Parade of the

Craniates in
time and taxa
Geologic time scale
• Chronology of Earth’s
history
• 4.7 billion history of the
earth from its origin to the
present
• Transitions in the fossil
record, found in
characteristic layers of
sedimentary rock
• Formulated by assessing
the age of rocks and rock
sediments.
• Correlates with evolutionary
events
 Geologic time scale
• Based on geologic events
• the ancient period from earth’s
history is formulated into eons-eras-
periods-epochs.
• Each division in the geological
calendar is clearly identified and
described.
• Incidents pertaining to earth
surface, plant and animal life are
neatly recorded.
• The influence of geological and
climatic changes on the life and the
evolution of the living organism had
been well analyzed.
• Earth is 4.7 billion (4,700 million)
years old.
 Geologic time (4.7 billion/4,700 million)
Divisions: four-level hierarchy of time
• EONS intervals
First and largest division of geologic time
• Divides geologic history into Greatest expanse of time
units Four eons
• Phanerozoic ("visible life") –most recent eon
• Originally created using • Proterozoic
relative dates and more • Archean
• Hadean – the oldest eon
recently, radioactive dating.
• ERAS
• The influence of geological Second division of geologic time
and climatic changes on the • PERIODS
life and the evolution of the Third division of the geologic time.
Named for either location or characteristics of
living organism the defining rock formations
• EPOCHS
Fourth division of geologic time
Represents the subdivisions of a period
The Geologic time scale
Craniata: Subphylum Vertebrata

• Members of the Subphylum Vertebrata having the

notochord replaced by a vertebral column composed
of bone and/or cartilage.
• The vertebral column, along with the cranium, limb
girdles, and limbs, make up the endoskeleton.
• This internal skeleton is an adaptation for efficient
locomotion, as was the notochord
Clada Craniata (skull)
* Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)
Δ Superclass Agnatha (Jawless fish)
@ Subclass Ostracodermi – Ostracoderms (Extinct)
@ Subclass Cyclostomata – Living Jawless Fishes
# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
σ Class Placodermi – Jawed Armored Fishes (Extinct)
σ Class Chondrichthyes – Cartilaginous fishes
σ Class Acanthodii – Spiney sharks (Extinct)
Δ Superclass Osteichthyes – Bony fishes
σ Class Actinopterygii – ray-finned fish
σ Class Sarcopterygii – lobed-finned fish
ɷ Order Actinistia
ɷ Order Rhipidistia
Δ Superclass Tetrapoda – four limbed vertebrates
Clada Craniata (skull)

* Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)

Δ Superclass Agnatha (Jawless fish)
@ Subclass Ostracodermi – Ostracoderms (Extinct)
@ Subclass Cyclostomata – Living Jawless Fishes
Θ Class Myxini – Hagfish
Θ Class Hyperoartia – Lampreys and their fossil
relatives
Superclass Agnatha

• Two groups
• Extinct: Ostracoderm
• Living: Lampreys and Hagfishes
• Ostracoderms
Subclass Ostracoderm
• Oldest known craniates
• Middle of the Ordovician or
Cambrian
• entire body was covered with bony
dermal armor consisting of broad
plates and small tilelike scales
• The plates were largest on the
head
• Lack jaws and paired fins
• small mouth opened into the
oropharygeal chamber, it is lined by
gills
• Postcranial skeleton – little known
• Tail – heterocercal
• Origin is unknown
 Subclass Cyclostomat
• Class Myxini – hagfish
• Class Hyperoartia - lampreys
• 42 living species
• Have prominent notochord serves
the sole axial skeleton
• have no paired fins, no vertebral
column, no bony skeleton, no
integumentary armor or scales,
and no bony teeth
• They have only one (hagfishes) or
two (lamprey's) semicircular ducts
and a single nostril that is
connected with a single olfactory
sac
• Hagfish Class Myxini
• living marine agnathans with a
shallow buccal funnel that lacks
rasping denticles
• funnel is surrounded by a ring of
stubby fingerlike papillae
• bottom-feeding scavengers
• A canal leads from the median
nostril to the olfactory sac and then
continues to the pharyngeal cavity,
carrying a respiratory, stream of
water
• Eyes: are vestigial and covered by
opaque skin
 Class Hyperoartia
• Lampreys
• large buccal funnel lined with
horny denticles and a tonguelike
cartilaginous rod covered with
horny teeth
• A nasohypophyseal duct leads
from the median nostril to the
olfactory sac and then terminates
blindly in a nasohypophyseal sac
• 7 pairs of gill pouches
• Adults live in the sea but migrate
upstream to lay their eggs
Clada Craniata (skull)

* Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)

# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
σ Class Placodermi – Jawed Armored Fishes (Extinct)
σ Class Chondrichthyes – Cartilaginous fishes
@ Subclass Elasmobranchii – sharks, rays and skates
@ Subclass Holocephali - Chimaera
σ Class Acanthodii – Spiney sharks (Extinct)
Infraphylum Gnathostomata
• 3 subgroups of gnathostomes
1.Placoderms - First Jawed Fish/
Armored fish (extinct)
2.Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous Fish
3.Teleostomes
1.Acanthodians – Spiny sharks (extinct)
2.Osteichthyans – Bony fishes
• Subclass Actinopterygii – Ray-finned
Fish
• Subclass Sarcopterygii – Lobe-finned
Fish
3.Tetrapods
 Class Placodermi
• Placoderms
arthrodires
• “plate” and “skin”
• date from the mid-Silurian, but they
flourished in the Devonian along with
the acanthodians
• Evolved from ostracoderm ancestor
• Named for their bony dermal plates,
had paired pectoral and pelvic fins
• Heavy bony shield covered the head
and gill region, and another covered
part of the trunk
• Best known Placoderms: Arthrodires
• The cartilaginous fishes
Class Chondrichthyes
• 2 subclasses
• Elasmobranchii – sharks, rays, skates,
and sawfishes
• Holocephali – chimaeras or ratfish
• They don’t have bone in their bony
other than in their scales and teeth
• Mouth: ventral surface
• Dermal scales: Placoid
• Skeleton of the pelvic fins of males
is modified to form claspers
• Eggs: Macrolecithal
• Sharks, skates, rays and sawfishes
• Gill slits are exposed, 5 to 7 pairs
• Anterior to the first gill slits is usually a
spiracle that bears in its walls and
miniature gill-like surface
(pseudobranch)
• Caudal fins: heterocercal
• 5 gill slits are ventral but the spiracle
remains dorsum
• Sharks: serrated, pointed teeth
Subclass Elasmobranch
• Feeding: rays and skates – Subclass Elasmobranchii
bottom feeding manta ray –
filter feeders
• Electric rays – houses an
electric organ capable of a high
voltage discharge that Sawfish

immobilizes prey
• Stingray – have rows of spines Electric rays
along their tails that inflict
wounds and often contain
poison
• Sawfish – the sword is used for
impaling small fishes and
disturbing the sea bottom in a
search for burrowing animals Manta ray
Subclass Holocephali
• Chimaera fish
• lack scales on most of the
surface, they have fleshy
operculum that hides their
gill slits, and the spiracle is
closed
• The upper jaw is solidly
fused with the cartilaginous
brain-case
• hard flat bony plates on the
jaws crush molluscan shells
Class Acanthodii
• Extinct spiny sharks
• Acanthodians are represented by
spines in the Early Silurian and they
reached peak diversity during the
Devonian and persisted well into the
Permian
• Stout hollow spines were associated
with the median and paired fins
• the body was covered by bony
armor consisting of small scales
and, on the head, dermal plates
• Skeleton: bone and cartilage
• they had a large operculum
overlying the gill slits
Clada Craniata (Skull)

* Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)

# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
Δ Superclass Osteichthyes – Bony fishes
σ Class Actinopterygii – ray-finned fish
σ Class Sarcopterygii – lobed-finned fish
 Clada Teleostomi

• The Teleostomi (a clada of jawed

vertebrates) is a large group
embracing the acanthodians
(sister group of the bony fishes),
the bony fishes, and their tetrapod
derivatives
 Superclass Osteichthyes

• All the bony fishes

• Characterized by an air sac (lung or
swim bladder) that may be
secondarily lost and the presence of
large units of dermal bone on the
head and shoulder girdle
• The group is subdivided based on
the structure of the paired
appendages (fins)
• Actinopterygii (the ray- finned fishes)
• Sarcopterygii (the lobe-finned fishes)
 Class Actinopterygii
• Ray finned fishes
• They are ancient and modern bony fishes
whose membranous fins are supported by
slender fin rays radiating from basal skeletal
elements within the body wall
• Their gill slits are covered by a bony
operculum
• air sac (swim bladder or lung) and they lack
internal nares
• Caudal fin: heterocercal
• Living actinopterygians considered into two
groups:
• Basal actinopterygii
• Neopterygii
• The oldest known ray-finned fishes
• They are chiefly Paleoniscoids
Clade Basal
• African freshwater fishes Polypterus Actinopterygii
and Calamoichthys, and the
sturgeons and paddlefishes
• Polypterus and Calamoichthys -
large ganoid scales, a well-ossified
endoskeleton, and air sacs (lungs)
• Sturgeons and paddlefishes -
cartilaginous endoskeleton. The
scales lack ganoin, and the skin of
paddlefishes is naked except for
small bony scales on the tail
• Taxon Chondriostei – Mostly extinct
monophyletic assemblage to which
sturgeons and paddlefish
• Includes the surviving Mesozoic ray- Clade
finned fishes – gars, bowfins and
teleosts Neopterygii
• Infraclass Holostei - Gars and
bowfins
• freshwater fishes. The trunk and tail are
covered with ganoid scales. Ossified
skeleton. Braincase is cartilaginous
• Infraclass Teleostei - Teleosts
• the most recently evolved ray-finned
fishes and hence are referred to as
"modern.“
• Their scales, have become very thin and
flexible; the dermal bones of the skull are
generally thinner and more numerous than
in other bony fishes.
• Jaws and palate have more
independently maneuverable.
• 23,000 species; constitute 96% of all living
fishes
• Lobe finned fishes
• Bony fishes that have a prominent
Class Sarcopterygii
fleshy lobe at the base of their
paired fins
• Also have internal nares that open
into the oropharyngeal cavity, and
they retain a gas-filled air sac
• The gill slits are covered by a bony
operculum
• There are two major clades:
• Subclass Actinistia - the
coelacanths
• Clade Rhipidistia - which includes
Subclass Dipnoi (lungfishes and
the ancestors of amphibians) and
Superclass Tetrapoda
Clada Craniata (skull)
*Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)
# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
Δ Superclass Tetrapoda – four limbed vertebrates
σ Class Amphibia
σ Class Reptilia
σ Class Aves
σ Class Mammalia
Superclass Tetrapoda
• Tetrapods subsequently underwent an extensive
radiation, so that today included in tetrapods are
fully terrestrial vertebrates as well as many
amphibious, aquatic, and flying groups
• Tetrapoda means "four feet", and the group was
so-named as its members primitively had four
limbs, as opposed to fins.
• This taxon includes about 3000 extant species
of amphibians (frogs, salamanders, and
caecilians) and approximately 18,100 extant
species of amniotes (mammals, reptiles, and
birds).
• Superclass Tetrapoda has four major class
divisions:
• Class Amphibia
• Class Reptilia
• Class Aves
• Class Mammallia
Clada Craniata (skull)

*Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)

# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
Δ Superclass Tetrapoda – four limbed vertebrates
σ Class Amphibia
Ψ Subclass Labyrinthodontia (Extinct)
Ψ Subclass Lissamphibia (Living Amphibians)
% Order Urodela – Tailed Amphibians; Salamanders; Newts
% Order Anura – Tailless Amphibians; Frogs; Toads
% Order Apoda – Caecilians
• Are cold-blooded animals and most
metamorphose from a juvenile to Class Amphibia
an adult form
• They cannot generate their own
body heat, instead relying on the
temperature of their environment to
help them keep warm or cool
enough to survive.
• There are over 6,500 species of
amphibians
• There are three living amphibians
(Lissamphibians) orders:
• Order Urodela (newts and
salamanders)
• Order Anura (frogs and toads)
• Order Apoda (caecilians)
 Subclass Labyrinthodontia

• Labyrinthodonts
• Oldest amphibians
• Ex. Ichthyostega
• Minute bony scales in the dermis of
the skin, a fishlike tail supported by
dermal fin rays, and skulls similar to
those of rhipidistian fishes.
• Grooves in skull bones showing they
had a sensory canal system of
neuromast organs that monitored the
aquatic environment
 Subclass Lissamphibia

• living
amphibians
 Order Urodela
• Eight families of urodeles
• Have poorly developed limbs and
retain a tail as adults
• They prey on worms, insects, and
small mollusks. Some species Axolotl
have no lungs and depend entirely
on cutaneous respiration
• Others, such as the mudpuppy
(Necturus) and the axolotl
(Ambystoma), retain the larval gills
as adults
 Order Anura
• Frogs and toads belong to the order
Anura ("Anura" refers to the lack of a
tail in adults).
• They differ from the caudates by
having a more complex skeletal
system with stronger limbs and
developmental metamorphosis (from a
tailed and limbless polliwog to a
tailless limbed adult).
• Of all the amphibians, anurans have
been most successful in their
occupation of terrestrial habitats
(including trees).
Order Apoda
• Caecilians
• Circumtropical, limbless amphibians
that live in burrows in swampy
locations
• Their eyes are small and buried
beneath the bones of the skull
• 30 cm long and have as many as
250 vertebrae
• Their skin is annulated, and some
have minute dermal scales
• Look like overgrown earthworms
Clada Craniata (skull)
*Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)
# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
Δ Superclass Tetrapoda – four limbed vertebrates
σ Class Reptilia
Ψ Subclass Anapsida – Turtles andTortoises
Ψ Subclass Diapsida – Crocodiles; Snakes; Lizards
σ Class Aves
Ψ Subclass Archaeornithes (Extinct)
Ψ Subclass Neornithes – Modern Birds
Class Aves
• Endothermic (warm-blooded)
vertebrates with feathers
• Their anterior limbs are modified as
wings for flight, while the posterior pair
is adapted for walking, swimming, or
perching
• Teeth have been lost and replaced by a
light beak
• Feathers are cornified epidermal
appendages
• There are two subclasses of Aves:
• Subclass Archaeornithes (Extinct
Archaeopteryx)
• Subclass Neornithes (All other birds)
Subclass Archaeornithes
• Archaeopteryx
• Extinct group of the first
primitive, reptile-like birds
• It was about the size of a crow,
had a long reptilian tail and a
reptilian skull with no beak
• It had three fingers on its
wings, each bearing a claw.
Archaeopteryx
Subclass Neornithes
• Birds that have a large carina to which
relatively massive flight muscles attach.
• Generally known as carinates
• There are about 10,000 species
• They include all living birds except the
palaeognaths
• The word Paleognath is derived from the
ancient Greek for "old jaws" in reference to
the skeletal anatomy of the palate, which is
described as more primitive and reptilian
than that in other birds
• The are annual migrants, a behavioral
adaptation to predictable annual climatic
changes.
 Cassowary Rhea

Subclass
Neornithes
Kiwi

• A ratite is any of a diverse group of

large, flightless birds of the
infraclass Palaeognathae Emu

• The ratites have no keel on

their sternum - without this to anchor
their wing muscles, they could not fly
even if they were to develop suitable Ostrich
wings
• Cassowary, Rhea, Emu, Kiwi, and
Ostrich
Clade Amniotes
• Members possess
extraembryonic membranes
• Consists of two sister clades:

• Reptilia – Also called

Sauropsida
• Synapsida - having a
temporal fenestra, an opening
low in the skull roof behind
each eye, leaving a bony
arch beneath each
(Mammals)
 Class Reptilia

Anapsid Diapsid

• Reptiles have acquired several advances

over amphibians that have allowed them to
move successfully into terrestrial habitats
• The outer layer of skin is a thick layer of
dead, keratin-filled cornified cells.
• These cells are organized into horny scales
covering the entire outer surface
• There are two major subclasses:
• Subclass Anapsida – Turtles; Tortoises; some
dinosaurs
• Subclass Diapsida – Crocodiles; Snakes;
Lizards; most dinosaurs
 Subclass Anapsida

Anapsid

• The term Anapsida ("no arch") refers

to all those reptile groups that lack
skull openings behind the eyes.

• Subclass Anapsida contains most of

the extremely primitive ancestral
reptiles as well as turtles and tortoises
 Subclass Diapsida

Diapsid

• Most all other reptiles are diapsids

(including lizards, crocodiles,
snakes, and most dinosaurs)
• The main diagnostic physical
character for a diapsid is the
presence of two openings on each
side of the skull; the upper and
lower temporal openings.
• Birds even exhibit this temporal
arrangement
Clada Craniata (skull)

*Subphylum Vertebrata (backbone)

# Infraphylum Gnathostomata (Have Jaws)
Δ Superclass Tetrapoda – four limbed vertebrates
σ Class Mammalia
Ψ Subclass Prototheria – Egg Laying Monotremes
Ψ Subclass Metatheria - Marsupials
Ψ Subclass Eutheria – Placental Mammals
 Class Mammalia
• They are thermic and have relatively high rates of metabolism
• Adaptations for efficient feeding include heterodont teeth in most species and
a secondary palate to separate the respiratory and food passages
• four-chambered heart
• Their brains are highly developed
• fertilization is internal
• most have placental attachment of the young
• The two primary characteristics that define living mammals are hair and
mammary glands
• There are three subclasses based on birthing systems:
• Subclass Prototheria - (egg-laying monotremes)
• Subclass Metatheria (marsupials)
• Subclass Eutheria (placental)
 Subclass
Prototheria
• Lays eggs and has a cloaca throughout
life
• Today's monotremes are found in
Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea
• They lack teeth as adults duckbill platypus
• The braincase and other skeletal
elements are reptilian in structure, they
have a single ventral orifice (connected
to a cloaca)
• They are oviparous
• Monotremes do possess hair and feed
their young milk spiny anteater
Subclass Metatheria

• The marsupial mammals (kangaroos,

koalas, possums, sugar gliders,
tasmanian wolves, and wombats)
• Mammals in which the fetal yolk sac
(in contact with the chorion) serves as
a placenta.
• The young are born in almost a larval
state and are incubated and nursed
after birth in a maternal abdominal
pouch
• They are nocturnal in their habits
 Subclass Eutheria
• Eutherian mammals are
placental beasts
• The number and arrangement
of the teeth are important in
the classification of these
mammals
• All of these animals give live
birth and place heavy
importance on raising their
young
 Subclass Eutheria
• You need to know the Eutherian orders:
Artiodactyla (deer, goat, pig) Pinnipedia (seal, walrus)
Carnivora (bears, wolves) Perissodactyla (horses, rhinos)
Cetacea (whales, dolphins) Pholidota (the pangolin)
Chiroptera (bats) Primates (monkeys, apes)
Edentata (armadillo, sloth) Proboscidea (elephants)
Hyracoidea (hyraxes) Rodentia (rats, mice)
Insectivora (shrew, hedgehog) Sirenia (manatees)
Lagomorpha (rabbits) Tubulidentata (aardvarks)
Order Insectivora
• Moles, shrews, and
hedgehogs
• Diet of insects, worms, and
other small invertebrates
• Are flat-footed (plantigrade)
stance; five toes
• Smooth cerebral hemispheres
• Small, sharp, pointed teeth
with incisors, canines, and
premolars poorly differentiated
 Order Edentata
• Armadillos, Sloths, Anteater
• None have incisor or canine
teeth, and cheek teeth' when
present, are peg-like and lack
enamel
• Enlarged front claws are used
for digging into ant nests or
mounds and for hanging from
the limbs of trees
• They are also the only
mammals that develop a true
bony dermal armor
Order Tubulidentata
• Aardvarks
• Elongated snout, long sticky
tongue and strong claws on
the front feet facilitate routing
out and capturing insects
• Teeth: peg-like, lack enamel
and have shallow roots
Aardvarks
Order Pholidota
• Pangolin – toothless and
scaly
• Scales are made of keratin
and appear to be agglutinated
hairs
• Typical hairs grow between
the scales
Pangolin
Order Chiroptera
• Bats
• They, and birds are the only known craniates to
have achieved true (powered) flight
• The wing, or patagium, is a double membrane
of skin stretched along the length of the body
between the trunk, forelimbs, and hindlimbs,
and extending from there to the tail
• Four greatly elongated, clawless fingers
• All five digits of the hind limbs bear claws, and
these are used for hanging upside down
• Bats are insectivorous, frugivorous (fruit
eaters), or sanguinivorous (subsisting on the
blood of other mammals)
Order Primates
• Lemurs, lorises, tarsiers,
monkeys, apes, and humans
• Among primate specializations is
the grasping hand built so that the
thumb can touch the tips of the
other four fingers of the same
hand
• Some digits have nails instead of
claws
• The cerebral hemispheres are
larger than in any other mammal
Order Lagomorpha
• Hares and rabbits
• Herbivorous
• Two pairs of incisors on the upper
jaw
• The large front pair is rodent like
and grows throughout life.
• The smaller pair lacks cutting
edges.
 Order Rodentia
• Largest mammalian order
• They have a single pair of long,
curved incisor teeth on each jaw
that is used for gnawing
• The teeth grow throughout life
• Canine teeth are absent
• rats, mice, hamsters, squirrels
Order Carnivora
• Large, diverse terrestrial group
• Some species of which have
powerful jaws and sharp upper
canine teeth capable of spearing
and tearing flesh
• Most terrestrial carnivores have
live toes (a few have four) with
sharp and sometimes retractable
claws
• Cats, dogs, bears, raccoons
Order Pinnipedia

• Walruses, sea lions, seals

• Webbed paddle-like limbs
called flippers
• All pinnipeds leave the water
at least once a year at
breeding time
 Ungulates and Subungulates
• Ungulates – mammals that walk on the tips of their toes,
protected by hoofs.
• Order Perissodactyl and Artiodactyl
• They have no more than 4 toes on each foot
• Herbivores
• Molar teeth are high crowned and deeply grooved for grinding
vegetation
• Have no clavicle
• Only mammals with horns
Order Perissodactyla
• Horses, rhinoceros, tapirs
• They walk on the hoofed tips of one, three,
or occasionally four toes (mesaxonic foot)
• Usually called odd-toed ungulates -
mammal with hooves that feature an odd
number of toes on the rear feet
 Order
Artiodactyla
• Camels, sheeps, pigs,
cattles
• The weight of the body is
borne on two toes
(paraxonic foot)
• They have an even
number of toes
• They have stomachs
divided into not fewer
than three chambers
 Ungulates and Subungulates
• Subungulates - mammal of a diverse group that probably
evolved from primitive ungulates, comprising the elephants,
hyraxes, sirenians, and perhaps the aardvark
• Normally excludes cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises), as
they do not possess most of the typical morphological (body)
characteristics of ungulates, but recent discoveries indicate that
they are descended from early artiodactyls
• Lack a clavicle
• digits have short nails
• 4 toes on the forefeet, except Asian elephants
• 2 pectoral mammae (breast) between the forelegs
• Herbivores
Order Proboscidon
• Elephants and mastodons
• They have a proboscis, scanty hair, and
thick, wrinkled skin.
• The incisor teeth of one or both jaws are
elongated to form tusks, canine teeth
are absent, and the molars are large
grinder
• They have five toes that end in thick,
hoof-like nails
• An elastic pad on the back of each toe
bears much of the body weight
Order Hydracoidea
• Hyraxes
• Forefeet: 4 digits
• Hindfeet: 3 digits
• Flat-footed (plantigrade)
• Teeth of gazing members are high
crowned
• Upper lip is split (hare-like)
• Incisor teeth grow continuously
(like in rodents)
Hyrax
Order Sirenia
Order Sirenia
• Manatee and Dugong
• they are strictly vegetarian
• The forelimbs are paddles
• The hind limbs are lost
• Snout is covered with
coarse bristles
• Body is naked except for a
few scattered hairs
• Completely adapted
aquatic mammals
 Order Cetacea
• Whales, dolphins
• Permanently marine mammals
• Tail consists of 2 fleshy lobed
• The forelimbs are paddlelike
• The nostrils have valves that close
underwater
• The frontal and nasal bones are short
sometimes united to form a single
large blowhole
• Have good eyesight, but they also
scan their environment by
echolocation