Study Questions Chapter 3 - Amphibian Taxonomy

1. Draw a phylogeny with the major salamander families and include the parsimonious locations in which paedomorphosis has occurred in the lineages.

2. List three families of anura AND three families of urodela along with a representative genus and species of each that is found in California.
3. List 3 features that distinguish Urodela and Anura from other tetrapods (see also Chapter 2 for this part), and two features that distinguish the two groups from each other.
4. Compare and contrast the use of paedomorphosis as a character that is used to construct a phylogeny of urodeles and larval types as a character that is used to construct a phylogeny of anura with regards to the following question. Which character performs better as a shared-derived character or synapomorphy?