1. Marine Vertebrate Zoology
Vertebrate Ancestry
How did it all begin?

2. Invertebrate Origin
A great division in the invertebrate world occurred creating two distinct evolutionary lines
First Branch
Segmented worms, annelids, molluscs, and arthropods
Second Branch
Bryozoans, brachiopods, echinoderms, and chordates
Vertebrate Ancestry

3. Chordates Characteristics of all chordates Notochord Hollow nerve cord
Pharyngeal gill slits
Post anal tail
Vertebrate Ancestry

4. Phylum Chordata Subphylum Hemichordata Subphylum Urochordata
Acorn worms
Subphylum Urochordata
Tunicates
Subphylum Cephalochordata
Amphioxus (Lancelets)
Subphylum Vertebrata
Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
Vertebrate Ancestry

5. Geological Record Paleozoic 600 - 280 million years
Our understanding of taxonomy and systematics and the appearance of life on earth is based upon fossil remains.
To grasp the magnitude of the geological record it is divided into Eras, which are divided into periods, and divided further into epochs
Paleozoic million years
Mesozoic million years
Cenozoic million years - to the present
Vertebrate Ancestry

6. Vertebrate Family Tree

7. Amphibians

8. Reptiles & Birds

9. Mammals