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Modern human hip joints are larger than in quadrupedal ancestral species to better support the greater amount of body weight passing through them. [7] They also have a shorter, broader shape. This alteration in shape brought the vertebral column closer to the hip joint, providing a stable base for support of the trunk while walking upright. [15]
In many cases, spines are a defense mechanism that help protect the animal against potential predators. Because spines are sharp, they can puncture skin and inflict pain and damage which may cause the predator to avoid that species from that point on. The spine of some animals are capable of injecting venom. In the case of some large species of ...
Feeding on land is a completely different task than feeding in water. Water is much more dense and viscous compared to air, causing hunting techniques adapted in water to be less successful when applied on land. [11] The main technique used in water is suction feeding and is used by most aquatic vertebrates.
There are around 50,000 species of animals that have a vertebral column. [2] The human spine is one of the most-studied examples, as the general structure of human vertebrae is fairly typical of that found in other mammals, reptiles, and birds. The shape of the vertebral body does, however, vary somewhat between different groups of living species.
Vertebrates (/ ˈ v ɜːr t ə b r ɪ t s,-ˌ b r eɪ t s /) [3] are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebrata with some 65,000 species, by far the largest ...
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny [ 1 ] (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era , continuing in the early modern period with work by Pierre Belon who noted the similarities of the skeletons ...
Hagfish form a class of about 20 species of eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish. They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column. Lampreys form a superclass containing 38 known extant species of jawless fish. [3] The adult lamprey is characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth.
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped / ˈ b aɪ p ɛ d / , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin bis 'double' and pes 'foot').