Vertebrate Activities
Look at the specimen provided to you and consider the following:
1. What are the characteristics that these specimen have in common?
2. What Separates the animals from the other kingdoms?
3. In which characteristics do these animals differ? How do animals maximize (make the most of
)their differences?
Use the information and examples to fill out your chart.
Define, then compare and contrast the following:
1. Metamorphosis in amphibians vs. metamorphosis in insects
2. Notocord vs spinal cord
3. craniates vs. acraniates
4. monotremes vs. marsupials vs. eutherians
Discuss the importance of the following:
1. Pharyngeal gill slits.
2. The amniotic egg.
3. Waterproofing on skin and eggs
What adaptations did the so-called higher vertebrates evolve to live on land? What’s the first group of
organisms to have all of these traits and be completely independent of water?
What are the advantages of living on land vs. living in water?
From what fish characteristic are lungs believed to have evolved from (hint: it’s NOT the gills)?
Make a cladogram for the vertebrates, showing the important evolutionary advances of each group as
derived characters.
Vertebrate Activities
Look at the specimen provided to you and consider the following:
1. What are the characteristics that these specimen have in common?
2. What Separates the animals from the other kingdoms?
3. In which characteristics do these animals differ? How do animals maximize (make the most of
)their differences?
Use the information and examples to fill out your chart.
Define, then compare and contrast the following:
1. Metamorphosis in amphibians vs. metamorphosis in insects
2. Notocord vs spinal cord
3. craniates vs. acraniates
4. monotremes vs. marsupials vs. eutherians
Discuss the importance of the following:
1. Pharyngeal gill slits.
2. The amniotic egg.
3. Waterproofing on skin and eggs
What adaptations did the so-called higher vertebrates evolve to live on land? What’s the first group of
organisms to have all of these traits and be completely independent of water?
What are the advantages of living on land vs. living in water?
From what fish characteristic are lungs believed to have evolved from (hint: it’s NOT the gills)?
Make a cladogram for the vertebrates, showing the important evolutionary advances of each group as
derived characters.