Term
| Why are the reptiles a paraphyletic group? |
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Definition
| Because they do not include the birds, and crocodiles are more closely related to birds than to lepidosauria or testudines (birds and crocodiles make up the archosauria) |
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Term
| What are some of the key characteristics of turtles? |
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Definition
| Testudines, order chelonia: secondarily anapsid skull fenestration, no teeth in upper or lower jaws (horny keratinised plates cover jaw bones), Body enclosed by dorsal carapace and ventral plastron, pectoral and pelvic girdles INSIDE ribcage, oviparous, eggs can gain or lose weight during incubation, well vascularised buccal or cloacal (bum breather) cavities, lung ventilation intermittent (can't expand or contract because of rigid ribs) |
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Term
| Name and describe the two sub-orders of turtles |
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Definition
Pleurodira: Side necked turtles (restricted to southern hemisphere)
Cryptodira: neck folds in mid-sigittal plane during head retraction |
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Term
| The tuatara belong to what order? List some of their key features. |
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Definition
| Sphenodonta: insectivorous, oviparous, temperature dependent sex determination, retain unmodified diapsid skull condition, 2 species alive today (both off shore islands in New Zealand), retain median parietal (third) eye |
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Term
| What function does the median parietal eye have in Tuatara? |
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Definition
| Detects changes in light intensity - for daily and seasonal circadian rhythms |
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Term
| Name and describe the most specious order of extant reptiles |
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Definition
| Squamata: snakes and lizards. Modified diapsids, mostly kinetic skulls, transverse cloacal slit (vs longitudinal), heavily keratinised imbricated (overlapping) epidermal scales, intra-vertebral fracture planes in tail (allow regeneration), males have hemipenes (invertible copulatory organ) |
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Term
| What selective pressure drove the evolution of viviparity in squamates over 100 separate times? |
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Definition
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Term
| Describe the two types of viviparity in squamates |
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Definition
Lecithotrophy: all nutrients derived from egg yolk
placentotrophy: some nutrients transferred from female to embryo by a placenta during embryonic development |
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Term
| What suborder do lizards belong to? What are their features? |
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Definition
| Sauria: Terrestrial/arboreal/fossorial, poor hearing but have external ear openings, movable eyelids, some venemous, movement of limbs sprayed out to side but lateral undulations along body also important, lungs ventilated by muscles that move ribcage in and out (can't breathe while running because it interferes) |
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Term
| What suborder do snakes belong to? Describe them |
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Definition
| Serpentes: Highly modified body - loss of limbs and specialised skull, flexible ligament between two halves of lower jaw, cranial kinesis, lack moveable eyelids, lack external ear openings, good vision, poor hearing, excellent olfaction (jacobson's organ full of chemoreceptors (forked tongue +nares)), right lung dominant, lungs ventilated by contraction of intercostal muscles that move ribcage |
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Term
| Describe the types of locomotion in snakes |
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Definition
Lateral undulation: wave-like movement patterns throughout body
Concertina motion: exert force against object (narrow hallway) and move top half of body forwards)
Rectolinear motion: move like a caterpillar
Sidewinder motion: Move like a crab |
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Term
| What order do the crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials belong to? Describe them |
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Definition
| Crocodilia: Basal diapsid fenestration, bony secondary palate, thecodont teeth, lateral undulations of body and tail propel through water, flat body crawl or high walk and gallop on land, lung ventilated by liver movement, unidirectional movement of air through lungs, oviparous, maternal care |
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Term
| What are the three different types of teeth? |
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Definition
Acrodont: Attached to top surface (basal)
Pleurodont: (attached to wall)
Thecodont: Set in sockets (derived) |
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Term
| Why do gharials have a long narrow snout? |
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Definition
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