Amniotes

(reptiles, birds,
& mammals)

Watertight amniotic egg

Amniote lineages: holes in skull

90

Lizards

Mammals 220 mya

165

250 mya

Turtles
Therapsids
furry reptile
320-300 mya

220 mya

Archosaurs

Anapsid w/o hole

250 mya

Pelycosaurs
Synapsid 1-hole skull

Diapsid 2-hole

350 mya

Stem Amniote (lizard like)

Traditional Reptile Class

A. Breeding
water-tight eggs laid on land

A. Breeding
water-tight eggs laid on land (or
internally in some snakes)
fertilization internal
spermatophores (sperm packets)
stored for up to 4-7 yrs
cloacal plugs of garter snake

A. Breeding
B. Protective skin (keratin
scales)
C. Thoracic breathing
D. Improved heart & lungs

LUNG

SYSTEM

LUNG

LUNG

LUNG

E. ectothermy (also fish, amphibs)

skinks

BIRDS ( Class Aves)

I. Origin
A. Archaeopteryx (165
mya)

Archaeopteryx

Modern Bird

Archaeopteryx Modern Bird

B. Dinosaur feathers re-evaluated

II. Characteristics of Birds

A. amniotic egg
B. scales

C. Feathers (modified scales)

D. flight skeleton
fused bones

D. flight skeleton
fused bones
huge keeled breastbone

D. flight skeleton
fused bones
huge keeled breastbone
hollow bones

Light but strong (struts)

Respirationair sacks penetrate

E. Adaptations for high

energy demand
1. lung redesign

Countercurrent exchange
(like fish gill)

2. improved, 4-c heart

3. endothermyhigh metabolic rate &
T= energy

F. Reproduction
1: only one ovary
kidney

kidney

ovary

1. only one ovary

2. most monogamous during
breeding system
3. courtship (male territories,
display/song)
4. nest

Intraspecific brood parasites

goldeneye

Wood duck

Cliff swallow

Interspecific brood parasite

(e.g. cowbird)

Decline of neotropical migrants

a. Habitat loss (tropical
wintering & breeding)
b. cowbird parasitism
c. pesticides, PCBs
d. radio towers

Mammals

I. Characteristics
A. hair

B. milk from mammary glands

C. teeth specialization

Dental Formulaused for classification

I

3-3
3-3

1-1

1-1

2-2
2-2

2-2
2-2

20
20

d. Cerebral cortex (higher

learning functions,
conciousness)

II. Groups
A. Non Placental
1. Monotremes
a. egg-laying
b. cloaca (1 opening)

duck-billed platypus

Spiny echidna

2. Marsupials (pouched)
a. young born alive, premature
b. no placenta or short-lived
one
c. gestation 8 days-few weeks

c. Adaptive radiation

B. Placental (Eutherians)

waste

food, Ox

placenta

1. Evolution
Early placentals overlapped w/ tail end of
dinosaurs (70-165 mya)

modern
taxa
exploded
after
Cretaceous
Extinction
From Meredith et al.
2011, Science

4 clades
linked to
tectonics

1. Shrews & Moles

(Eulipotyphla=Insectivora)

2. Carnivores

3. Chiroptera (bats)
hand-winged

wings supported by long digits

White-Nose Syndrome
-fungus (cause or effect?)
-too much waking up during
hibernation

4. Cetartiodactyla
New order: Cetacea+Artiodactyla
(whales plus even-toed ungulates)

hippo DNA super close to

whales!

5. Persiodactlya (horse, rhino)

odd-toed)

6. Rodentia
largest order

7. Lagomorpha

8. Primates

Primate characteristics
Large brain
highly flexible, grasping
hands/digits; flat fingernails
Front facing, binocular vision

1st Homonids (human-like) 6-7 mya

Australopithsdominated 2-4 mya
Homo speciestaller, bigger brain
2 mya- H. erectus (Africa,
but migrated=several
offshoot
species)
160,000-Homo sapiens
(Africa) large brain, language
gene

H. sapiens movt out of Africa c. 75,000

Neanderthal

Neanderthal

Neanderthal

H. Sapiens
c. 75,000

H. sapiens

H. sapiens
c. 30,000

H. sapiens

Neanderthal Extinction
Interbreeding: 2013 study 1-4% of non-African DNA fr/ Neandertal
Outcompeted by H. sapiens, esp. w/ice age