Comparative

Chordate
Dissections
LABORATORY 11
Announcements
•Stay on top of Packback assignments
• Let me know if you get “auto-moderated”
•Can still dramatically increase your grade in the course
• Stay after class to work on test or come to office hours
•Alternative chapter 10 (insects)
• Chapter will be posted on bbl
 Insect of the Week!
•Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA)
• Solenopis invicta

•Originally from South America

• Arrived via cargo ship in Mobile in 1930’s

•Can aggregate into a ”raft” for up to 12

days!
•1.0 on Schmidt scale
• “Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like
walking across a shag carpet
and reaching for the light switch
Chordates
•~65,000 extant species of chordates
• ~half are bony fishes (superclass Pisces)
•Arose during the Cambrian explosion, 541 mya
•4 major synapomorphies -> May not be seen in adult form
• Notochord
• Dorsal hollow nerve
• Pharyngeal slits
• Post anal tail
Apomorhpy
•Synapomorphy can
also be apomorphy!
• Depends on context
• Synapomorphy if
shared by 2 or more
taxa and implies
homology
 Four synapomorphies

1. Notochord
2. Dorsal hollow nerve cord
3. Pharyngeal slits
4. Muscular post anal tail
 Four synapomorphies
1. Notocord

◦ The notocord is a flexible rod, composed fluid-filled cells

of fluid filled cells surrounded by fibrous
connective tissue.
fibrous connective
tissue
◦ The notocord provides support and
leverage for the movements of muscles

◦ Many taxa have a notocord only early in

embryonic development.

◦ In humans it is retained only as the inter-

vertebral disks in the spine.
 Four synapomorphies
2. Dorsal Hollow Nerve Cord
-Develops from a furrow
in the dorsal surface of
the embryo.

-Develops into the brain

and spinal cord.
 Four
synapomorphies
3. Pharyngeal Clefts/Slits

-The sides of the pharynx (the portion of the digestive

system just past the mouth) develops pouches or
grooves.

-These later become slits, which open to the outside of

the body.

-In the ancestral chordate, these slits allowed water

entering the mouth to pass out of the body without
being swallowed.

-In terrestrial chordates, the pharyngeal clefts do not

develop into slits, but are modified into the jaw and
inner ear.
Fate of Pharyngeal Arches in
Human Development
 Four synapomorphies
4. Muscular postanal tail

-Chordates have a tail that extends past the

anus.

-This tail contains skeletal elements in more

derived taxa, and is often used in locomotion.

-May be visible only in early development.

Postanal Tail in Human Development
Apoptosis (programmed cell death)
Cephalochordata (lancelets)
Amphioxus
Petromyzontida (Lampreys)
Petromyzontida
Lampreys
 Tetrapoda
◦ Associated with move to terrestrial life
◦ Synapomorphies include: Four feet and limbs, head
can move separate from body, pharyngeal gill slits lost
as adults.
◦ Includes Amphibia, Reptilia (Includes: turtles, snakes,
crocs and birds), and Mammalia.
Amphibi
a
Amphibians include frogs (Anura), salamanders
(Urodels), and caecilians (Apoda)
◦ Larval stage is aquatic, with gills and lateral line system like
that of aquatic vertebrates. Legs absent until
metamorphosis
◦ Adult usually terrestrial, limbs and eardrums present;
carnivores
◦ Fertilization of eggs is external
◦ Skin is moist and used for gas exchange. Some adults rely
solely on this means for obtaining oxygen and eliminating
carbon dioxide
Anura
5,420 Species
– Urostyle (pelvic bone)
present
– Complex social
behaviors, including
song and territoriality
– Decline in frog
populations for past
25 years is a source of
concern to biologists
Understanding Frog
Characters

◦ Think of the lifestyle to which the animal is adapted

◦ Cold-blooded, low energy and oxygen needs
◦ Insectivorous, does not need complex gut
◦ Reproduction does not involve parental care
◦ 3-chambered heart
Amniotes
◦ Reptilia + Mammals.
◦ Have extra-embryonic
membranes.
◦ Endothermy arises
multiple times (birds
and mammals).

birds
 Mammalia
Origins in Jurassic, but did not
proliferate greatly until the end of the
Cretaceous when most dinosaurs
became extinct
Synapomorphies:
◦ Hair
◦ 3 inner ear bones
◦ Production of milk for young birds
◦ Subdermal fat layer
◦ Enlarged brain
◦ Parental care
◦ Differentiated teeth.
Platypus
Mammals
Montremes
◦ Egg laying mammals (echidna and platypus)

Marsupials
◦ live young, but must incubate them in a pouch
where they complete development

Eutherians
◦ Placenta allows young to develop in uterus
Understanding Rat
Characters
Think of the lifestyle to which
the animal is adapted
Warm-blooded, high energy
and oxygen needs
Omnivorous, needs complex
gut
Reproduction involves parental
care
 Today…
Examine slides of Amphioxus:
◦ Find 4 major synapomorphies of chordata.

Dissect Frog, and Rat according to the note book

instructions.
◦ Find 4 major synapomorphies of chordata

Allometry
◦ We are comparing the body mass of both frogs and rats to:
◦ Heart
◦ Liver
◦ Stomach
◦ Intestines
Dissection tips
•If struggling google is your friend
• Lots of excellent videos to follow along with depending on your
preference!
•Participate to the best of your ability
•Be gentle, especially when opening up
•May need to “drain” animals over appropriate buckets
To do
•View lanclet slides under scope
•Dissections ->
• ID and remove liver, heart, and lungs (frog and rat only)
• Make sure to weigh whole body before dissection
•Animals
• Lamprey -> view relevant structures
• Frog -> weigh and remove relevant structures
• Rat -> weight and remove relevant structures
Tips for success
•Make sure you’re making accurate cuts when
removing organs of interest
• Taking too much or too little can greatly change
results for post lab test
• “measure twice, cut once”
Homework
•Quiz 10 Due Thursday March 30th
•Test 09 Due Thursday March 30th
• Will provide data if necessary
•PackBack Due Sunday March 26th
•Recall: New chapter 10 posted on bbl
To do
•View lanclet slides under scope
•Dissections ->
• ID and remove liver, heart, and lungs (frog and rat only)
• Make sure to weigh whole body before dissection
•Animals
• Lamprey -> view relevant structures
• Frog -> weigh and remove relevant structures
• Rat -> weight and remove relevant structures