Vertebrates Lecture Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and definitions related to the evolution and classification of vertebrates.

Structures providing body support and enhancing locomotion in vertebrates.

Vertebrae

The skull that protects the brain in vertebrates.

Cranium

Jawless vertebrates, which include lampreys and hagfishes.

Agnatha

Jawed vertebrates that appeared in the Silurian period.

Gnathostomata

Cartilaginous fishes, including sharks and rays.

Chondrichthyes

Bony fishes, including both ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes.

Teleostomi

Class of ray-finned fishes characterized by their fin structure.

Actinopterygii

Class of lobe-finned fishes, which includes ancestors of tetrapods.

Sarcopterygii

Adaptation in fishes that maximizes gas exchange by having water flow opposite to blood.

Countercurrent flow

Referring to animals that lay eggs; most pelagic fishes belong to this category.

Oviparous

Fishes that migrate upstream to spawn; they develop in fresh water.

Anadromous

Fishes that develop to maturity in freshwater but migrate to the sea to spawn.

Catadromous

Referring to species that give birth to live young, instead of laying eggs.

Viviparous

Class of jawless fishes commonly known as hagfishes.

Myxini

Class of jawless fishes commonly known as lampreys.

Petromyzontida

Subclass of Chondrichthyes that includes chimeras.

Holocephali