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This guide is meant to help you prepare for the exam, but should not be considered comprehensive. Exam questions may be based on any content covered in a lecture, lab, discussion activity, or by our guest speakers.

General recommendations

  • Spend time organizing your notes, so you can more easily find information as needed
  • Take the time you need to carefully read the questions. Make sure you know what is being asked, and then provide the best answer, without adding unnecessary information.
    • If there are multiple parts of a prompt, make sure you have adequately answered ALL of the parts.
    • I want to see that you have a genuine understanding of course topics, which is difficult when I must sort through a collection of facts you remember that might or might not be related.
  • Write all answers in your own words, rather than paraphrasing information from other sources.
  • Pay attention to spelling, as well as punctuation and grammar where it is indicated that you should write in complete sentences.

Topics to Review

  • Know major innovations that occurred during evolution of animals leading to chordates (e.g. true tissues, bilateral symmetry, germ layers, diplo- vs triploblasts, deuterostome vs. protostome characters) 
  • Be able to map major innovation characteristics on general phylogeny of animals
  • Know and understand chordate characters and their evolutionary significance
  • Be able to distinguish between urochordates, cephalochordates, and chordates based on characteristics
  • Understand proposed origins of cephalochordates/chordates via processes that lead to paedomorphosis
  • Know and understand the four major vertebrate characteristics
  • Describe how trends in changes in pharyngeal structures (cilia, muscles, arches) of prevertebrates are associated with needs for obtaining resources and how these changes may have been advantageous regarding fitness.
  • Be able to compare and contrast structural and historical context of Haikouichthyes, Myllokunmingia, conodonts, ostracoderms, hagfish, lamprey, placoderms, and acanthodians.
  • Know serial theory for the evolution of jaws from gill arches
  • Know various types of fish fins and how they control movement in fishes, know the types of movement fish control in water (e.g. yaw)
  • Distinguish between archipterygial and metapterygial fins from pictures and descriptions
  • Provide current theory for the origin of fins and the association of Hox gene changes
  • Know where teeth come from and their general structure in Chondrichthyans
  • Describe variety of mechanisms for controlling buoyancy in fishes
    • Specifically know how physostomes vs. physoclists regulate buoyancy
  • Distinguish between 4 scale forms and how these types are associated with: chondrichthyes, teleosts, placoderms, and palaeoniscoid ray-finned fishes.
  • Distinguish between characteristics of Dipnoimorpha and Actinistia from each other and from ray-finned fishes
  • Be able to draw or describe generalized gill structures
  • Diagram how counter current exchange works in gills and why it is efficient
  • Describe forms of gill ventilation in fishes
  • Know mechanisms for air breathing seen in fishes
  • Be able to diagram and name different mechanisms for homeostasis in hyperosmotic and hyposmotic fishes (to deal with passive flow of water at gill membranes)
  • Describe various types of Euryhaline conditions seen in fishes
  • Distinguish between oviparity, ovoviviparity, and versions of viviparity
  • Distinguish among Osteolepiforms, Elpistostegids, Tiktaalik, Acnathostega, Ichthyostega in terms of: limb structure, pectoral/pelvic girdles, axial skeleton, tail structure.
  • Describe 2 hypotheses regarding the forces that favored selection for increased interaction with shallow near-shoreline environments in early Elpistostegan-like vertebrates
  • How did evolution of land plants and terrestrial invertebrates and terrestrial vertebrates interrelate (e.g. timing, selective factors)?
  • Understand the evolutionary associations of Batracomorphs, Temnospondyls, Urodela, Anura, Lepospondyls, Gymnophonia, Reptilomorphs, Anthracosaurs, Synapsids, and Sauropsids
  • Name three orders of extant amphibians and describe their distinguishing characteristics from each other
  • Identify two key glandular structures and how they are used by extant amphibians
  • What is aposematic coloration and how is it used in frogs and newts? – how might it relate to mimicry
  • What advantage is there to the duel circuit circulatory system of amphibians over the single circuit system of fishes?
  • How does the structure of amphibian hearts play a role in minimizing mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood?
  • Understand the mechanisms used for gas exchange in amphibians.
  • Describe general differences in the development of salamanders vs. anurans (use key development terms)
  • Know the stages of change in metamorphosis and the types of changes that occur
  • What advantages might there be to metamorphosis?
  • Be able to read, understand, and label a phylogeny of the groups we have discussed thus far in the course.
  • Review the content shared by all of our guest speakers
  • Be able to identify specimens highlighted in lab based on their morphological characteristics
  • Understand the Grinnell Method