University of Ha’il

Faculty of Science
Biology Department

Vertebrate Zoology (BIO 311)

Lecture 7

Tetrapoda
Class : Amphibia
 Craniata (have cranium)

Agnatha Gnathostomata (Vertebrates)

•No jaws (Jaws + vertebral column)
•No vertebral column

Superclass: Superclass:Tetrapoda
Pisces (bear limbs)
(bear fins)

1- Class: Chondrichthyes 1- Class: Amphibia

2- Class: Osteichthyes
2- Class: Reptilia

Class: 3- Class: Aves

Cyclostomata
4- Class: Mammalia
 Tetra pods
• The word "Tetrapoda" means "four legs" in Greek.

• Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are the major

groups of the Tetrapoda.

• All tetrapods have a basic pentadactyl (five-digit) limb

structure.

• Tetrapods include all land-living vertebrates and also

include a number of animals that live in the water, such as
sea turtles, sea snakes, whales and dolphins.

• Some tetrapods, like whales and snakes, have lost some or

all of the four limbs.
Basic pentadactyl (five-digit) limb structure.
 Class Amphibia
• The word 'amphibian' comes from the word 'amphibios' meaning 'double
life', referring to the metamorphosis of an aquatic larva (live in water)
into a terrestrial adult (live mostly on land)

• Amphibians are the first tetrapods showing many transitional

modifications from aquatic to terrestrial life.

• They are partially terrestrial, as they have to return to water for breeding
and development. Some are exclusively aquatic forms and some others
are terrestrial forms.

• Amphibians are cold-blooded (ectothermic) vertebrates, Mostly

carnivorous animals.

• Possess two pairs of pentadactyl limbs (limbs with 5 digits). Digits

without claws. Limbs are adapted for locomotion on land, some forms
are limbless.
•
Class Amphibia
Body is divisible into head and trunk regions. Neck and tail may be present or
absent.

• Skin is soft and smooth (no scales). It is moist due to the presence of mucous
glands. The skin contains pigment cells. In some, the skin is rough with warts.

• Exoskeleton is absent. In some forms, minute scales are embedded in the skin

• Lungs are the respiratory organs. Skin and buccal cavity have a role in
respiration. The larvae called tadpoles possess external and internal gills for
respiration, at different stages of development. Some larvae and some aquatic
adults possess external gills.

• A pair of mesonephric kidneys are the excretory organs. Urinary ducts open into
cloaca. Ureotelic animals excreting urea and water.

• Sexes are separate. Fertilization mostly external. Females are mostly oviparous.
Eggs with gelatinous covering and are laid in water.
• Development is indirect. Larval stage is aquatic. Larva undergoes
metamorphosis into adult.
 Classification
• Amphibians are classified on the basis of
– the nature of vertebrae
– the presence or absence of certain structures such as the tongue and tail.
• The class Amphibia is divided into two sub-classes:
1- Stegocephalia : includes all the extinct amphibians

2- Lissamphibia : includes the living amphibians and is divided into three

orders

– Order Urodela

includes salamanders and newts, which have tails

– Order Anura

includes frogs and toads, which lack tails

– Order Apoda

includes caecilians, which are legless and resemble worms

 The living amphibians
Order : Urodela or Caudate
Lizard like aquatic amphibians. Body is divisible into head, trunk and
tail. Two pairs of equal pentadactyl limbs , Skin is soft without scales.
Jaws bear teeth, some have external gills, some species have aquatic
forms larvae and adults. Mostly oviparous, some are viviparous.
Order : Anura or Salientia
Body is divisible into head and trunk, the neck and Tail are absent., Skin
is soft with no scales, Skin is rough with warts in some forms, Fore limbs
are short and hind limbs are long, Gills and gill slits are absent in adults.
Lungs are the respiratory organs, Eyelids are present, A middle ear and
inner ear, Fertilization is external., Larva metamorphose and develops
into an adult., The male has a pair of vocal sacs, They serve to produce
the croaking sound

Order : Apoda or Gymnophiona

Body elongated, worm like., Limbs and limb girdles are absent. Minute
dermal scales are embedded in the skin, Tail is much reduced or absent.
Fertilization is internal, Some are ovoviviparous and some viviparous.
 Common African toad (The maculated toad)
Bufo regularis

• Phylum: Chordata
• Subphylum :Vertebrata (Craniata)
• Superclass : Gnathostomata
• Class: Amphibia
• Order: Anura
• Family: Bufonidae
Bufo regularis
 External features
The body is divisible into two regions, the head and the trunk, a neck and tail are
absent.
• The head
– large, wide mouths to consume large animals
– A pair of external nostrils at the tip of the snout
– A pair of large bulged eyes lie on the lateral sides of the head
– An immovable upper eyelid and a movable lower eyelid, The lower eye-lid is
continued into a transparent nictitating membrane
– Behind eyes a membranous tympanum (ear drum) receives sound signals.
• The trunk
– The skin is thin, moist and warty without scales and slimy due to the
presence of mucous glands.
– have poison glands which are grouped forming parotoid glands (behind the
eyes).
– The trunk bears two pairs of pentadactyl limbs.
– The short fore limb with four fingers or digits in each fore limb.
– The long hind limb with five toes or digits. The toes are joined by a web
which serves in swimming.
 The head
External features
 Skin &Exoskeleton
• The skin is thin, moist, smooth without scales and slimy due to the presence of
mucous glands.

• It is made of two layers called epidermis and dermis, the upper and lower layers
respectively.

• The superficial cells of the dermis are pigmented and the deeper cells are glandular
secreting mucous.
 Digestive System
This system consists of the alimentary canal and the digestive glands.
1-The alimentary canal :
– consists of the mouth, buccal cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach,
duodenum, ileum, rectum and cloaca which opens outside by the
cloacal aperture.
– The buccal cavity contains:
• Upper and lower jaws without teeth
• A sticky tongue attached to the front part of the mouth.
• The glottis, a median ventral silte–like opening behind the tongue is
opened for breathing and is closed while the food being swallowed.
• Two internal naris which communicate with the exterior through the
external naris.

2-Digestive glands:
– Bilobed liver secretes bile that is store red in the gall bladder.
– Pancreas, a produces pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes.
Digestive System
 Respiration
• Two different methods of respiration in adults
• In water,
– Skin acts as aquatic respiratory organ (cutaneous respiration).
– Dissolved oxygen in the water is exchanged through the skin by
diffusion.

• On land,
– The buccal cavity, skin and lungs act as the respiratory organs.
– The respiration by lungs is called pulmonary respiration.
– The lungs are a pair of elongated, pink coloured sac-like structures
present in the upper part of the trunk region (thorax).
– Air enters through the nostrils into the buccal cavity and then to lungs.
– During aestivation and hibernation gaseous exchange takes place
through skin.
pulmonary respiration

cutaneous respiration

Respiration
 The Circulatory system
• Heart: has three chambers
– Two atria (the right atrium and the left atrium)
– one ventricle
• It is covered by a membrane called pericardium.
• A triangular structure called sinus venosus joins the right atrium.
• sinus venosus receives blood through the 3 major veins called vena
cava (right and left anterior vena cava and one posterior vena cava ).
• The ventricle opens into a saclike conus arteriosus on the ventral side
of the heart.

• Arteries & Veins:

q The blood from the heart is carried to all parts of the body
by the arteries (arterial system).

Ø Special venous connection between liver and intestine (hepatic

portal system) as well as the kidney and lower parts ( renal portal
system ) of the body are present.

qThe veins collect blood from different parts of body to the

heart and form the venous system.
 The heart

dorsal side ventral side

The Circulatory system
 The nervous system
It Composed of:-
1. The central nervous system: the brain and spinal cord
§ The brain has three major sections

- Forebrain : it contains olfactory lobes & The two

cerebral hemispheres and unpaired diencephalon
- Midbrain : it contains the two optic lobes and the
pineal body
- Hindbrain: It contains cerebellum & medulla
oblongata

2. The peripheral nervous system

§ Ten pairs of cranial nerves.
§ Paired spinal nerves arise from spinal cord and extend to
different parts of the body

3- Sympathetic nervous system

– This system includes sympathetic nerves and sympathetic ganglia.
Forebrain

Midbrain

Hindbrain

The brain
 Sense Organs
There are different types of sense organs
• Touch (sensory papillae)
• Taste (taste buds)
• Smelling (nasal epithelium)
• Vision (eyes)
• Hearing organ consists of inner ears and
middle ears, external ear is absent
– the ear is an organ of hearing as well as
balancing (equilibrium).
– The middle ear has a cavity called the
tympanic cavity which is covered
externally by the tympanic membrane or
ear drum. This cavity contains the
columella auris .

– The middle ear communicate with

pharynx through the Eustachian tube.

Note: lateral line is found in tadpole and disappeared in adult

 The skeletal system
it consists of :
• 1- Axial skeleton
– The skull: is composed of the cranium, sense capsules ,
Upper and lower jaws and a hyoid apparatus.
– The vertebral column: consists of 10 vertebrae. The first,
ninth and tenth vertebrae differ in their structure from the other
vertebrae. The second to eighth vertebrae are typical
vertebrae, as they have a similar structure.
– Sternum is present.

2- Appendicular skeleton
– The two halves of pectoral girdle that attached to the two fore
limbs.
– The two halves of pelvic girdle that attached to the two hind
limbs.
The skeletal system
• The excretory system: consists of a pair of kidneys, wolffian
ducts, and bilobed urinary bladder which open in cloaca.

• The anterior end of each kidney contains many small fingerlike fat bodies
• Each kidney has an elongated narrow, yellowish structure called the
adrenal body.

• The Male genital system : consists of a pair of oval and yellowish

testes are present one on either side, lying ventral to the kidneys.

• They are attached to the kidneys by peritoneal folds called mesorchium.

• Each testis consists of numerous seminiferous tubules. These tubules
unite to form vasa efferentia which are connected with the urinary
tubules of the kidney and open into the urino-genital duct.

• The two urino-genital duct (wolffian duct )open into the cloaca.
Male urinogenital system
• The excretory system consists of a pair of kidneys, wolffian ducts,
and bilobed urinary bladder which open in cloaca.
• The anterior end of each kidney contains many small fingerlike fat bodies
• Each kidney has an elongated narrow, yellowish structure called the adrenal
body
• The female genital system :consists of two ovaries lying ventral to the
kidneys.
• They are attached to the kidneys by peritoneal folds called mesovarium.

• Each ovary is a highly folded sac like structure, containing numerous lobes or
follicles.

• There are two oviducts which are long, coiled tubules, tying towards the outer sides
of the kidneys.

• Anteriorly, each oviduct has an enlarged opening called internal opening of oviduct

• Each oviduct at its posterior end is enlarged to form the ovisac, which opens into the
cloaca on each side.
The female urinogenital system
 Reproduction and development
• Sexes are separate

• The male has a pair of vocal sacs, they serve to

produce the croaking sound

• The size of the male toad is smaller than the female

• Fertilization is external and takes place in water.

• Development involves a larval stage called tadpole.

• Tadpole undergoes metamorphosis to form the adult.