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Vertebrate Natural History 2014 Folder (R2)

Terms in this set (42)

Non-amniote tetrapods went extinct shortly after the evolution of amniotes
False
Sea turtles do not exhibit hyperphalangy
True
TSD is the mode of sex determination in all turtles, lizards, and crocodilians
False
The biggest ichthyosaurs were bigger than the biggest pliosaurs
True
Ichthyosaurs had bigger eyes than similar-sized pliosaurs
True
Pliosaurs had bigger teeth than similar-sized ichthyosaurs
True
Sphenodontids have always been restricted to New Zealand
False
Iguanas are more closely related to snakes than they are to skinks
True
Amphisbaenians are more closely related to snakes than they are to racerunners/whiptails
False
All viviparous lizards have chorioallantoic placentas
False
Teiid lizards are prone to evolve vivipary
False
Teiid lizards are prone to evolve parthenogenesis
True
Teiid lizards have evolved a throat pump to counteract the conflict between locomotion and breathing
False
Like marine iguanas, tuatara bask in the sun to warm up before they forage in the algae-rich waters of the New Zealand coast
False
Briefly describe two direct benefits for a female anuran mating with a large male.
- Direct benefits derive from non-genetic benefits (resource benefits), to females
- Females mating w/ large males are less harassed by other males when she is amplexing.
- W/ larger male, his cloaca matches hers more closely, giving higher fertilization rate
- If larger males can monopolize optimal oviposition sites, females can access good breeding ground for her eggs/larvae to thrive
What are two reasons a male anuran might engage in satellite behavior?
- Could be small/young male w/ no other options (best out of a bad hand.
- Unlikely to maintain a position amongst larger males with strong calls.
- If b/c of age, can grow out of the practice or could be a loser
- Could be calculating probability of successful mating and decide it has better chances intercepting from periphery in high density of males.
- Could be that calling is dangerous (tungara frogs & bats) and intercepting is safer.
- Could be saving energy, calling is energetically expensive
Dendrobatid frogs can have male care, female care, biparental care. In which form of care are you least likely to find arboreal tadpoles (i.e., in the bracts of epiphytic bromeliads)? Briefly explain.
- Male care.
- To survive in tiny pools in leaf bracts, need to supply tadpoles with additional nourishment. Need trophic eggs to do so and males can't produce eggs.
- Male care happens in safe, fish-free, large, nutrient-rich, environments that involve evading death from predators.
In most species, males can maximize their fitness by maximizing the number of females they mate with, while the fitness advantage to females of mating with many males tends to be much lower. Consequently, females tend to be choosy and males tend to compete with one another for access to females. But how would you explain it if I told you that in Darwin's frogs, females compete for access to males?
- Males in Darwin's frogs raise young in vocal sacs --> can't call --> can't attract females --> out of mating pool while raising young.
- Males are limiting sex in this situation b/c they take longer to raise babies than it does for females to make new batch of eggs (females longer, switch; same amt of time, seahorses).
- Even in 50:50 pop. ratio, operational sex ratio is female-biased --> males become limiting sex --> females must compete for them.
Compare the energy flow that upland chorus froglets bring to their community vs. that of baby fence lizards.
- Baby lizards: terrestrial predators eating small invertebrates. Baby lizards then become food for bigger animals in terrestrial community.
- Energy flow: vegetation --> invertebrates --> baby lizards --> larger tetrapods
- Froglets: consume algae, very low tier of trophic pyramid. Abundance of algae = abundance of froglets
- When froglet goes onto land, brings energy from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystem.
- Energy that was completely unavailable, now available to terrestrial animals.
For those interested in the evolution of cannibalism, why is it critical to compare the rates of observed cannibalism within amphibian broods that are maternal vs. paternal half-sibs?
- can look at morphological/behavioral phenomenon from: evolutionary/phylogenetic origins, adaptive/functional/fitness significance/ontogenetic origins.
- To avoid cannibalism, "Don't eat larvae that smell like me"
- Two ways siblings might smell like you: share 50% of genes, resulting in detectable chemical similarity, - or - based on the fact that broodmates developed in same jelly mass.
- Maternal half sibs: share a jelly signature.
- Paternal half sibs: equally genetically related as maternal half sibs (25%)
- If larvae eat maternal & paternal half-sibs at similar rates --> "smelling" the genes
- If paternal half-sibs cannibalized at significantly higher rates --> jelly signature mechanism
Label the parts of an egg
a) amniotic fluid
b) embryo
c) amnion
d) allantois
e) chorion
f) yolk sac
g) yolk
h) albumin
i) shell
What extra-embryonic membrane is involved in all tetrapod placentas?
Chorion
Are hinges found on the carapace or plastron of box turtles?
Plastron
Name a Leipidosaur that is not a Squamate
Tuatara
Name an extinct marine reptile that is a Squamate
Mosasaur
Name three groups of Lepidosauromorphs that are NOT Lepidosaurs
Turtles, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, ichthyosaurs
Why do some aquatic turtles have cloacal bursae?
- For gas exchange
- High vascularized pouches that can extract oxygen from the water they pump into their cloaca
Why do box turtles hiss when they retract into their shells?
- Head & limbs take up space inside shell, forcing air out of lungs
Sea turtles cry, marine iguanas sneeze. Explain.
- Both are for salt removal
- Sea turtles excrete salt through lacrimal (tear) glands
- Marine iguanas excrete salt through nasal glands
What's the advantage of an arribada?
- Predator satiation
- Ridley sea turtles that nest together overwhelm predators that come to eat their eggs, they can't possibly eat all of them when there are so many nesting in one area
- If done alone, one by one, could be easy pickings for predators every night for months
- Not foolproof though, females erroneously dig up other females recently nested eggs quite often
Why would a baby Iguana want to eat iguana feces?
To inoculate itself w/ gut bacteria to help it break down cellulose
Why are lizards living at high latitudes/altitudes especially likely to evolve vivipary?
- It's cooler at high altitude/latitude, so, speeding up development by keeping in her body & basking strategically is advantageous
- Short breeding season --> vivipary constrains ability of females to produce mult. clutches --> most favored when only time for one breeding attempt
- In unproductive environments, easier/cheaper to feed kids via placenta (over time) than to form individual giant yolk balls for reproduction
Of the four snake families we discussed...
a) In which two do we observe constriction as a common way of killing prey?
Boidae & Colubridae
Of the four snake families we discussed...
b) Which uses sidewinding the most?
Viperidae
Of the four snake families we discussed...
c) What eats the largest prey (relative to own body mass)?
Viperidae
Of the four snake families we discussed...
d) Name one likely to engage in rectilinear locomotion
Viperidae & Boidae
At the zoo we saw emerald tree boas and green tree pythons - both arboreal bird eaters. Beautiful convergence. Which lives in South America?
Boas
Name the only venomous snake you're likely to encounter on the Ecological Preserve? To what subfamily does it belong?
Copperhead; Crotalinae
What two characteristics of the quadrate bone facilitate the swallowing of large prey by snakes?
- Quadrate bone spans distance between skull & jaw articulation
- It's elongated (vs. in lizards)
- Having the articulation posterior & lateral to brain-case --> point of maximum constraint of gape size to be posterior to the brain-case --> less stress on brain-case
- Jaw does NOT unhinge/dislocate to accommodate prey
Why would a hungry 5-m python choose not to eat a small rat it encounters?
- Hungry python presumably has a gastrointestinal tract that has been shut down/shrunken, if it wants to eat small rat, has to undergo metabolically expensive process of rebuilding GI tract (& liver/heart), just for digestion
- The rat being small, unlikely to provide enough energy to pay for large energy investment
- (Investment not worth the reward)
What does the pterygoid bone do in vipers?
When a viper opens its mouth wide, the pterygoid pushes the fangs into their erect position - ready to inject venom into its target
(In folder) Are two lovely pictures of cobra heads. What erroneous features do they share?
- both are bad, stylized pictures of cobras
- Fangs are too long for proteroglyphous snake, no way they could close their mouths
- Snakes don't have fangs in lower jaws
- Snake tongues don't emerge from back of mouth - emerge at front (under glottis)
- Snakes don't extend their tongues when they're striking/gaping
- Neither snake appears to have a glottis
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