Vertebrate
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Iridescent
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/68.231.85.216|68.231.85.216]] to last version by Useight (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
{{Taxobox
| name = Vertebrates
| fossil_range = [[Early Cambrian]] - Recent
| image = Blue-toungued skink444.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = [[Blotched Blue-tongued Lizard]], ''Tiliqua nigrolutea''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
{{Taxobox norank entry | taxon = [[Craniata]]}}
| subphylum = '''Vertebrata'''
| subphylum_authority = [[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1812
| subdivision_ranks = Classes and Clades
| subdivision =
See below
}}
'''Vertebrates''' are members of the [[subphylum]] '''Vertebrata''', [[chordates]] with [[Vertebra|backbone]]s or [[Vertebral column|spinal column]]s. The grouping sometimes includes the [[hagfish]], which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to [[lamprey]]s, which do have vertebrae.<ref name=hagfish/> For this reason, the sub-phylum is sometimes referred to as "Craniata", as all members do possess a [[cranium]]. About 58,000 [[species]] of vertebrates have been described.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/bookstore/HTML-books/Red%20List%202004/completed/table2.1.html | title=A Global Species Assessment | publisher=World Conservation Union |author=Jonathan E.M. Baillie, et al. |year=2004}}</ref> Vertebrata is the largest subphylum of chordates, and contains many familiar groups of large land animals. Vertebrates comprise [[cyclostome]]s, [[bony fish]], [[sharks]] and [[rays]], [[amphibian]]s, [[reptiles]], [[mammals]], and [[birds]]. Extant vertebrates range in size from the [[carp]] species ''[[Paedocypris]]'', at as little as 7.9 mm (0.3 inch), to the [[Blue Whale]], at up to 33 m (110 ft).
==Anatomy and morphology==
One characteristic of the subphylum are that all members have muscular systems that mostly consist 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 [[chordate]]s. Rather, ''all'' vertebrates are most easily distinguished from ''all'' other chordates by having a clearly identifiable head, that is, [[sensory organs]] - especially [[eye]]s are concentrated at the fore end of the body and there is pronounced [[cephalization]]. Compare the [[lancelet]]s which have a mouth but not a well-developed head, and have light-sensitive areas along their entire back.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://webs.lander.edu/rsfox/invertebrates/branchiostoma.html |title=Branchiostoma |author=Richard Fox | year=2004}}</ref>
==Evolutionary history==
Vertebrates originated about 500 million years ago during the [[Cambrian explosion]], which is part of the [[Cambrian]] period. The earliest known vertebrate is [[Myllokunmingia]].<ref> {{cite journal|title=Lower Cambrian vertebrates from south China | author=Shu et al. |date=[[November 4]] [[1999]]|journal=Nature| volume=402|pages=42–46|doi= 10.1038/46965}}</ref> According to recent molecular analysis [[Hagfish|Myxini]] (hagfish) also belong to Vertebrates. Others consider them a sister group of Vertebrates in the common taxon of [[Craniata]].<ref name=hagfish>{{cite journal|title=Monophyly of Lampreys and Hagfishes Supported by Nuclear DNA–Coded Genes | author=Kuraku et al. |date=December 1445 B.C.|journal=Journal of Molecular Evolution {{doi|10.1007/PL00006595}} | volume = 49 | pages = 729|doi=10.1007/PL00006595}} | volume = 49 | pages = 729}}</ref>
==Fossil record==
The earliest known fossil records of vertebrates are ''[[Myllokunmingia fengjiaoa]]'' and ''[[Haikouichthys ercaicunensis]]'', dating somewhere between 513-542 [[mya (unit)|mya]] during the [[Early Cambrian]]. The fossils were discovered in [[Yunnan]], [[People's Republic of China|China]][http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl].
== Taxonomy and classification==
Classification after Janvier (1981, 1997), Shu ''et al''. (2003), and Benton (2004).<ref name="Benton2004">{{cite book | last =Benton | first =Michael J. | authorlink =Michael Benton | title =Vertebrate Palaeontology | publisher =[[Blackwell Publishing]] | date= 2004-11-01 |edition=Third Edition | location = | pages =455 pp. | url =http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/benton/vertclass.html | doi = | id = | isbn =0632056371/978-0632056378}}</ref>
* '''Subphylum Vertebrata'''
** (Unranked group) [[Hyperoartia]] ([[lamprey]]s)
** 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]] ([[coelacanth]]s)
::::* Subclass [[Dipnoi]] (lungfish)
::::* Subclass [[Tetrapodomorpha]] (ancestral to tetrapods)
::* Superclass [[Tetrapod]]a (four-limbed vertebrates)
::::* Class [[amphibian|Amphibia]] (amphibians)
:::* Series [[Amniota]] (amniotic embryo)
::::* Class [[Sauropsida]] (reptiles and birds)
:::::* Class [[bird|Aves]] (birds)
::::* Class [[Synapsida]] (mammal-like reptiles)
:::::* Class [[Mammal]]ia (mammals)
==Etymology==
The word ''vertebrate'' derives from Latin ''vertebrātus'' ([[Pliny]]), meaning ''having joints''. It is closely related to the word ''[[vertebra]]'', which refers to any of the bones or segments of the spinal column.<ref>{{cite web | title=vertebra |publisher=Dictionary.com. |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |author=Douglas Harper, Historian |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vertebra}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
<div class="references-small">
* {{cite book | last =Kardong | first =Kenneth V. | authorlink =Kenneth Kardong | title =Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution | edition = second edition | publisher =[[McGraw-Hill]] | date= 1998 | location =USA | pages =747 pp. | url =http://www.amazon.com/Vertebrates-Comparative-Anatomy-Function-Evolution/dp/0072909560 | doi = | id =
| isbn =0-07-115356-X/0-697-28654-1 }}
* {{ITIS | ID = 331030| taxon = Vertebrata | year = 2007 | date= 6 August}}
</div>
== See also ==
* [[Invertebrate]]
* [[Marine vertebrates]]
== External links ==
{{Wikispecies|Vertebrata}}
* [http://tolweb.org/Vertebrata/14829 Tree of Life]
* [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v439/n7079/abs/nature04336.html Tunicates and not cephalochordates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates]
{{Chordata}}
[[Category:Vertebrates| ]]
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