Vertebrate | |
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Example of vertebrates: Acipenser oxyrinchus (Actinopterygii), an African bush elephant (Tetrapoda), a Tiger shark (Chondrichthyes) and a River lamprey (Agnatha). | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Superphylum: | Deuterostomia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Olfactores |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata J-B. Lamarck, 1801[2] |
Infraphylums | |
Synonyms | |
Ossea Batsch, 1788[2] |
A vertebrate is an animal with a spinal cord surrounded by cartilage or bone. The word comes from vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine. Animals that are not vertebrates are called invertebrates. Vertebrates include birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. The parts of the vertebrate skeleton are:
Examples of vertebrates are mammals, birds, and fish. A few tens of thousands of species have been identified. The term "fish" is used to describe at least four different kinds of vertebrates.