Vertebrate

Vertebrates; Fossil range: mid Early Cambrian to Recent
	Blotched Blue-tongued Lizard, Tiliqua nigrolutea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata
(unranked)	Craniata;
Subphylum:	Vertebrata; Cuvier, 1812
Classes and Clades
	See below

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A vertebrate is an animal with a spinal cord surrounded by cartilage or bone. The word comes from vertebrae, the bones that make up spines. Animal which are not vertebrates are called invertebrate.

Examples of vertebrates are mammals, birds, and fish. Sharks, and related skates and rays, are vertebrates with cartilage instead of bones.

[change] Taxonomy and classification

Subphylum Vertebrata
- Agnatha (jawless vertebrates)
  - Hyperoartia (lampreys)
- †Conodonta
- †Pteraspidomorphi
  - †Thelodonti
  - †Anaspida
  - †Galeaspida
  - †Pituriaspida
  - †Osteostraci
- Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates)
  - †Placodermi (Paleozoic armoured forms)
  - Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)
  - †Acanthodii (Paleozoic "spiny sharks")
  - Osteichthyes (bony fish)
    - Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
    - Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish)
    - Coelacanthimorpha (coelacanths)
    - Dipnoi (lungfish)
- Tetrapoda (four-limbed vertebrates)
  - Amphibia (amphibians)
  - Amniota (amniotic eggs)
  - Sauropsida (reptiles and birds)
    - Aves (birds)
  - Synapsida (mammal-like reptiles)
    - Mammalia (mammals)

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