Vertebrate

A Vertebrate is an animal that possesses a vertebral column or backbone and belongs to the subphylum Vertebrata within the phylum Chordata.

• AKA: Vertebrata, Backbone Animal, Spinal Column Animal.
• Context:
  • It can typically possess Distinctive Anatomical Features including a vertebrate notochord, vertebrate nerve cord, vertebrate pharyngeal slits, and vertebrate post-anal tail during embryonic development.
  • It can typically exhibit Skeletal System with a vertebrate vertebral column protecting the vertebrate spinal cord.
  • It can typically demonstrate Cranial Structure containing a vertebrate brain protected by a vertebrate skull.
  • It can typically feature Sensory Systems including vertebrate paired sense organs for vertebrate environmental perception.
  • It can typically develop Muscular System arranged in vertebrate segmented patterns along the vertebrate body axis.
  • It can typically display Circulatory System with a vertebrate chambered heart and vertebrate closed blood vessels.
  • ...
  • It can often show Taxonomic Diversity across major vertebrate groups including vertebrate fishes, vertebrate amphibians, vertebrate reptiles, vertebrate birds, and vertebrate mammals.
  • It can often inhabit Diverse Habitats across vertebrate aquatic environments, vertebrate terrestrial ecosystems, and vertebrate aerial domains.
  • It can often utilize Feeding Strategy specialized for various vertebrate dietary preferences and vertebrate ecological niches.
  • It can often exhibit Reproductive Methods ranging from vertebrate external fertilization to vertebrate live birth mechanisms.
  • It can often show Evolutionary Innovations enabling vertebrate adaptive radiation across numerous vertebrate ecological zones.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Microscopic Vertebrate to being a Massive Vertebrate, depending on its vertebrate body size variation.
  • It can range from being a Simple Vertebrate to being a Complex Vertebrate, depending on its vertebrate physiological sophistication.
  • It can range from being an Aquatic Vertebrate to being a Terrestrial Vertebrate, depending on its vertebrate habitat adaptation.
  • It can range from being an Ectothermic Vertebrate to being an Endothermic Vertebrate, depending on its vertebrate metabolic regulation.
  • ...
  • It can occupy Evolutionary Timeline spanning from the Cambrian Period (approximately 525 million years ago) to the present day.
  • It can participate in Food Web as vertebrate primary consumers, vertebrate secondary consumers, vertebrate tertiary consumers, or vertebrate apex predators.
  • It can demonstrate Evolutionary Relationships through vertebrate common ancestry and vertebrate derived characteristics.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Vertebrate Evolutionary Groups, such as:
    • Agnatha (jawless vertebrates), characterized by vertebrate primitive condition:
      • Cyclostomata (extant jawless vertebrates):
        • Myxini (hagfishes) demonstrating vertebrate slime defense and vertebrate cranium without true vertebrate vertebrae.
        • Petromyzontida (lampreys) featuring vertebrate parasitic lifestyle and vertebrate circular mouth.
    • Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates), characterized by vertebrate jaw development:
      • Placodermi (extinct armored fishes) showing early vertebrate jaw evolution and vertebrate armor plates.
      • Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous vertebrates), such as:
        • Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) utilizing vertebrate cartilaginous skeleton and vertebrate electroreception.
        • Holocephali (chimaeras) featuring vertebrate tooth plates and vertebrate venomous spine.
      • Osteichthyes (bony vertebrates), such as:
        • Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) demonstrating vertebrate fin ray structure and vertebrate swim bladder.
        • Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes) exhibiting vertebrate muscular fin and vertebrate lung development:
          • Actinistia (coelacanths) showing vertebrate living fossil characteristics.
          • Dipnoi (lungfishes) featuring vertebrate air-breathing adaptations.
          • Tetrapoda (four-limbed vertebrates), such as:
            • Amphibia demonstrating vertebrate dual-phase lifecycle.
            • Amniota featuring vertebrate amniotic egg development:
              • Sauropsida (reptiles and birds) showing vertebrate scale development and vertebrate egg-laying behavior.
              • Synapsida (mammals and relatives) exhibiting vertebrate hair growth and vertebrate mammary gland.
  • Vertebrate Size Ranges, such as:
    • Diminutive Vertebrates, such as:
      • Paedophryne amauensis (frog) at 7.7 mm, representing vertebrate size minimum.
      • Schindleria brevipinguis (fish) at 8.4 mm, demonstrating vertebrate miniaturization.
    • Gigantic Vertebrates, such as:
      • Blue Whale reaching 30 meters, exhibiting vertebrate size maximum.
      • African Bush Elephant at 6-7 tons, showing vertebrate terrestrial mass maximum.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Cephalopod, which possesses a complex nervous system but lacks a vertebrate vertebral column and belongs to the invertebrate group.
  • Arthropod, which features an exoskeleton rather than an internal vertebrate skeleton and has a ventral nerve cord instead of a dorsal vertebrate spinal cord.
  • Echinoderm, which demonstrates pentaradial symmetry rather than vertebrate bilateral symmetry despite being a deuterostome like vertebrates.
  • Tunicate, which possesses a notochord only during its larval stage but lacks a vertebrate vertebral column in its adult form.
  • Lancelet, which has a persistent notochord throughout life but lacks a vertebrate vertebral column and vertebrate cranium.
• See: Chordata, Neural Crest, Bilateral Symmetry, Skeletal System, Evolutionary Radiation, Monophyletic, Cambrian Stage 3, Holocene, Acipenser Oxyrinchus, Actinopterygii, African Bush Elephant, Tetrapoda, Tiger Shark, Chondrichthyes, European River Lamprey, Agnatha, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Craniate, Notochord, Pharyngeal Arch.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertebrate Retrieved:2023-5-21.
  • Vertebrates comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 69,963 species described. Vertebrates comprise such groups as the following: * jawless fish, which include hagfish and lampreys * jawed vertebrates, which include: ** cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays, and ratfish) ** bony vertebrates, which include:
    • ray-fins (the majority of living bony fish)
    • lobe-fins, which include:
      • coelacanths and lungfish.
      • tetrapods (limbed vertebrates)
  • Extant vertebrates range in size from the frog species Paedophryne amauensis, at as little as , to the blue whale, at up to . Vertebrates make up less than five percent of all described animal species; the rest are invertebrates, which lack vertebral columns.

    The vertebrates traditionally include the hagfish, which do not have proper vertebrae due to their loss in evolution, though their closest living relatives, the lampreys, do. Hagfish do, however, possess a cranium. For this reason, the vertebrate subphylum is sometimes referred to as “Craniata” when discussing morphology. Molecular analysis since 1992 has suggested that hagfish are most closely related to lampreys, and so also are vertebrates in a monophyletic sense. Others consider them a sister group of vertebrates in the common taxon of craniata.

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