Vertebrates chordata chart

Vertebrate chart

1. Chordata

Vertebrates
Fishes

Amphibians

Reptiles

Birds

Mammals

Body Plan
Important general
characteristics
Jaw (There are jawless fishes)
Endoskeleton – powerful muscles attach to
bones. Poikilotherms
Strong endoskeleton.
Poikilotherms.

Body covered with scales. Clawed Toes
Ectothermic metabolism. No feathers or
hair.
Poikylotherms.
Feet covered with scales
Body covered with feathers – trap heat
and help in flight
Beak and Short Tail
Endotherms
Endotherms. Hair. Specialized teeth –
herbivores: large, flat molars; carnivores:
long, sharp canines
Locomotion

Paired Fins
Swim Bladder – controls buoyancy
Streamline shape; muscular tail

Legs
Limbs adapted for function
Strong endoskeleton
Legs under body

Wings
Hollow bones
Run, hop, climb, swim, burrow, fly
Nervous System

Eyes – detect light
Nostrils – sense odors
Taste buds, inner ear
Lateral line – senses water movement

Developed eyes and ears – with
eardrum
Highly developed vision
Good hearing
Jacobson’s organ – tasting
Pit organ - Heat-sensing

Use vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch
to navigate – the importance of a sense
depends on lifestyle
Use vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch to
navigate – the importance of a sense depends
on lifestyle
Reproduction

Sexually – external fertilization
Spawning
Sharks, skates, rays – internal fertilization

Eggs are not watertight, so they must
reproduce in a wet area
External and internal fertilization
Amniotic, water-tight eggs. Internal
fertilization
Leathery shell
Amniotic eggs. Internal fertilization. Hard
shell
Care for eggs and young
Produce milk in mammary glands. Gestation
period
Monotremes – duckbill platypus
Marsupials – possum, koala
Placental mammals – develop completely
inside mother before birth
Circulation

Closed-loop circulation
Simple chamber pump heart / 2chambers

Double-Loop Circulation; partially
divided heart
Heart with partially divided ventricle 3C.
Crocodiles 4C
Chambered heart separates deoxygenated
blood from oxygenated blood (4C). Fast
heart beat
Four-chambered heart with divided sections
(4C).
Respiration

Gills

Larvae have gills, but adults have
lungs
Cutaneous respiration – oxygen
obtained across thin, wet skin
Developed Lungs with large surface area
Cannot breathe through skin
Lungs with large surface area.One-way air
flow through air sacs
Large, efficient lungs aided by the diaphragm
muscle
Fishes

Amphibians

Reptiles

Birds

Mammals

Other defining
Characteristics

Most ancient of all the vertebrates
Kidney – organ that regulates fish’s salt
and water balance and removes wastes
from the blood; produces urine
Gills also release wastes

Must live in moist habitats
Carnivores as adults
Metamorphosis
First vertebrates to live completely on
land.
Cannot tolerate cold weather
Higher body temperature than mammals –
fast metabolism for flight. Fast digestion.
Beak adapted to feed on different food.
Hair functions as insulation, camouflage,
advertising to other animals, sensory
Examples

Jawless Fish – hagfishes and lampreys;
Cartilaginous Fish – sharks, skates, rays;
Bony Fish – very diverse and widespread

Salamanders, Caecilians, Frogs and
Toads
Snakes, lizards, turtle, tortoises,
crocodiles crocodiles,
Perching birds, birds of prey, flightless
birds, diving birds, water birds, wading
birds
Monkey, dolphin, mouse, donkey, cat,
armadillo, panda bear, possum, elephant