Tetrapod Essays

the evidence of evolution that exists in the structure that lost its vestige. According to an online article by Brian Switek for the “Smithsonian”, an estimated 375 million years ago (mya) vertebrates that had arms and legs, known as the first tetrapods, made their out from one ecosystem (swamp) to another (terrestrial), to roam about. Dinosaurs remained the superior invertebrates during the time (Eocene period), the first group of mammals had evolved an estimated 200mya; during this interval,

The focus of this essay is to describe the evolutionary history of turtles and why the clade has historically been difficult to place phylogenetically. Turtles are reptiles characterised by their bone/cartilaginous shell development and are of the order testudines which includes both living and extinct species. Turtles are one of the oldest reptile groups with the earliest members dating 150 million years ago. (Hutchinson, 1996 and Walter, 2007). The order testudines is a monophyletic clade which

Amphibians are cold-blooded animals that contain unique structures in their bodies and have engaged in behavioral mechanisms allowing them to survive and reproduce for millions of years. Amphibians skin is extremely thin and possess glands which secrete toxins as a defense mechanism against predators (Daly, 1995). Colour patterns on the skin serves for predator defense, mating, and ultraviolet (UV) light protection (Qvarnström, Rudh 2013). In order to ensure survival and reproduction, their behaviour

Cuttlefish are very interesting creatures. Their name is just one interesting thing about them. The word fish is in their name, but they are not actually fish. Cuttlefish are actually cephalopods in the order of Sepiodia, and are related to octopus and squid. There are many other interesting things about cuttlefish, like their ability to change color, their behavior, and their intelligence. There are approximately 100 species of cuttlefish, ranging from one to thirty-five inches in length. One of

at were Ammonites? Ammonites were sea creatures that were living in our seas between 240-65 millions year ago, however, they were wiped to extinction at the same time as the dinosaurs. These days, they are perhaps the most well known fossil that is available to us. These creatures were descended from straight-shelled cephalopods names bacrites, which roamed the earth 415 million years ago. How did Ammonites move? Ammonites moved by jet propulsion. During jet propulsion, the ammonite would expel

Rats are the backbone of the Rodent family, and along with that, clever, social animals as well. Rats operate like any other mammal in the wild, but they do have some very interesting attributes not found in any other animal except the rat. There are many different types of rat including the black rat and Norway Rats (more commonly known as brown rats). These two species’ are very similar in their way of living, just from different continents. In this essay, I will be talking about the scientific

Panamanian golden frogs are an important symbol in Panama. Panama is a country in Central America. There are probably no more golden frogs in Panama, though. The tiny yellow creatures disappeared around 10 years ago. This happened after a fungus spread. Many zoos in the United States have them, though. Zoos have been raising the frogs for years. They planned to return them to the forests in Panama one day. Things have changed in Panama. Many of the trees in the forests have been cut down. The frogs

Tetrapods began to lay eggs on land around this period, which allowed them to separate from an amphibious environment. Trilobites were starting to disappear as fish became diversified. The beginning of the conifers was starting to appear. Tetrapods were starting to become unique, after animals from two groups appeared. The marine reptiles were the, which included lizards

It’s the twenty first century, therefore, don’t you think it is an appropriate time to rethink some of the so called or well known facts based on scientific advancements and discovery? The topic of evolution has been a debate for ages. However, there is mounting evidence that the debate is coming to a close given that recent evolutionary findings are demonstrating that our ancestors are in fact fish. So, in accordance with evolutionary history, my family tree does include fish, particularly if you

State Science Core Standard and Objective Standard 4: Life Science. Students will gain an understanding of Life Science through the study of changes in organisms over time and the nature of living things. Objective 1: Communicate observations about the similarities and differences between offspring and between populations. a. Communicate observations about plants and animals, including humans, and how they resemble their parents. b. Analyze the individual similarities and differences within and

Natural Selection is the process by which organisms that contain an array of traits that have a survival advantage in an environment tend to leave more offspring that can survive to reproduce in the next line of their lineage. Natural selection is a process that is observable which falls into the category of operational science. In short periods of time different organisms were observed. New species have also been observed to prove this theory. “Speciation is the process of change in a population

relationships between organisms. In order to carry out this task, I shall refer to “your inner fish”, a book in which details Neil Shubins path of discovery that led to the unearthing of tiktaalik (Shubin, Your Inner Fish, 2014), one of the earliest tetrapods that essentially bridged the gap between life in water and life on land that Charles Darwin famously transcribed (Lloyd, 2009). Neil Shubin has explicitly expressed this concept that history tells us this remarkable story, a story in which entwines

Homologies are characteristics or traits that are similar in certain species as result of both being developed and inherited to them from a same common ancestor. In the video we saw how fish species of the time are proposed as a common ancestor to all tetrapods as well as all mammals, including humans; once there was one individual who was able to adapt to live

The more we know, the more we have to be doubtful about. The movie “The Big Short” opens with a quote supposedly from Mark Twain: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” It tells that the more knowledge you have causes you to overthink. Knowledge, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, is the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association. Whereas doubt involves in questioning

‘Your Inner Fish’ Scientists have questioned why human bodies are build the way they are for many years now. Fish paleontologist Neil Shubin set out to answer this question in his documentary ‘Your Inner Fish’. Shubin has looked at the bones in human hands and found many similarities with fins in the fish that he studies. This lead him to believe that fish are actually ancient ancestors of human beings. He travels from Chicago, to Pennsylvania, to the Canadian Artic to find answers on the subject

Planet Earth has experience four eras that include eleven periods and six mass extinctions throughout evolution. The Evolving Planet exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL describes the evolution of Earth in great detail. The evolution of Earth starts in the Precambrian period and continues to the Cenozoic era, which is still continuing today. Evolution is the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that existed from earlier forms of life. All the organisms, rocks, or other

to fly independently. Darwin also proved common descent by observing similarity in the embryology of all vertebrates. He observed that developing embryos are identical at certain stages, and then different features develop, such as gill pouches in tetrapod embryos. Two creatures are more closely related the longer their developing embryos stay similar. Vestigial structures are structures which have lost most of their ancestral function but have been retained through evolution. Examples of these are

Mammals and reptiles have been on earth for millions of years. They are both the two largest animals. Both mammals and reptiles can live together in different habitats even though there are several differences between them. A major difference reptiles and mammals have is their reproduction. Mammals are viviparous, which means they give birth to living young. When a mammal gives birth, she uses her mammary glands to nourish her young with milk. Reptiles are oviparous, they lay eggs to

Fish- The purpose of the cardiovascular system is to distribute the blood throughout the body. By doing so it removes metabolic waste and carbon dioxide from the tissues while simultaneously supplying the necessary nutrients and oxygen. To power this important and crutial system there must be a main power source. The heart is the main power supplier of the circulatory system which drives its functionality. Beyond the heart the circulatory system is comprised of the three major types of blood vessels:

cold, the organism needs to be fully submerged (in this case, the face needs to be fully submerged), and the organism must be holding their breath. These were all verified in this experiment and thus the reflex occurred. This reflex is important in tetrapods, especially marine mammals, so that oxygen can be used in the muscles for longer periods of time as the organism is underwater. If oxygen is kept in the muscle tissue, the organism can cope with vasoconstriction as the dive reflex occurs. As stated