What is VCA?

• Functional morphology is the discipline that ties form and function together.

• Vertebra example…

• Kardong uses ______- and ______-_____ tails as examples

Why do we care?• Communication• Preparation for detailed physiological studies• Determining characters -- Understanding

______________ (evolutionary morphology)

“The external environment in which an animal design must serve certainly brings to bear

evolutionary pressure on its survival”Kardong

Historical Context

People• Greeks (Anaximander)• Darwin/Wallace• Linnaeus• De Lamarck• Malthus• Cuvier• Owen

Concepts• “Scala natura”• “Lower vs. higher”

or “Derived vs. primitive”• “Immutable species”• “Ex nihlio”• “Archetypes”

Morphology

Homology Analogy

Homoplasy

• Ancestry• Appearance• Function

How do we explain non-related species converging on the same “plan”?

Convergence

“A great deal of what we need to understand about ourselves comes

from the world around us, not just the DNA within.”

Kardong

How are vertebrates arranged spatially that differs from urochordates (adult tunicates), sea stars and sponges?

The Vertebrate Body Plan

http://www.westworld.com/~fabio/gallery/bonaire-purple-tube-sponge.htmhttp://imagesource.art.com/images/-/Michael-Aw/Royal-Blue-Tunicate-Rhopalaea-Sp-West-Nusa-Tenggara-Indonesia--C10255325.jpeg

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ricketts/photos.htm

The Vertebrate Body PlanSymmetry:

Let’s take a pop-quiz…

The Vertebrate Body PlanSymmetry:

*_________________________ (along 3 axes)________ (anteroposterior)________ (dorsoventral)________

*2 axes define a plane

*Other spatial terms…

http://www.yachigusaryu.com/blog/pics/top_ten_principles/10/image003.jpg

The Vertebrate Body PlanVertebrate phylogeny:

*Vertebrates are a subtaxa of the phylum ________*The “Big 4” are characteristics shared by this phylum.

*Not all chordates are created equal…Let’s review the taxonomy of the dueterostomes in the kingdom Animalia

What are the 4 characteristics?

http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog105/labs/deuts/chordates.html

The Vertebrate Body PlanVertebrate phylogeny:

*Craniate Characteristics

*Vertebrate Characteristics

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The Vertebrate Body PlanRegional differentiation:

* (What specialized structures occur here? )

* __________; lining is…__________; lining is…Thorax and abdomen (in some taxa)

* (caudal)(What structures likely absent? What’s present? )

The Vertebrate Body PlanNotochord

*During some stage of development (ontogeny)

Usually replaced by…

http://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca/thumbnails/filedet.htm?File_name=19-21&File_type=GIF

The Vertebrate Body PlanPharynx/ (pharyngeal pouches and slits)

*________ portion of gut*Embryo or adults… internal gills(Which vertebrates rely on gills, which use lungs? )*Some animals (______________) use gill and slits for feeding

Nature Genetics  27, 286 - 291 (2001) doi:10.1038/85845 DiGeorge syndrome phenotype in mice mutant for the T-box gene, Tbx1Loydie A. Jerome & Virginia E. Papaioannou

The Vertebrate Body PlanPharynx/ (pharyngeal pouches and slits)

* *

The Vertebrate Body PlanDorsal nervous system

*__________, ________________, fluid filled cavity*Sense organs develop in the head region (_______________)

http://www.nesc.k12.in.us/union/Mr.%20Sly/Earthworm%20Dissection/earthworm%20images.htm

The Vertebrate Body PlanOther Craniate characteristics

*Integument (skin) comprised of two layers:________________________From these a number of specialized structures are derived:

The Vertebrate Body PlanOther Craniate characteristics

*Complete ____________ system*__________ to excrete wastes, maintain H2O balance and form hormones*Reproductive organs

_______________________________________

*Circulation*Differing cardiac anatomyLymphatics

http://pzavislak.googlepages.com/PlanarianBright.jpg

The Vertebrate Body PlanOther Craniate characteristics

*________________ (meta-merism)More common with invertebrates… vertebrates display this feature primarily in skeletal, muscular and nervous systems

*________________Axial/CranialAppendicular from 2 girdles

*________________SkeletalCardiacSmooth(Which of these synapse with motor neurons? )

Preadaptations

What is an adaptation?

What is a preadaptation?

Explain the concept of remodeling in the context of evolution

Evolutionary morphology

• Bean stalks and Bushes• Grades and clades

Evolutionary morphology

• Abundance phylogeny

• Cladistics

Paleontology

• Formation of fossils• Recovery & restoration• Fossil dating

– Stratigraphy– Index fossils– Radiometric– Geological ages