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This indicates that incipient air breathing was developed, as well as modification of the hyoid arch towards stapes development. [5] These characteristics account for why osteichthyans are accepted as the sister group of tetrapods. [2] The elpistostegalid fish are considered the most apomorphic of fish in comparison to tetrapods. [2]
Secondarily aquatic tetrapods. Several groups of tetrapods have undergone secondary aquatic adaptation, an evolutionary transition from being purely terrestrial to living at least part of the time in water. These animals are called "secondarily aquatic" because although their ancestors lived on land for hundreds of millions of years, they all ...
An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem found in and around a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms — aquatic life —that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems. [1]
Imagine an environment in which having a small body suddenly conferred benefit on an organism when previously body size had had no effect on survival. [3] A small body's function in the environment would then be adaptive, but it would not become an adaptation until enough generations had passed in which small bodies were advantageous to ...
Fish vision shows adaptation to their visual environment, for example deep sea fishes have eyes suited to the dark environment. Fish and other aquatic animals live in a different light environment than terrestrial species. Water absorbs light so that with increasing depth the amount of light available decreases quickly.
Adaptive behavior (ecology) In behavioral ecology, adaptive behavior is any behavior that contributes directly or indirectly to an individual's reproductive success, and is thus subject to the forces of natural selection. [1] Examples include favoring kin in altruistic behaviors, sexual selection of the most fit mate, and defending a territory ...
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when studying animal behaviors: What are the proximate causes, ontogeny, survival value, and phylogeny of a behavior?
Marine larval ecology is the study of the factors influencing dispersing larvae, which many marine invertebrates and fishes have. Marine animals with a larva typically release many larvae into the water column, where the larvae develop before metamorphosing into adults. Marine larvae can disperse over long distances, although determining the ...