Vertebrate

Vertebrates comprise all species of animals within the subphylum Vertebrata. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 69,276 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes and jawed vertebrates, which include the cartilaginous fishes and the bony fishes. The bony fishes in turn, cladistically speaking, also include the tetrapods, which include amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.