Chapter 1

Zoology 200
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
 Study of structure, function, & range of variation among vertebrates
 Serves background for human anatomy
 Help understand past, present & future architecture of man
 Study of history
SCOPE:
1. DESCRIPTIVE MORHOLOGY ( form)
2. FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY (relationship / function)
3. EVOLUTION
4. PHYLOGENY
- evolutionary history of a taxon which relates taxon to ancestral taxa in a continuous
evolutionary line
- phylogenesis
5. ONTOGENY (development of individual)
6. TAXONOMY
7. ANATOMY
8. PHYSIOLOGY
9. EMRBYOLOGY (specific form and development)

TAXONOMY (SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY)

 The science of naming and grouping organisms into logical categories
 2 important divisions of taxonomy:
1. CLASSIFICATION – hierarchy
- peculiarity and meristic features
ex: Taxonomic key
2. NOMENCLATURE - names
Significance of Taxonomy:
 To separate out significant similarities and differences among animals
 To employ features of animals as framework for classification scheme
 To show important relationships based on phylogeny
a. HOMOLOGY (wing vs. appendages)
(shell (exoskeleton) vs. skin)
b. ANALOGY (lungs (human) vs. skin (amphibian)
2 types of classification
1. CONVENTIONAL CLASSIFICATION
 Based on similarity of structure, geologic record, rationality and intuitions
 phylogenetic and morphogenetic order
2. CLADISTIC CLASSIFICATION
 Based on classifying fossils while disregarding for the most part the genealogy adduced by
paleontologist from fossil record
 Rationale: phylogenetic and morphogenetic features are not sufficient
NATURAL SELECTION
 The non-random differential reproduction of genotype (genetic make up) as a result of interaction
of phenotypes (physical & behavioral characteristics) with selective forces in the environment
SPECIATION
 The formulation of new species (ex: venus fly trap)
 The result of genetic changes in geographically isolated populations of pre-existing species
VON BAER’S LAW
 KARL EARNST VON BAER
 All features common to all members of major taxa develop earlier in ontogeny than do special
features that distinguish subdivisions of the group
 Example:
 The big 4 characteristics of chordates develop first in an embryo
ORGANIC EVOLUTION
 The concept that species have been changing and that existing species are divergent descendants
of earlier ones
 Theory of natural selection (Darwin)
 Theory of acquired characteristics (Lammarck)

PARALLEL EVOLUTION
 two related species arise from a common ancestor.
 The two species then evolve in much the same way over time, probably in response to
similar environmental selection pressures.
Ex: Elephant vs. Mammoth

 both the wooly mammoth, which occupied parts of North America, and the elephant, still
found in Asia and Africa are presumed to have evolved from a common ancestor.
 Their geographical isolation and environmental selection pressures caused further
evolution of the species, but each, in its own location, occupies a similar niche (habitat).
CONVERGENT EVOLUTION
- occurs when two or more groups that are not closely related come to resemble each
other more and more as time passes.
- This is usually the result of occupation of similar habitats and the adoption of similar
environmental roles.
DIVERGENT EVOLUTION
 "One ancestral stock evolves into two species, which continue to evolve and become
less and less alike over time.“
 with the extinction of the dinoasurs, the mammals were able to undergo extensive
adaptive radiation to fill a wide range of ecological niches.

HISTORY OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY

 CHARLES DARWIN
 Theory of Natural Selection
 Boyage of the Beagle (a collection of Scientific observations)
 CAROLUS LINNAEUS
 Swedish Biologist, Father of Taxonomy
 Binomial system –scientific names
 Firmly abided by & promoted the view that species do not change
 LOUIS AGASSIZ
 born in Switzerland, migrated to US at 39
 He studied fishes fossils & was first to recognized evidences of ice ages & episodes of
glaciations in earth’s history
 Founded Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University
 Brilliant in Anatomical Research
 JEAN BAPTISTE DE LAMMARCK
 established the theory of evolutionary descent as a respectable scientific generalization
 3 issues of evolution: fact, course, mechanism
 Characteristics were acquired to meet the new needs & then inherited by future
generations
 ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
- Supported Darwinian Theory/Survival of the fittest
 THOMAS H. HUXLEY
- Cladistic classification
 GEORGE CUVIER
- focused on study of paleontology, geology, morphology
- no evidence of change therefore no evolution
 RICHARD OWEN
- admired for his anatomical research
- he agree with the idea of adaptation
- he introduced the idea of archetypes to explain homologies of structures
 JADD GALEN-Father of Comparative anatomy
 ANDREAS VESALIUS –father of modern anatomy,De Humani Fabrica
BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION
1.)CEPHALIZATION (process of forming the head region of any animal.
2.) APPENDAGES (leg or any projecting part)
A. PAIRED
B. UNPAIRED
3.)SYMMETRY(balance & correct proportion)
A. SPHERICAL(circular organisms) ex: sea urchin
B. RADIAL (body laid out equally from central axis)ex: starfish
C. BILATERAL (body divided into 2 mirror images) ex: human
4.) METAMERISM(condition of repeating segmements)
A. HOMONOMOUS SEGMENTATION (1 phase/ same strand) ex: muscles
B. HETERONOMOUS SEGMENTATION (different phases) Ex: vertebral column

5. SKELETON
A. ENDOSKELETON
B. EXOSKELETON
6. SEX
A. MONOECIOUS (hermaphrodite) ex: worms
B. DIOECIOUS (needs other pair to propagate)
7. REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
A. OVIPAROUS (egg-laying) ex: shark
B. VIVIPAROUS (internal eggs)
C. PAEDOGENESIS (early stage in development w/ fully matured sex cells)
D. NEOTENY (specific part that does not change from early stage to maturity) ex: ancestral
mammals
E. OVIVIVIPAROUS (placental mammals)
8. FERTILIZATION
A. EXTERNAL FERTILIZATION
B. INTERNAL FERTILIZATION
The Langauge of anatomy
Human Anatomical Position
 for descriptive purposes, this provides a standard reference framework for the body.
 Body is erect
 Feet are parallel and flat on the floor
 Eyes directed forward
 Arms are at the sides of the body with palms of the hand turn forward and the fingers pointing
downward
DESCIPTIVE TERMS

BODY PLANES AND SECTIONS

SECTION – a cut
- a one flat surface of a three-dimensional
structure
PLANE - the imaginary flat surfaces that
pass through the body parts

PLANES OF THE BODY

1. MEDIAN PLANE / MIDSAGITTAL PLANE
2. SAGITTAL PLANE
a. Midsagittal – equal right and left halves
b. Parasagittal – unequal division
3. TRANSVERSE PLANE
4. CORONAL PLANE
5. OBLIQUE PLANE

BODY CAVITIES
 DORSAL CAVITY
1. Cranial Cavity
2. Vertebral Cavity
 VENTRAL CAVITY
1.Thoracic Cavity
* pleural,pericardial,mediastinum
2. Abdominopelvic Cavity
* abdominal,pelvic

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHORDATES:

1. NOTOCHORD
• The rod-shaped structure made of cartilage-like material
• It is located at the back of the body for supportive purpose
 • The notochord may be located at the head region, the tail region, or just in early development
stage
• In some animals it would be replaced with the vertebral column. The part of notochord becomes the
centrum of the vertebra.
2. NEURAL TUBE / DORSAL CNS
- The hollow neural tube is different from the solidic neural cord in lower animals.
- Only chordates possess the hollow neural tubes.
- The hollow part becomes the chambers of the brain and the central canal inside the spinal cord.
3. PHARYNGEAL POUCHES / SLITS
- The pharyngeal clefts may exist throughout the whole life, as in fishes, or just in stages of early
development, as in other vertebrates.
- Therefore, the adults of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals do not have the pharyngeal
clefts.