Danielle Jones

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Vertebrates

• By
• Danielle Jones
• Savannah Slasor
• Chelsi Pulley

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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.

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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 its
  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
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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.

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Vertebrates Sensory Organs
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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.

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Phylogenetic Tree
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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
   .
   .
Shark Ray
Tuna
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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
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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
  its maximum weight reaches ONLY 3lbs.

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Video
All About Vertebrates
Lion VS Leopard