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vertebrate
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major vertebrate groups lamprey
Observe the hagfish's horny teeth and scaleless exterior covering a cartilaginous skeleton
southern stingray (Dasyatis americana or Hypanus americanus) bull shark American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) mola pond turtle sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis)
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vertebrate summary
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Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
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major vertebrate groups
major vertebrate groups The major groups of vertebrates include fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

vertebrate

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Also known as: Craniata, Vertebrata
Written by
Malcolm T. Jollie
Professor of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, 1965–88. Author of Chordate Morphology.
Malcolm T. Jollie
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Also called:
Craniata

vertebrate, any animal of the subphylum Vertebrata, the predominant subphylum of the phylum Chordata. They have backbones, from which they derive their name. The vertebrates are also characterized by a muscular system consisting primarily of bilaterally paired masses and a central nervous system partly enclosed within the backbone. The subphylum is one of the best known of all groups of animals. Its members include the classes Agnatha, Chondrichthyes, and Osteichthyes (all fishes); Amphibia (amphibians); Reptilia (reptiles); Aves (birds); and Mammalia (mammals). Although the vertebral column is perhaps the most obvious vertebrate feature, it was not present in the first vertebrates, ...(100 of 4116 words)

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