar with include birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and humans.

7. Phylogenetic Tree

8. Vertebrate Class (Taxonomy) • There are 7 living classes of the subphylum Vertebrata. • Three of the vertebrate classes are fish. The most primitive of these is Agnatha . It consists of jawless fish that do not have scales.  • Fish that have skeletons consisting of hard rubber-like cartilage rather than bones are members of the class Chondrichthyes .  These are the sharks and rays.  • All of the bony fish are members of the class Osteichthyes.  Tuna, bass, salmon, and trout are examples of Osteichthyes. Lamprey   .   . SharkRay Tuna

9. Vertebrate Class Cont.. • Animals in the class Amphibia spend part of their lives under water and part on land.  • Frogs, toads, and salamanders are amphibians.  • Many of these species must keep their skin moist by periodically returning to wet areas.  • All of them must return to water in order to reproduce since their eggs would dry out otherwise.  • They start life with gills, like fish, and later develop lungs to breathe air. Salamander Frog

10. Vertebrate Class Cont.. • The class Reptilia includes turtles, snakes, lizards, alligators, and other large reptiles.  • All of them have lungs to breathe on land and skin that does not need to be kept wet.  • They produce an amniote egg which usually has a leather hard shell that protects the embryo from drying out.  • This is an advantage over fish and amphibians because the amniote egg can be laid on land where it is usually safer from predators than it would be in lakes, rivers, and oceans.

11. Habitats • Vertebrates are categorized as either terrestrial, aquatic or semi-terrestrial. • An example of a semi-terrestrial vertebrate is an Amphibian, this is because they lay their eggs in the water so they wont dry out.

12. Ecological Roles • Adaptation is imperative in their survival, because they must adapt to their habitat. • In order to survive in nature, vertebrates must rely on natural instinct. (i.e. ducks will fly to the south when it starts to get cold, because they thrive in warm climates) • They get their food from other animals or plant life, in nature. • Vertebrates developed enhanced senses of smell and vision and their brain is superior at processing information, than other organisms.

13. More on Ecological Roles.. • Vertebrates make up only about 2 percent of the animal species. • Their size has a lot to do with them being noticed more and being the most successful throughout their life cycle. • Vertebrates have very highly developed nervous systems which help them react quickly when dominating in their surroundings which help them with their competitive edge.

14. Human Impacts: how we use vertebrates • Humans use other vertebrates for things such as food, jewelry, clothing, pets, and entertainment. • Jewelry: humans use other vertebrates bones for such things as necklaces, and bracelets. Ex. Shark tooth Necklace • Food: Humans need to eat other vertebrates. Humans Eat chicken, Turkey, and steak on a daily basis. • Clothing: Humans use the skin hide or fur from other animals as a fashion statement. • Pets: Humans also take other Vertebrate as pets. • Entertainment: Humans visit the zoo for entertainment to look at other vertebrates

15. Did You Know..?? • Reptiles, like birds have voluntary control over the muscles in their eyes, which determine their pupil size. This means that they are able to constrict or dilate their pupils at will, not just in response to light. • Rabbits not only use their extra large ears for hearing but also to cool them down in hot weather • The fennec fox is the smallest fox in the world it’s maximum weight reaches ONLY 3lbs.

16. Video All About Vertebrates Lion VS Leopard