key words

• What are Actinopterygii commonly known as?

  Ray-finned fish
• What percentage of living vertebrate species do Actinopterygii comprise?

  Over 50%
• What is an amniote?

  A vertebrate with an amnion
• Which groups of animals are classified as amniotes?

  Reptiles, birds, and mammals
• From which ancestors did amniotes evolve?

  Amphibious stem tetrapod ancestors
• During which geological period did amniotes evolve?

  Carboniferous period
• What characterizes an anapsid?

  Lacks skull openings near the temples
• Which group of animals includes anapsids?

  Testudines (turtles and tortoises)
• What are angiosperms?

  Flowering plants that bear flowers and fruits
• What is Archaeopteryx known for?

  Being a genus of bird-like dinosaurs
• What do archosaurs include?

  Birds and crocodilians
• What distinguishes archosaurs from traditional reptiles?

  Includes all living and extinct relatives of birds
• What is the phylum Arthropoda known for?

  Possessing an exoskeleton made of chitin
• What process must arthropods undergo to grow?

  Moulting
• What are choanocytes also known as?

  Collar cells
• What is the function of choanocytes in sponges?

  Filter nutrients from water
• What class do Chondrichthyes belong to?

  Jawed fish
• What is a characteristic of Chondrichthyes?

  Skeletons composed of cartilage
• What defines chordates?

  Hollow dorsal nerve cord and notochord
• What are the three major groups of chordates?

  Urochordata, Cephalochordata, and craniates
• What does the phylum Cnidaria include?

  Jellyfish, hydroids, and corals
• What is a distinguishing feature of Cnidaria?

  Presence of cnidocytes or cnidoblasts
• What is a coelom?

  Main body cavity in many animals
• What is the significance of coelom characteristics?

  Used to classify bilaterian animal phyla
• What are conodonts known for?

  Distinctive mineralized mouth parts
• During which periods did conodonts exist?

  Early Cambrian to end of Triassic
• What characterizes ctenophores?

  Transparent, gelatinous bodies
• How do ctenophores navigate the ocean?

  Using ciliary plates for locomotion
• What are cynodonts?

  A clade of eutheriodont therapsids
• What is a defining feature of deuterostomes?

  Blastopore becomes the anus
• What are diatoms?

  Photosynthetic protists in the stramenopile clade
• What is a characteristic of diploblastic organisms?

  Having two germ layers
• What are distomes?

  Flukes with oral and ventral suckers
• What is Dunkleosteus?

  An extinct genus of large arthroscope fish
• What is an eutherian?

  A placental mammal
• What defines gnathostomes?

  Members have jaws
• What are hagfish known for?

  Having a skull made of cartilage
• What is a lepidosaur?

  A member of lizards and snakes
• What is a medusoid?

  Typical form of a jellyfish
• How does a medusoid move?

  By rhythmic muscular contractions of the bell