Vertebrates

Information about Vertebrates

Vertebrates
Fossil range: mid Early Cambrian to Recent

Northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
(unranked)	Craniata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata Cuvier, 1812

Classes and Clades

See below

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata (within the phylum Chordata), specifically, those chordates with backbones or spinal columns. About 57,739 species of vertebrates have been described. Vertebrata is the largest subphylum of chordates, and contains many familiar groups of large land animals. Fish (including lampreys, but traditionally not hagfish, though this is now disputed), amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals (including humans) are vertebrates.

Anatomy and morphology

Characteristics of the subphylum are a muscular system that mostly consists of paired masses, as well as a central nervous system which is partly located inside the backbone (if one is present). The defining characteristic of a vertebrate is considered the backbone or spinal cord, a brain case, and an internal skeleton, but the latter do not hold true for lampreys, and the former is arguably present in some other chordates. Rather, all vertebrates are most easily distinguished from all other chordates by having an unequivocal head, that is, sensory organs - especially eyes are concentrated at the fore end of the body and there is pronounced cephalization. Compare the lancelets which have a mouth but no true head, and "see" with their entire back.

Physiology

Ecology and life history

Evolutionary history

Vertebrates started to evolve about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion, which is part of the Cambrian period (first known vertebrate is Myllokunmingia). According to recent molecular analysis Myxini (hagfish) also belong to Vertebrates. Others consider them a sister group of Vertebrates in the common taxon of Craniata.

Taxonomy and classification

Classification after Janvier (1981, 1997), Shu et al. (2003), and Benton (2004).^[1]

Subphylum Vertebrata
(Unranked group) Hyperoartia (lampreys)
Class †Conodonta
Subclass †Pteraspidomorphi
Class †Thelodonti
Class †Anaspida
Class †Galeaspida
Class †Pituriaspida
Class †Osteostraci
Infraphylum Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates)

::* Class †Placodermi (Paleozoic armoured forms)

::* Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)

::* Class †Acanthodii (Paleozoic "spiny sharks")

:* Superclass Osteichthyes (bony fish)

::* Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)

::* Class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish)

:::* Subclass Coelacanthimorpha (coelacanths)

:::* Subclass Dipnoi (lungfish)

:::* Subclass Tetrapodomorpha (ancestral to tetrapods)

:* Superclass Tetrapoda (four-limbed vertebrates)

:::* Class Amphibia (amphibians)

::* Series Amniota (amniotic embryo)

:::* Class Sauropsida (reptiles and birds)

::::* Class Aves (birds)

:::* Class Synapsida (mammal-like reptiles)

::::* Class Mammalia (mammals)

Etymology

Their name derives from the bones of the spinal column (or vertebral column), the vertebrae.

References

1. ^ Benton, Michael J. (2004-11-01). Vertebrate Palaeontology, Third Edition, Blackwell Publishing, 455 pp.. ISBN 0632056371/978-0632056378.

Bibliography

Kardong, Kenneth V. (1998). Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution, second edition, USA: McGraw-Hill, 747 pp.. ISBN 0-07-115356-X/0-697-28654-1.McGraw-Hill&rft.place=USA&rft.pages=747%20pp.&rft.isbn=0-07-115356-X/0-697-28654-1&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FVertebrates-Comparative-Anatomy-Function-Evolution%2Fdp%2F0072909560">
Vertebrata (TSN 331030). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 06 August 2007.

External links

The subject of this article has been identified by the Missing Encyclopedic Articles project as being a high priority for [ expansion].

The Cambrian is a major division of the geologic timescale that begins about 542 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago) at the end of the Proterozoic eon and ended about 488.3 ± 1.7 Ma with the beginning of the Ordovician period (ICS, 2004).
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T. thynnus

Binomial name
Thunnus thynnus
Linnaeus, 1758

The northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Craniata
Janvier 1981

Subphyla

Cephalaspidomorphi (disputed)
Myxini
Vertebrata

Craniata (sometimes Craniota) is a proposed clade of chordate animals that contains the vertebrates (subphylum Vertebrata) and Myxini (hagfish) as living
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Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (August 23 1769–May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist and zoologist. He was the elder brother of Frédéric Cuvier (1773–1838), also a naturalist.
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In life, a subphylum is a taxonomic rank intermediate between phylum and superclass. The rank of subdivision in plants and fungi is equivalent to subphylum.

Not all phyla are divided into subphyla.
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The Vertebral Column (singular: vertebra) are the individual irregular bones that make up the spinal column (aka ischis) — a flexuous and flexible column.
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vertebral column (backbone or spine) is a column of 34 vertebrae, the sacrum, intervertebral discs, and the coccyx situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by spinal discs. It houses the spinal cord in its spinal canal.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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Petromyzontiformes

Family: Petromyzontidae

Subfamilies

Geotriinae
Mordaciinae
Petromyzontinae

A lamprey (sometimes also called lamprey eel
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Myxini

Order: Myxiniformes

Family: Myxinidae

Genera

Eptatretus
Myxine
Nemamyxine
Neomyxine
Notomyxine

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Amphibia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses and Orders

   Order Temnospondyli - extinct
Subclass Lepospondyli - extinct
Subclass Lissamphibia
   Order Anura
   Order Caudata
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Sauropsida*
Goodrich, 1916

Subclasses

Anapsida
Diapsida

Synonyms

Reptilia Laurenti, 1768

Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses

Subclass †Allotheria*
Subclass Prototheria
Subclass Theria

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The muscular system is the biological system of an organism that allows it to move. The muscular system in vertebrates is controlled through the nervous system, although some muscles (such as the cardiac muscle) can be completely autonomous.
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The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in the control of behavior.
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Backbone may mean:

Vertebral column, of a vertebrate organism
Backbone chain, in polymer chemistry, the framework of the molecule
Backbone Entertainment, a video game development company
Backbone network, the top level of a hierarchical network

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spinal chord is a thin, tubular bundle of nerves that is an extension of the central nervous system from the brain and is enclosed in and protected by the bony vertebral column.
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Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception.
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Eyes are organs of vision that detect light. Different kinds of light-sensitive organs are found in a variety of organisms. The simplest eyes do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, while more complex eyes can distinguish shapes and colors.
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Cephalization is an evolutionary trend, whereby nervous tissue, over many generations, becomes concentrated toward one end of an organism. This process eventually produces a head region with sensory organs.

Cephalization is intrinsically connected with a change in symmetry.
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Cephalochordata
Owen, 1846

Class: Leptocardii

Families

Asymmetronidae
Branchiostomidae

The lancelets (subphylum Cephalochordata, traditionally known as amphioxus
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