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)
 Pentadactyl 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
 VERTEBRATA
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Origin and Classification
ORIGIN OF VERTEBRATA
 Chinese researchers have recently unearthed
the oldest alleged vertebrate fossils –
Conodont (530 m years ago)
 A small, lancelet-shaped animal
 Has characteristics that suggest an active,
predatory lifestyle.
 A brain is present
 Processed sensory information from the pair of
eyes
 Muscle blocks along the body wall suggest –
active swimming lifestyle

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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 (Infraphylum) 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
OSTRACODERMATA

 The first agnaths were ostracoderms

 An evolutionary dead end in Agnatha, a side
branch in the phylogenetic tree – did not lead
to the more advanced fish
 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
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 CLASS PETEROMYZONTIA
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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

 Elongated eel-like bodies

 Well developed dorsal fin
 Suctorial mouth parts (rasping)
 Single nostril
 Developed bronchial basket (pharynx)
 Example:
 Sea Lamrey – Petromyzon marius
 Fresh water Lamprey – Petromyzon fluviatilis
FEEDING

 Mouth – downward oriented

 Teeth are sharp and conical
 Embedded in mesodermal papillae
 Usually replaced - if lost
 Mouth have special glands that secrete blood
anticoagulant material
 Buccal cavity leads to 2 openings
 The dorsal – esophageal opening
 The ventral – respiratory opening
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 Two-chambered muscular heart
 Heart enclosed in pericardium
 Ventral Aorta – passes forward through gills
 Then divides into bronchial arteries leading to gills
 Gaseous exchange happens in its capillaries
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 Bronchial 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
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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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