gnathostome

/ ˈneɪθəʊˌstəʊm /

noun

1. any vertebrate of the superclass Gnathostomata , having a mouth with jaws, including all vertebrates except the agnathans

Other Word Forms

• gnathostomatous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gnathostome¹

from New Latin Gnathostomata , from Greek gnathos jaw + stoma mouth

Example Sentences

But until recently, the number of useful Silurian gnathostome fossils could be counted on one hand.

From New York Times

Overall, the genome is the least derived among known vertebrates and is therefore a good model for inferring the state of the ancestral chondrichthyan and gnathostome genomes.

From Nature