The origin of tetrapods The word "tetrapod" means "four feet" and includes all species alive today that have four feet — but this group also includes many animals that don't have four feet.That's because the group includes all the organisms (living and extinct) that descended from the last common ancestor of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. 397 million years ago - MYA), and their earliest bony remains from the Upper Devonian (Frasnian at 375–385 MYA). The earliest amphibians evolved in the Devonian period from sarcopterygian fish with lungs and bony-limbed fins, features that were helpful in adapting to dry land. The first tetrapods were amphibians that evolved from the Devonian crossopterygian fishes which lived in shallow marshy locations and already possessed lungs for respiration and lobed fins to support their bodies on muddy banks Specific examples of class-level transitions are: tetrapods and fish, birds and dinosaurs, and mammals and "mammal-like reptiles".

Interestingly, novel limb morphologies among tetrapods appear to be associated with unique patterns of expression of Hox genes. The remarkable proliferation of primitive fishes, which has given the period the name the “Age of Fishes,” occurred in both fresh and marine waters. Tetrapods (under the apomorphy -based definition used on this page) are categorized as animals in the biological superclass Tetrapoda , which includes all living and extinct amphibians , reptiles , birds , and … Tetrapods are thought to have first evolved during the Devonian period, “the age of fishes,” 360 million years ago and previous fossil evidence has led researchers to believe they evolved and existed primarily in tropical regions. So is the snake, even though it has no limbs. The evolution of tetrapods began about 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period with the earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes. Origin of Tetrapods PPT - Biological Sciences 5570 with Savitzky at Utah State University - StudyBlue Flashcards
The Devonian was a relatively warm period, and probably lacked any glaciers.

This lasted until the end of the Devonian, Climate. And birds and humans are tetrapods even though they only walk on two legs. Lecture 8: 9/22/16 Chapter 7, 8 & 9 in the textbook.

Early Tetrapods and "Fishapods" Scientists once agreed that the earliest true tetrapods dated from about 385 to 380 million years ago. The first tetrapods appeared in the fossil record in the ensuing Famennian subdivision, the beginning and end of which are marked with extinction events. Tetrapods evolved from a group of animals known as the Tetrapodomorpha which, in turn, evolved from ancient Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes) around 390 million years ago in the middle Devonian period; their forms were transitional between lobe-finned fishes and the four-limbed tetrapods. By the Late Devonian, a variety of new and promising aquatic habitats had developed. That has all changed with the recent discovery of tetrapod track marks in Poland that date to 397 million years ago, which would effectively dial back the evolutionary calendar by 12 million years. Researchers have long believed that all four-limbed animals or tetrapods, a group that includes amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, evolved from an ancient group of fish known as Elpistostege … All these animals are tetrapods because they descend from the tetrapod ancestor described above, even if they have secondarily lost their “four feet.” Tetrapods evolved from a finned organism that lived in the water. Romer’s Gap describes the period with few known fossils when early tetrapods were becoming increasingly terrestrial. All tetrapods are believed to have evolved from crocodile-like Elpistostege watsoni fish that inhabited Earth during the Devonian period (Credit: Katrina Kenny/CC-BY-SA 2.0/The Conversation)

The arms and legs of man are evolutionarily derived from the paired fins of primitive jawed fish. Devonian Period - Devonian Period - Devonian life: A highly varied invertebrate fauna that originated in the preceding Silurian Period continued in the Devonian, and most ecological niches of shallow and deep marine water were exploited.

Tetrapods Answer Ecological Setting. Extensive terrestrial vegetation and accelerated soil formation moderated flow regimes and stabilized banks and bottom sediments. Tetrapods are a type of structure in coastal engineering used to prevent erosion caused by weather and longshore drift, primarily to enforce coastal structures such as seawalls and breakwaters.Tetrapods are made of concrete, and use a tetrahedral shape to dissipate the force of incoming waves by allowing water to flow … Tetrapod fossil tracks are known from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian at ca. Study 23 Origin of Tetrapods PPT flashcards from Lindsay S. on StudyBlue. All tetrapods are believed to have evolved from crocodile-like Elpistostege watsoni fish that inhabited Earth during the Devonian period (Credit: Katrina Kenny/CC-BY-SA 2.0/The Conversation). However, a remarkable new finding shows that tetrapods were widespread, and even inhabited the Antarctic Circle.

- rival of tetrapods - move to come out on land & help to invade rest of world - bryophtyes, big trees/ferns - heavily humid, not a lot Tetrapods are now generally considered to have colonized land during the Carboniferous (i.e., after 359 MYA), which is considered to be one of the major events in the history of life.