Chapter 7: The Early Vertebrates

Review Questions for Chapter 7

Animation courtesy of KarmaStorm

Introduction

• Tree of Life Introduction to Chordates
• Berkeley's Introduction to Chordates
• Characteristics of Chordates
• Outline of (Traditional) Chordate Groups and Features
• Jack Conrad's Vertebrate Phylogeny Pages
• Download Chordate Instructional SYSTACK: A Natural Filing System for HyperCard (Macintosh)

Vertebrate Origins

• Tree of Life Introduction to Vertebrates
• Characteristics of Vertebrates
• Unranked Indented Classification of Vertebrates
• Why is a Vertebrate a Vertebrate?
• Images of Representative Living Vertebrates
• The Lambert's Ascidian Home Page (Urochordates)
• The Oldest Known Fossil Chordate (535 My)
• New Discoveries of Fossil Vertebrates (530 My)
• Burgess Shale Chordate, Pikaia
• Actual Fossil of Pikaia
• Cephalochordates ("It's a long ways from Amphioxus")
• Chordates with a Skull: Craniata (Hagfish + Vertebrates)
• American Museum's Feature on Conodonts: Teeth and a Tail
• Images of Typical Conodont Skeletal Elements
• Soft-bodied Fossil Evidence that Conodont are Vertebrates at the Hunterian Museum
• 3-D Models of Conodonts
• Society for Study of Conodonts: The Pander Society
• Example of Applications of Conodont-based Stratigraphy or Here
• Paleozoic stratigraphies are also sometimes based on similar appearing Scolecodonts (Polychaete Worm Jaws)

Early Vertebrates

Animation courtesy of KarmaStorm


• John Maisey's Introduction to What Makes a Vertebrate?
• A Gentle Introduction to Charting Vertebrate Evolution on a Cladogram
• Listing of Important Vertebrate Groups
• Notes on Vertebrate Evolution
• Overview of Living Jawless Fishes and Sharks
• Introduction to Hagfishes
• Introductions to Lampreys
• More Detailed Overview of Lampreys

Heterostracans

• American Museum's Feature on the Earliest Nearly-Complete Fossil Vertebrate Sacabambaspis: Full Body Armor
• Overview of Pteraspidomorphs (including Heterostracans)
• Model of Pteraspis rostrata
• Model of Ptericthyodes milleri from the side or top
• Images of Representative Pteraspidomorphs: Heterostracans, Arandaspids, and Astraspids

Osteostracans

• Images of Galeaspidans and Osteostracans

The Evolution of Jaws

• Introduction to the Jawed Vertebrates: Gnathostomes
• Overview of Gnathostome Groups

Bony Fishes

• BBC's Introduction to Bony Fishes
• Another Introduction to Bony Fishes
• Images of Placoderms and other Devonian Fossils
  
  
• Cool Swimming Placoderms Animation Courtesy of KarmaStorm
• The Largest Predator of the Devonian Seas, the Placoderm Dunkleosteus or click here
• Tulane Museum's Image of a "Living Fossil" Rayfin Fish the Gar

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