Vertebrates

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Slide 69

160,000-year-old fossil of Homo sapiens

Slide 70

Rapid expansion of our species may have been preceded by changes to the brain that made cognitive innovations possible.

For example, the FOXP2 gene is essential for human language, and underwent intense natural selection during the last 200,000 years.

Homo sapiens were the first group to show evidence of symbolic and sophisticated thought.

Slide 71

You should now be able to:

List the derived traits for: chordates, craniates, vertebrates, gnathostomes, tetrapods, amniotes, birds, mammals, primates, humans.

Describe the trends in mineralized structures in early vertebrates.

Describe and distinguish between Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes.

Describe an amniotic egg and explain its significance in the evolution of reptiles and mammals.

Explain why the reptile clade includes birds.

Slide 72

6. Distinguish among monotreme, marsupial, and eutherian mammals.

7. Define the term hominin.

8. Describe the evolution of Homo sapiens from australopith ancestors, and clarify the order in which distinctive human traits arose.

9. Explain the significance of the FOXP2 gene.