BIOLOGY 306 COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE ANATOMY

LAB # 5

Skeletal Systems: Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds

Quiz: bird skeleton (handout); turtle skeleton (handout)

I. SKELETAL SYSTEM: Class Amphibia (cont.)

B. Order Urodela

1. Necturus (Mudpuppy): Skull and postcranial skeleton. Exercise 2. p. 107-112 of the lab text. For the skull, use only the diagrams of the adult, Figures 2-2, 2-3, 2-4 and 2-5. Learn the structures as outlined in lab.

NOTE: Correct the following errors in Wischnitzer:

Splanchnocranium; Fig. 2-4, p.109. The labeling of the Angular bone and Meckel's cartilage is reversed.

Postcranial skeleton – learn structures as indicated in lab

II. SKELETAL SYSTEM: Class Reptilia

A. Subclass Anapsida, Order Testudines - Use handouts.

1. Turtle

Whole skeleton: names for #29 and #30 are reversed. Identify all bones.

Skull: learn all elements on handout.

B. Subclass Diapsida, Superorder Archosauria, Order Crocodilia - Use handout.

1. Alligator (Alligator): Skull and jaw

Two specimens of the alligator skull and lower jaw will are available for your examination. You are responsible for all of the bones on the appropriate diagrams.

III. SKELETAL SYSTEM: Class Aves

A. Bird: Skull and postcranial skeleton - Use handouts.

Examine the skulls and skeletons and identify the bones labeled in the appropriate diagrams.

NOTE: In birds, the left and right clavicle are fused to the interclavicle to form a single skeletal element called the furcula.