Chordates
A feature of all chordates, this embryological tissue has the potential to become a respiratory structure.
What are the pharyngeal gill slits?
Lifestyle in which a fish spends most of its life in open water and may migrate or keep moving.
What is pelagic?
This reproductive strategy is characterized by a female releasing fertilized eggs that later hatch.
What is oviparous?
Foraging habit of eating other animals.
What is carnivorous?
What are mammary glands?
This characteristic describes gastrulation (development of digestive system) and is a synapomorphy as it links the chordates and echinoderms as a monophyletic group.
What is deuterostomy?
These structures first evolved in the cartilagenous fish and allowed them to bite and chew their prey.
What are jaws?
Structure in bony fish that functions in buoyancy.
Reptiles are the first animals to evolve this type of egg; it has a "bag of water" that surrounds the embryo.
What is amniotic?
Metabolic activity in which the organism maintains a very narrow range of temperature.
What is homeothermy?
One of the feature of all chordates, this nervous tissue runs along the animal's back.
What is the dorsal hollow nerve cord?
Description of a caudal fin that is asymmetrical lobes with the top lobe being larger.
What is heterocercal?
Sensory organ in bony fish that detects vibrations in the water.
What is the lateral line?
Metabolic activity in which the organism loses energy to its surrounds and tends to have the same temperature as its environment.This structure in birds is composed of keratin and likely evolved from scales.
What is an ectotherm?
Type of breathing in marine mammals that dive to moderate depths.
This group of chordates has a backbone.
What are the vertebrates?
Structures on the gills that collect food particles for filter feeders.
What are gill rakers?
Hard structure, or "gill plate," in bony fish that protects the gills.
What is the operculum?
Most common reproductive strategy in birds; a mated pair stays together for at least an entire breeding season.
What is monagamous?
Describes an organism whose role in an ecosystem is disproportionate to other organisms (example: sea otter).
What is a keystone species?
This type of chordate does not have a backbone. It is a sessile filter feeder that burrows into the substrate.
What is a lancelet?
Type of benthic cartilagenous fish that is dorsoventrally compressed body and pectoral fins and is oviparous.
What is a skate?
What is protandry?
This group of reptiles includes the sea turtles.
What is Chelonia?
This group of mammals includes the manatees.
What is Sirenia?