Ornithorhynchus Anatinus Chapter 1 Summary

Adaptive radiation of different organisms have occurred throughout geological time through the filling of ecological niches. Organisms different from one another are capable of radiating greatly, as they evolve traits that allow them to thrive better in their environment. The Anolis lizards of the Caribbean islands are a great example of a single genus to have radiated not once, but multiple times through very similar mechanisms. Different populations of the Anolis phenotypically vary in their morphological traits to facilitate adaptation to particular niches. These phenotypic variations have evolved in convergence in more than one occasion, as recently discovered fossil specimens show similar patterns in morphology to modern Anolis.

Lemuroids are prosimians dating back to as early as 65 million years ago (Larsen). They were the primates present during the Paleocene epoch of the Cenozoic era (Larsen). Having many attributes that pertain to the early primates they help give an insight to the evolution of dentition within early primates (Doyle). This helps understand the fore coming other grades of primates dentition; for example, tarsiers, monkeys, apes and hominids.

Reproduction: The reproduction is dioecious, sexual, internal fertilization; viviparous. White eye orcas are polygamous, which means that they can have multiple partners in their lifetime. The maturation time of the males and females is different, for males it is 11 years, and for females it is 14 years. The females do not mate until they obtain the sexual maturity, also both sexes in order to mate, they have to be strong physically to be able to compete with other orcas. White eye orca females are able to mate several times a year, which means that the reproduction cycle is not regular. Similarly to the killer whales, white eye orcas have their own dialect, each pod has its own language, and this fact plays a huge role in the mating process, because most of them do not mate with orcas from other populations. The length of the gestation is about 12 -13 months, orcas give birth to only one offspring every time, calves are being born in the water. White eye orcas are precocial, females are significantly invested in parental duties for about a

Just last year, some researchers stated that the extinct aquatic animal, the ‘Tully Monster’ was a vertebrate, possibly a relative of today’s lampreys. Like a mismatched puzzle, the Tully monster lacks some vertebrate pieces and has others that are the wrong shape, researchers and colleagues report in the March issue of Palaeontology. (Palaeontology includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environment, their paleoecology).

which were mammal like reptiles, spiders, and beetles ( Bagley, 2014). These creature has soon

Throughout decades, sexual selection has been acknowledged in the explanation of evolutionary patterns. With research, we have had the opportunity to study species of animals like the Syngnathidae family. Animals that are included in this category include pipefish, seahorses, and sea dragons. This species is known for their sex role reversal, meaning that the male fertilizes and carries the eggs during incubation after the female has laid them. When we look more specifically at the pipefish, it is found that males are left with most of the parenting and care for the offspring. As the male carries its eggs, it supplies them with nutrients and oxygen through the placenta. During pipefish copulation, the female transfers her eggs through a small

Everything changes over time, due to multiple reasons yet things still change for a reasons. Mammals today aren't exactly the same as the mammals 250 million years ago. Mammals were barely classified their own group once the extinction of dinosaurs but scientist have evidence to believe mammals have been around longer than the extinction of dinosaurs, approximately 150 million years before. In 2001, researchers reported that a fossil was found in China in the year 1985. It was the remains of a tiny, furry animal that was believed to be a relative of the living mammals today. Instead it didn’t live in our time, but lived 195 million years ago in the Early Jurassic period. The small ancient mammal had the name of Hadrocodium wui, and the

This specie, named naledi, has been classified into the genus, Homo, which includes modern humans. However, due to lack of information, this specie is thought to have three possible ages of existence. One, an early divergence of the specie Australopithecus anamensis,

(D) For instance, the two-tonnes weighting Diprotodon happily holds the title of largest marsupial ever. In size and form it looked superficially like a modern rhinoceros, but the Diprotodon seems to have had a social lifestyle more like that of an elephant, another mammal with which it shares anatomical similarities. What the Diprotodon most resembles, however, is exactly what it is: an vast

Long before the first species of human were alive, mammals were the ones occupying the earth. This specific period of geological time, called the Paleogene period, dated back to 66 million years ago and ended 24 million years ago; further dividing the Paleogene period, there is the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs. Each epoch is categorized based on their distinct differences, mainly in geography, climate, plants, and animals. To find out why scientists split the Paleogene into four epochs, we will analyze the differences in ecological conditions in each epoch and find the effect each epoch had on specific types of early primates.

Results extracted from studying whales and ancestors of suspected fossils, it is evident that whales have evolved from four legged animals that are said to physically resemble now day hyenas. The transition from a completely land animal to a completely marine animal involved but are not exclusive to the spine changing, limbs shortening and nostrils have moved from snout to the top of the head.

When defining Synapsid, this term is often misused to only refer to the only extinct non-mammalian forms, when in actuality this group includes all the amniotes that descended from a common ancestor who had a synapsid type of temporal fenestration (Pough, Janis and Heiser, 448). A term when defining the Synapsid lineage is “mammal-like reptile” this term

Through virtual and actual dissection, a lot was learned about amphibian, the frog, and mammalian, the rat. It was noted that the frog and rat had similarities and differences in the external and internal structure. It was then inferred, by the observations made, that the amphibian and mammalian have some similar and different evolutionary descent and habitat. And lastly, through the dissections and research, the organism's population trends and ecological issues was learned. The dissection proved a lot of information about the two types of organisms.

This article discussed the nature of mating choices in between male and ornamented female pipefish. Berglund and colleagues wanted to demonstrate if there was a relationship between ornamented females and fitness. Berguland is involved with the Department of Ecology and Genetics with a focus on Animal Ecology at Uppsala University. Berguland hypothesized that female pipefish with ornamentation would have higher success mating with males. To test his hypothesis, he conducted an experiment that compared separated females with different ornamentation from males and removed barriers placed to observe how competition between the two females impacted results. Although this was a good start to test his hypothesis Berguland realized that he would also need to test behavior that may have included the male's decision such as dancing.

The first mammals to evolve from reptiles were small, carnivorous and were similar to extant monotremes. It is generally accepted that the first marsupials split from these early monotremes