2 - Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

Descriptive morphology - the study of the structure of vertebrates

Functional morphology study of the functional significance of structure includes: ontogenesis - development of individuals and

phylogenesis - ancestral histories of individuals

Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

Involves:

ecology embryology genetics molecular biology biodiversity paleobiology

Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

FOCUS:

* organs and organ systems

* their roles in survival

* their embryogenesis * their historical background in geological time

The Phylum Chordata: The Big Four

Notochord skeleton at the back Dorsal hollow central nervous system Postanal tail Endostyle a glandular groove in the floor of the pharynx
Chordates are animals that have a notochord in the embryo stage at least. Craniates are chordates with a neurocranium. Vertebrates are chordates with vertebrae.

I. Regional Differentiation

The Craniate Body: General Plan

Typical regional components: HEAD, TRUNK, and POSTANAL TAIL a. Head = with special sense organs (monitor external environment); brain (receive & process information, & provide appropriate stimuli to body musculature); jaws (acquire, retain, macerate food); gills in fishes (respiration) = greater degree of cephalization in craniates than in any other group of animals

b. Trunk = with coelom - house most of viscera body wall - surrounds coelom

consists chiefly of muscle, vert. column, ribs)

paired pectoral and pelvic appendages (fins or limbs) in many craniates

 neck - narrow extension of trunk of amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals - consists primarily of vertebrae, muscles, spinal cord, nerves, elongated tubes (esophagus, blood vessels, lymphatics, trachea) that connect structures of head with trunk With 2 pairs of appendages pectoral and pelvic) supported by internal skeleton - sometimes vestigial or completely lost

c. Tail = starts at anus or vent (postanal); consists of caudal continuation of body wall muscles, axial skeleton, nerves, & blood vessels =absent in some adult craniates but present in all embryos (e.g. swimming larvae of frogs,
toads, & wormlike amphibians have tails but are lost uring metamorphosis

= modern bird tails reduced to nubbin = humans have vestigial postanal tail early in embryonic life; its remnant in adults is the tailbone or coccyx

II. Bilateral Symmetry and Anatomic Planes

3 principal body axes in craniates:
1. LONGITUDINAL (ANTEROPOSTERIOR) AXIS)

2. DORSOVENTRAL AXIS
3. LEFT-RIGHT AXIS (bilateral symmetry)

3 principal anatomic planes:

2 axes define a plane

1. Cross section = a cut in the transverse plane established by the left-right and the dorsoventral axes
2. Frontal section = a cut in the frontal plane established by the left-right and longitudinal axes 3. Sagittal section = a cut in the sagittal plane established by the longitudinal and dorsoventral axes =section parallel to sagittal is parasagittal

III. Metamerism
the serial repetition of structures in the
longitudinal axis of the body

clearly manifested in craniate embryos &

is retained in many adult systems

 no external evidence in most adult reptiles, birds, & mammals

but internally a series of muscle segments are visible - serial arrangement of vertebrae, ribs, spinal nerves, embryonic kidney tubules, segmental arteries & veins)

CRANIATE CHARACTERISTICS (Morphological Features)

a. Cranium
b. 3-part brain

c. Neural crest and its derivatives

d. Paired external sense organs (e.g., olfactory, optic, otic with a single semicircular canal, & lateral line system with unicellular sense organs) e. Cartilage

VERTEBRATE CHARACTERISTICS
1. a vertebral column (primitively seen as isolated elements associated with an unrestricted notochord)

2. two semicircular canals

3. electroreception 4. lateral line system with multicellular neuromasts 5. a number of additional soft tissue specializations

STRUCTURES COMMON TO CRANIATES (notochord, pharynx, dorsal hollow cns

1. Notochord and Vertebral Column

Notochord = the 1st skeletal structure to appear in

craniate embryos

Vertebrae = consists of a
centrum (deposited around notochord), neural arch (forms over spinal cord), and various processes

Fate of notochord during development:

Head region incorporated into floor of skull Trunk and tail surrounded by cartilaginous or bony vertebrate

Fate of the notochord in adults:

Fishes and amphibians notochord persists the length of the trunk and tail but is constricted within the centrum of each vertebra
Reptiles, birds and mammals notochord almost disappears during development Protochordates notochord remains as the chief axial skeleton

2. Pharynx common to hemichordates & chordates: pharynx perforated by openings ( slits) to either the exterior or an atrium (reflecting common ancestry) it is the vital part of craniate embryo that produces: * gills of fishes (permanent slits) * lungs of tetrapods (temporary slits)

* skeleton & musculature of jaws

* endocrine glands that regulate metabolic rates in all body cells & maintain appropriate calcium levels in bones * other tissues & circulating blood

 gives rise to middle ear cavity of tetrapods

provides initial cells of immune system during fetal life & shortly after (in humans)

 gives rise to middle ear cavity of tetrapods

provides initial cells of immune system during fetal life & shortly after (in humans)

 gives rise to middle ear cavity of tetrapods

provides initial cells of immune system during fetal life & shortly after (in humans)

Pharyngeal Pouches & Slits

Pouches

* arises as diverticula of endoderm of foregut; grow toward the surface of animal * establish the limits of pharynx

* maximum no. in jawed craniates: 8 (e.g. basal shark); 15 (living agnathans) * Ectodermal groove grows toward each pouch; branchial plate separates groove from pouch
* A passageway (pharyngeal slit) is formed between pharyngeal lumen and exterior of animal, if & when, branchial plate ruptures

Slits
* May be permanent (in fishes, exits for respiratory water from gills) or temporary (in most tetrapods) * Temporary if animals is going to live on land

Pharyngeal Arches A column of tissue which separates each embryonic pharyngeal pouch or slit from the next Typically has 4 components or blastemas from which these components develop: 1. Supportive skeletal elements 2. Striated muscles that operate the arch

3. Branches of 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th cranial nerves w/c innervate muscles & provide sensory input to brain
4. An aortic arch that connects the ventral & dorsal aortas Pharyngeal (visceral) skeleton = skeleton of pharyngeal arches Branchiomeric = muscles of the arches

3. Dorsal Hollow CNS

Consists of brain and spinal cord
Contains neurocoel (central lumen) Typically arises as longitudinal neural groove (becomes the dorsal surface of embryo)

Dorsal Hollow CNS

Neural groove closes over or rolls up, sinks beneath the surface to become a hollow neural tube (dorsal to notochord)

Neurulation neural tube formation

Wider anterior portion of tube becomes the brain with its ventricles

Some Features Common to other members of other Phyla

1. Bilateral symmetry 2. Metameric

3. Possess a true body cavity or coelom

4. Lined with mesoderm 5. Cephalization conc. of nervous tissue and sense organs in or toward the head

COMPARISON OF ANIMAL PHYLA

Symmetry Mollusks Annelids Bilateral Bilateral Germ layers 3 3 3 3 3 Coelom Present Present Present Present Present Organs Present Present Present Present Present Segmentation Unsegmented Segmented Segmented Unsegmented Segmented

Arthropods Bilateral
Echinoderms

Radial (adult) Bilateral

Chordates