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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 vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebrata with some 65,000 species, by far the largest ...
Each vertebra (pl.: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal segment and the particular species.
The earliest recorded acanthodian, Fanjingshania renovata, [19] comes from the lower Silurian of China and it is also the oldest jawed vertebrate with known anatomical features. [19] Coeval to Fanjingshania is the tooth-based acanthodian species Qianodus duplicis [20] that represents the oldest unequivocal toothed vertebrate. Osteichthyes
In his 1817 Le Règne Animal, Georges Cuvier used comparative anatomy to group the animals into four embranchements ('branches' with different body plans, roughly corresponding to phyla), namely vertebrates, molluscs, articulated animals (arthropods and annelids), and zoophytes (radiata) (echinoderms, cnidaria and other forms). [168]
A mammal (from Latin mamma 'breast') [1] is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (/ m ə ˈ m eɪ l i. ə /).Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones.
It is the largest class of vertebrates in existence today, encompassing most aquatic vertebrates, as well as all semi-aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates. The group is divided into two main clades , the ray-finned fish ( Actinopterygii , which makes up the vast majority of extant fish) and the lobe-finned fish ( Sarcopterygii , which gave rise ...
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.
Euteleostomi (Eu-teleostomi [a], where Eu-comes from Greek εὖ 'well, good' [b] or Euteleostomes, also known as "bony vertebrates" [c]) is a successful clade that includes more than 90% of the living species of vertebrates.