| Term | Definition |
|---|
| acanthodian | early fish; first to exhibit jaws |
| agnathan | earliest fish; had backbone but no jaws or paired fins |
| cartilage | strong, lightweight, flexible connective tissue |
| countercurrent flow | arrangement in fish respiratory system where water going over the gills and blood in the gill filaments flows in opposite directions |
| ectothermic | referring to an animal whose body temperature is determined by the temperature of the environment |
| endothermic | refers to an animal that generates its own body heat |
| gill filament | fingerlike projection from a gill where respiratory gasses enter and leave the blood |
| gill slit | opening at the rear of a fish's cheek cavity where water exits |
| lateral line | specialized sensory system running the length of both sides of a fish's body |
| lung | internal, baglike respiratory organ of a vertebrate that enables gas exchange between the air and the blood |
| nephrons | tube like structures in the kidneys that filters wastes from the body and retains useful molecules; also regulates the body's salt and water balance |
| operculum | hard plate that covers the gills on each side of the head of bony fishes |
| Pangaea | the single super continent of the Triassic period that included all presently known continents |
| pulmonary vein | vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart |
| septum | thick wall that divides the heart's atrium or ventricle into right and left halves |
| swim bladder | the gall-filled sac of bony fishes used to regulate their buoyancy |
| teleost | group of bony fishes with highly mobile fins, thin scales, a swim bladder, and symmetrical tails; largest group of living fish |
| terrestrial | term that describes an organism with the ability live on land |
| thecodont | extinct crocodile like reptile from which the dinosaurs evolve |
| therapsid | extinct order of reptiles thought to be endothermic that likely gave rise to mammals |
| vertebra | individual segment of a backbone |
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