ANT 301 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Mesozoic, Chronospecies, Heterodont
Document Summary
How we connect: discovering the human place in the organic world. System of classification that organizes diversity into categories and (sometimes) indicates evolutionary relationships. Kingdom: ex: animalia kingdom - ingest foods. Chordata: all animals with a nerve cord, gill slits, and supporting cord along the back. Most are vertebrates (a vertebral column - also have developed frame and paired sensory structures for sight, smell, and balance) Class (ie, cartilaginous, fishes, bony fishes, amphibians, reptiles/birds, and mammals) Species level: only those that can potentially interbreed and produce via offspring. Similarities to be useful, must reflect evolutionary descent. Ex: bones of forelimb of vertebrates who adapted to terrestrial environment > common ancestor. Major evolutionary modification in structures start with relatively minor genetic changes. Ex: forelimb development directed by few regulatory genes. the hox gene mutations. Homologies: similarities bw organisms based on descent from a common ancestor. Reliable indicators of evolutionary relationship, but don"t draw hasty superficial conclusions. (ie. butterflies and birds)
