Vertebrates Flashcards

In addition to the defining features of chordates, ALL craniates are distinguished by which of the following combination of features?
A. a cranium and a gnathostome
B. a cranium and neural crest
C. a cranium and protostome development
D. a cranium and an ostracoderm
E. a cranium and an operculum

The neural crest consists of:
A. embryonic cells on each side of the neural tube
B. embryonic cells that form the kidney
C. clusters of Hox genes
D. cells that form hair follicles
E. cells that lie along the crest of the spine

Which of the following statements best describes the Hox genes of the different groups of animals?
A. All animals have Hox genes.
B. Invertebrate chordates have one cluster of Hox genes.
C. Gnathostomes have four clusters of Hox genes.
D. Hox genes are involved with the evolution of structural complexity.
E. All the choices provided are correct.

Which of the following characteristics do ostracoderms and lampreys share?
A. Both are extinct.
B. Both have fins.
C. Both are parasitic on other fish.
D. Both are jawless.
E. All the choices provided are correct.

Which of the following statements is NOT true of Chondrichthyans?
A. They have internal fertilization.
B. They were the first vertebrates to develop teeth.
C. Their buoyance is maintained partly by the oil in their livers.
D. They are color blind.
E. Their teeth are composed of dentine and enamel whereas the scales are made of chitin.

Which of the following groups of animals is NOT completely extinct?
A. Ostracoderms
B. Acanthodii
C. Placodermi
D. Acanthostega
E. Coelocanth

Species that retain the eggs within the female but do not nourish them via a placenta are:
A. ovoviviparous
B. viviparous
C. oviparous
D. hermaphroditic
E. parthenogenetic

The lateral line is:
A. a lateral stripe on the side of male fish that aids in sex-recognition
B. a series of sensory organs that detects pressure waves in the water
C. the row of fins along the sides of eels
D. the row of pharyngeal slits along each side of the heads of fish
E. the row of small blocks of cartilage along each side of the notochord of agnathan fishes

Evolutionarily, the jaws of vertebrates developed from:
A. the circular mouth of lampreys
B. the last pharyngeal arch of jawless fishes
C. the third pharyngeal arch of jawless fishes
D. the operculum
E. the claspers

Following are taxonomic categories matched with a common name of animals. Which of these is incorrectly matched?
A. Dipnoi/lungfish
B. Actinopterygii/ray-finned fish
C. Gymnophiona/caecilians
D. Lepidosauria/lizards and snakes
E. Therapoda/crocodiles

Which of the following is NOT a tetrapod
A. a frog
B. a snake
C. a bird
D. a human
E. a lungfish

Buccal pumping is:
A. pumping blood from the atria to the ventricle
B. pumping air into the lungs by raising the floor of the throat
C. pumping blood from the ventricle to the body
D. pumping wastes through the kidneys
E. pumping blood from the ventricle to the atria

Metamorphosis is:
A. changing of one body form to another within a species, such as the change from an aquatic tadpole to a terrestrial frog
B. an intermediate condition, such as length of legs in mice between longer legs of some mice and shorter legs in others, a condition caused by Hox genes
C. the developmental changing of a scale to a feather
D. the evolutionary transition from fishes to amphibians
E. none of the choices provided

Which of the following kind of animal is NOT an amphibian?
A. Caudata
B. anuran
C. salamander
D. Gymnopiona
E. amniote

Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Frogs and toads have external fertilization whereas salamanders and caecilians have internal fertilization.
B. Frogs, toads, and most salamanders have four legs whereas caecilians are legless.
C. Frogs, toads, and salamanders lay eggs whereas some caecilians lay eggs and others give birth to live young.
D. Salamanders and caecilians have external tails whereas frogs and toads do not.
E. Adult frogs, toads, and salamanders are predators on insects and other small animals whereas caecilians are herbivores.

Reptiles are better adapted to life on land than are amphibians. Which of the following statements best describes their advantage?
A. Reptiles have an egg with an amnion, yolk sac, allantois, chorion, and shell.
B. Reptiles have a skin that resists loss of water by evaporation.
C. Reptiles breathe by expanding the rib cage.
D. Reptiles have the ability to concentrate urine.
E. All the other choices provided are correct.

Which of the following statement best describes the defining characteristics of members of the Class Testudines?
A. They lack teeth.
B. They have a hard shell.
C. They have a kinetic skull.
D. They have both a hard shell and are lacking in teeth.
E. They have both a kinetic skull and a hard shell.

A distinguishing feature of Lepidosauria is their:
A. hard shell
B. kinetic skull
C. external fertilization
D. shell-less eggs
E. none of the choices provided

Which of the following statements best describes the differences between snakes and lizards?
A. All snakes lack eyelids and all lizards have eyelids.
B. All snakes lack external ear openings and all lizards have external ear openings.
C. Some snakes are venomous and no lizards are.
D. All snakes lack limbs but all lizards have limbs.
E. None of the other choices are foolproof and combinations of characteristics are sometimes necessary to distinguish lizards and snakes.

The nearest living relatives of alligators and crocodiles are:
A. snakes
B. birds
C. turtles
D. lizards
E. manatees

Which of the following taxa are extant (have at least some members that are still living; opposite of extinct)?
A. Ornithischia
B. Lepidosauria
C. Saurischia
D. theropods
E. ichythosaurs

Animals capable of producing their own body heat by way of metabolism and of retaining it are said to be:
A. metabolic
B. thermogenic
C. thermodynamic
D. endothermic
E. All of the choices provided are correct

Birds are different from all other living vertebrates because they:
A. can fly
B. lack teeth
C. have feathers
D. are bipedal
E. All of the choices provided are correct

Epidermal placodes are:
A. epidermal thickenings that give rise to integumental coverings such as feathers and hair
B. epidermal thickenings that give rise to the lateral line system
C. epidermal thickenings that lead to the formation of mesoderm
D. epidermal thickenings that give rise to skin glands
E. none of the choices provided

Archaeopteryx lithograpica:
A. was the first fossil directly linking birds to reptiles
B. had a beak with teeth
C. had a small, reptilian breastbone
D. had both claws and feathers on the wings
E. All of the choices provided are true

The principal advantage of air sacs in birds is that:
A. They increase the surface area through which oxygen is absorbed.
B. They provide better aerodynamic lift.
C. They minimize the absorption of harmful gases.
D. They promote continuous flow of air through the lungs thereby enhancing metabolism by making oxygen more readily available.
E. All of the choices provided are correct.

Which of the following pairs of names is NOT a match?
A. Piciformes/woodpeckers
B. Falconiformes/eagles, hawks, vultures
C. Passeriformes/robins, starlings, sparrows/warblers, etc.
D. Anseriformes/ducks, geese/swans
E. Galliformes/owls

Which of the following statements best describes the function of hair?
A. insulation
B. sensory perception
C. camouflage
D. protection and defense
E. All the choices provided are correct

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic that distinguishes mammals from all other vertebrates?
A. mammary glands
B. hair
C. endothermy
D. specialized teeth
E. enlarged skull

The monotremes differ from all other mammals by:
A. laying eggs
B. being restricted to Australia and New Guinea
C. lacking a placenta
D. having poorly developed nipples
E. All of the choices provided are correct

Marsupials are distinguished by:
A. a marsupium
B. a marzipan
C. opposable thumbs
D. nails
E. All of the choices provided are correct

Eutherian mammals are uniquely defined by:
A. having a placenta
B. longer gestation periods because of more highly developed placentas
C. having fur
D. the young developing in a pouch
E. laying eggs

The Order Primates had its origin in:
A. small arboreal monotremes
B. bipedal marsupials
C. small, arboreal, insect-eating mammals
D. bipedal ornithischian dinosaurs
E. theropods with hair

Which of the following attributes is related to the arboreal ancestry of humans?
A. an opposable thumb
B. binocular vision
C. grasping fingers
D. visual acuity
E. All of the choices provided are correct

Prosimians are:
A. small, primitive primates
B. professional animal trainers
C. primitive australopithecines
D. the most advanced primates
E. none of the choices provided

The family Hominidae includes:
A. orangutans
B. humans
C. gorillas
D. chimpanzees
E. All of the choices provided are correct

A hominin is:
A. different words with the same pronunciation, like "whale" and "wail"
B. all forms of humans, extinct and extant
C. arboreal primates
D. the lesser apes
E. chimpanzees and gorillas

The human lineage began to diverge from those of other primates about:
A. 153 million years ago
B. 210 million years ago
C. 6 million years ago
D. 18 million years ago
E. 64 million years ago

What environmental change likely influenced the evolution of bipedalism in humans?
A. Trees grew taller, making it necessary to reach higher to pick fruit.
B. Warming of the Earth made it an advantage to get the heat-sensitive brain higher above a hot substrate.
C. Evolution of fleeter predators, making it necessary to use the hands to fight them off, rather than try to outrun them.
D. The Earth cooled and there was a resultant change from a forested to a grassy landscape.
E. Evolution of longer hind limbs made quadrupedal locomotion less effective.

The IMMEDIATE ancestors of humans (genus Homo) were the:
A. chimpanzees
B. australopithecines
C. prosimians
D. gibbons

Hagfish are craniates but are not vertebrates.

A hagfish is a not a fish.

Lampreys' main body support is the notochord, not a vertebral column.

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The swim bladder is an organ in primitive fish from which the lungs of terrestrial vertebrates developed.

The fins of lobe-finned fish are supported by extensions of the skeleton and are moved by muscles within the fin whereas the fins of ray-finned fish are supported by flexible, nonskeletal elements and are moved by muscles from within the fish's body.

Acanthostega is an important fossil for the understanding of phylogeny because it is an intermediate form between lobe-finned fishes and amphibians.

The formation of feathers, hair, and reptilian scales is based on completely different developmental patterns and genetic influences.

Some dinosaurs had feathers

In previous times, birds and pterosaurs were contemporaries.

The first truly bipedal primates were the australopithecines.

Our species, Homo sapiens, had been in existence for only somewhat more than 50,000 years when it moved out of Africa and replaced Neanderthal Man, another species of human, about 30,000 years ago.

Several species of humans have occurred together in the same time and place in the past.

The most recent fossil and DNA evidence supports the idea that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved from a single stock from Africa rather than from multiple stocks in different parts of the world.

Evolutionarily the jaws of vertebrates developed from

What is a defining characteristic of members of the class testudines

The nearest living relative of crocodiles and alligators are?

As a new curator for a large public aquarium in your city, you are in charge of correctly identifying the animals presently in your care. You have two adult animals in tanks in front of you, and you know that one is a lamprey and the other is a hagfish. Which feature would allow you to correctly identify each animal?

A frog loses its’ ability to undergo buccal pumping. What must happen to compensate for this loss?

A typical human yawn lasts for about six seconds and once initiated, is nearly impossible to stop. Although there are many hypotheses for why we yawn, it is accepted that yawning is contagious. When we see someone yawn we often find ourselves yawning as well. This happens across all cultures and even in infants. In this case the yawn an individual observes is considered a _____ and the yawn initiated by the individual is ______?

What is the main difference between habituation and conditioning?

In a songbird species. Defending a territory saved the bird 584 calories a day in a reduced foraging activity. But cost the bird 656 calories in defense of the territory, in this case the defending the territory is consist with the predictions on optimality theory?

Why do many animals do most of their calling at dawn and dusk?

The coefficient of relatedness of a human child to its’ full sibling is, on average

Temperature is perhaps the most important factor in the distribution of organisms because?

The serotinous cones of the longleaf pine. Pinus polustorius, depend on ____ to release their seeds.

What will be a consequence if current predictions of global warming are accurate

Why are red algae found in deeper waters?

The optimal pH range for most freshwater fishes and invertebrates is?