Paleozoic Tetrapod Origins/Radiation

rhipidistian crossopterygian ancestry mid-late Devonian (360-370 mya)

major structural changes:

limbs/girdles- better support & muscle attachments skull/jaws- new feeding modes vertebrae- better support lungs

hierarchical classification of the tetrapod vertebrates

Tetrapoda (vertebrates with four limbs) Amphibia Lissamphibia (modern amphibians) Gymnophiona
Caudata (salamanders)- Jurassic ~ 140 mya

Anura (frogs & toads)- Triassic ~ 200 mya

Modern Amphibians: Lissamphibia

general features:
'amphibious' life cycle (metamorphosis) smooth, glandular skin three chambered heart carnivorous

Order Anura
distribution cosmopolitan except Antarctica; tropics especially elongate hind limbs & powerful leg muscles strong pelvis fused to the vertebral column; posterior vertebrae fused into a urostyle feeding: sticky, protrusible tongue

reproduction: species specific vocalizations external fertilization; amplexus

Anuran Anatomy

protrusible tongue

Order Caudata
distribution: primarily northern hemisphere

paedogenesis- larvae becomes sexually mature

courtship: species specific displays (visual, tactile, & chemical cues) internal fertilization; spermatophore transfer eggs laid in water or moist soil; larvae; aquatic & gilled in many

Salamander Anatomy

A few Oklahoma Amphibians

Amphibians of SE Oklahoma