GEOL 11042 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Endoskeleton, Metacarpal Bones, Pandas
8 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
Studying vertebrate animals is often different from studying invertebrates because of the way they are preserved. Vertebrates have an endoskeleton (internal skeleton) instead of an exoskeleton, and when the vertebrates die, their bones are often separated and scattered. Sometimes, if the animals are very rapidly buried, the entire skeleton is preserved, but this is rare. In this exercise, we will look at fragments of vertebrates to see how we can recognize something about the animal that they originated from as well as looking at some entire skeletons. We will also look at homologous parts of animals of several different fossil and living animals to demonstrate their common ancestry. Homologous structures are those derived from similar parts of the animal. Homologous structures may superficially look different because they are used for different purposes, but they are similar in structure. This similarity exists because the parts are derived from a common ancestor.
