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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 vertebral column, also known as the spinal column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrate animals.The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate endoskeleton, where the notochord (an elastic collagen-wrapped glycoprotein rod) found in all chordates has been replaced by a segmented series of mineralized irregular bones ...
An ancient synapsid, Dimetrodon, had extremely long spines on its backbone that were joined together with a web of skin that formed a sail-like structure. Many mammalian species, like cats and fossas, [1] [2] also have penile spines. The Mesozoic eutriconodont mammal Spinolestes already displayed spines similar to those of modern spiny mice. [3]
[28] [29] All mammals except manatees and sloths have seven cervical vertebrae, whatever the length of the neck. [30] This includes seemingly unlikely animals such as the giraffe, the camel, and the blue whale, for example. Birds usually have more cervical vertebrae with most having a highly flexible neck consisting of 13–25 vertebrae.
Marine vertebrates also have a far more centralized nervous system than marine invertebrates, with most of the higher functions cephalized and monopolized by the brain; and most of them have evolved myelinated central and peripheral nerve system, which increases conduction speeds significantly.
“These animals are distinct individuals, and they’ll do surprising things,” said study coauthor Ted Cheeseman, a marine biologist at Southern Cross University in Australia.
Vertebrate zoology is the biological discipline that consists of the study of Vertebrate animals, i.e., animals with a backbone, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Many natural history museums have departments named Vertebrate Zoology .
A craniate is a member of the Craniata (sometimes called the Craniota), a proposed clade of chordate animals with a skull of hard bone or cartilage.Living representatives are the Myxini (hagfishes), Hyperoartia (including lampreys), and the much more numerous Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates).