Superclass

Gnathostomata
II:
The Tetrapods
[Amphibians/Rep

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods
The first vertebrates on land were
members of Class Amphibia.
Today the class is represented by a
total of about 4000 species of frogs,
salamanders, and caecilians.

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods continued
Early Amphibians
Since parts of the Devonian world were subject to cycles of
drought and heavy rainfall, lobe-finned fishes with lungs may
have prevailed.
The skeletal structure of their fins suggests that these fish may
have been able to move on land.
A long-standing hypothesis is that Devonian lobe-finned fishes
were closely related to the ancestor of tetrapods. However,
some molecular evidence suggests that lungfishes are
phylogenetically closer to amphibians than are the lobe-fins.
The oldest amphibian fossils date back to late Devonian times,
about 365 MYA.
The first amphibians may have been primarily aquatic, only
venturing on land occasionally to escape predators or in search
of food.
Adaptive radiation gave rise to a diversity of new tetrapods.

The origin of tetrapods

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods continued
Modern Amphibians
There are three extant orders of amphibians:
Urodela [tailed onessalamanders]
Anura [tail-less onesfrogs, including toads]
Apoda [legless onescaecilians]

Amphibian orders

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods continued
Modern Amphibians Continued
Urodeles [salamanders]:
About 400 species.
Some are aquatic, others live on land as adults or throughout
life.
Most walk on land with side-to-side bending of the body.
Anurans [frogs and toads]:
About 3500 species.
Adults use their hind legs to hop along terrain.
They nab insects using their long, sticky tongues, attached
to the front of their mouths.
They exhibit color patterns that camouflage.
Their skin glands secrete distasteful or poisonous mucus.
Many poisonous species have bright colors that warn
predators, because that type of coloration is associated with
danger.

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods continued
Modern Amphibians Continued
Apodans [caecilians]:
About 150 species.
Theyre legless and nearly blind, and superficially resemble
earthworms.
They inhabit tropical areas where they burrow in moist forest
soil.
A few of them live in freshwater ponds and streams.
Amphibian means two lives, a reference to the
metamorphosis or many frogs.
The tadpole, the larval stage of the frog, is usually an aquatic
herbivore with gills and a tail.
During the metamorphosis that leads to the second life, legs
develop, and the gills disappear. The tadpole gains lungs,
eardrums, a digestive system, and crawls to shore to begin life
as a terrestrial hunter.

The dual life of a frog (Rana

Temporaria)

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods continued
Modern Amphibians Continued
Many frogs, however, dont go through the tadpole stage, and
many amphibians dont experience a dualistic [aquatic and
terrestrial] life.
Most amphibians maintain close ties with water and are most
abundant in damp habitats such a swamps and rainforests.
Gas exchange:
Most amphibians also rely on their moist skin to carry out
gas exchange.
Some terrestrial amphibians breath through their skin and
oral cavity.
Eggs:
Amphibian eggs lack a shell and dehydrate quickly in dry air.
Amphibians lay their eggs in ponds, swamps, or other moist
environments.
Some lay many eggs, and some lay few.

Amphibians are the oldest class of

tetrapods continued
Modern Amphibians Continued
Social behavior:
Frogs are usually quiet creatures, but during mating season
they utilize their loud mating calls.
Males vocalize to defend breeding territory and to attract
females.
Migration may also involve vocal communication, celestial
navigation, or chemical signaling.

Evolution of the amniotic egg expanded

the success of vertebrates on land
The amniotic egg, a reproductive adaptation that enabled
terrestrial vertebrates to complete their life cycles on land and
leave the water, was a particularly important breakthrough.
In contrast to the shell-less eggs of amphibians, amniotic eggs
have a shell that retains water and can therefore be laid in a
dry place.
Reptiles, birds, and the few mammals that lay eggs all have
specialized membranes within the amniote egg called
extraembryonic membranes.
Theyre called extraembryonic because they arent part of the
body of the developing animal. The membranes function in gas
exchange, waste storage, and the transfer of stored nutrients
to the embryo, and they grow out of tissue layers of the
embryo.
The amniotic egg is named for the amnion, a membrane that

The amniotic egg

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes
Class Reptilia, a diverse group with
many extinct lineages, is represented
today by about 7000 species, like
lizards, snakes, turtles, and
crocodilians.
This grouping is based on the
apparent similarity of the species,
even though birds are more closely
related to crocodiles than are turtles.
So, Class Reptilia is based on the
absence of characteristics that
distinguish birds and mammals [like
flight feathers, hair, and mammary
glands].

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
Reptilian Characteristics
Reptiles have several terrestrial adaptations not generally
found in amphibians:
Scales: Contain keratin that makes reptile skin waterproof,
which helps to prevent dehydration in dry air. Because
reptiles cannot breathe through the keratinized skin, they
must breathe through their lungs.
The amniotic egg: Mostly, fertilization must occur internally
before the shell is secreted as the egg passes through the
females reproductive tract.
Theyre cold-blooded: Reptiles dont use their metabolism
to control their body temperature. But they do regulate their
temperature with behavioral adaptations, like basking in the
sun and seeking shade.
Reptiles are said to be ectotherms: They absorb external
heat, rather than generating their own. [The term ectotherm

A hatching reptile

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
The Age of Reptiles
Reptiles were far more widespread, numerous, and diverse
during the Mesozoic era than they are today.

The Origin and Early Evolutionary Radiation of

Reptiles
The oldest reptilian fossils are found in rocks from the late
Carboniferous period; they are about 300 million years old.
Their ancestor was a Devonian amphibian, and reptiles were
the dominant vertebrate for more that 200 million years.
The first major reptilian radiation occurred by the beginning
of the Permian, giving rise to two main evolutionary
branches.
The synapsids: Mammal-like reptiles called therapsids.
The sauropsids:
Anapsids: The only modern survivors are turtles.
Diapsids: The only modern survivors are lizards,

Phylogeny of the amniotes

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
The Age of Reptiles Continued
Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs
The second great reptilian radiation was under way by late
Triassic times [a little more than 200 million years ago] and
was marked mainly by the origin and diversification of two
groups of reptiles: the dinosaurs, which lived on land, and the
pterosaurs, or flying reptiles.
These groups were the dominant vertebrates on Earth for
millions of years.
Pterosaurs had wings formed from a membrane of skin
stretched from the body wall, along the forelimb, to the tip of
the elongated finger. Stiff fibers provided support for the skin
of the wing.
Contrary to the popular belief that dinosaurs were slow,
sluggish creatures, evidence now suggests that they were
actually agile, fast-moving, and possibly even social.

Dinosaur social behavior and parental

care

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
The Age of Reptiles Continued
Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs Continued
There is continuing debate about whether dinosaurs were
endothermic, capable of keeping the body warm through
metabolism.
The Mesozoic climate was relatively warm, and basking was
probably sufficient for maintaining a suitable body
temperature.
Also, large dinosaurs had low surface-to-volume ratios that
reduced the effects of daily fluctuations in air temperature on
the internal temperature of the animal.

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
The Age of Reptiles Continued
The Cretaceous Crisis
During the Cretaceous, the last period of the Mesozoic era,
the climate became cooler and more variable.
This was a period of mass extinctions, and except for a few
dinosaurs that survived into the early Cenozoic, all of these
reptiles were gone by the end of the Cretaceous, about 65
million years ago.

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
Modern Reptiles
The three largest and most diverse extant orders of reptiles
[totaling about 6500 species] are:
Chelonia: Turtles.
Squamata: Lizards and snakes.
Crocodilia: Alligators and crocodiles.
Chelonia:
Turtles evolved during the Mesozoic era and have scarcely
changed since.
Its hard shell that protects it from predators has contributed
to its success.
Turtles that live in water crawl to shore and lay their eggs.
Squamatalizards:
Lizards are the most numerous and diverse reptiles alive
today.
Most are small; perhaps they were able to survive the

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
Modern Reptiles Continued
Squamatasnakes:
Snakes are the descendants of lizards that adopted a
burrowing lifestyle.
Today, most snakes live above ground, but they have
retained the limbless condition. Vestigial pelvic and limb
bones in primitive snakes, however, are evidence that snakes
evolved from reptiles with legs.
Snakes are carnivorous and have adaptations that help them
hunt prey:
They have acute chemical sensors, and though they lack
eardrums, snakes are sensitive to ground vibrations.
Heat-detecting organs between the eyes and nostrils of
snakes are sensitive to minute temperature changes.
Poisonous snakes inject their toxin through a pair of
sharp teeth. The flicking tongue isnt poisonous, but it

A reptilian heritage is evident in all

amniotes continued
Modern Reptiles Continued
Crocodilia:
Crocodiles and alligators are among the largest living
reptiles.
They spend most of their time in water, breathing air through
their upturned nostrils.
Crocodilians live in the warm regions of Africa, China,
Indonesia, India, Australia, South America, and the
southeastern United States.
Among the modern animals traditionally classified as
reptiles, crocodilians are the most closely related to the
dinosaurs.
However, the modern animals that seem to share the most
recent ancestor with the dinosaurs are the birds.

Extant reptiles

The end:]