vertebrate

[vur-tuh-brit, -breyt]

adjective

1. having vertebrae; having a backbone or spinal column.

2. belonging or pertaining to the Vertebrata (or Craniata), a subphylum of chordate animals, comprising those having a brain enclosed in a skull or cranium and a segmented spinal column; a major taxonomic group that includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.

noun

1. a vertebrate animal.

vertebrate

/ ˈvɜːtɪˌbreɪt, -brɪt /

noun

1. any chordate animal of the subphylum Vertebrata, characterized by a bony or cartilaginous skeleton and a well-developed brain: the group contains fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the subphylum Vertebrata

vertebrate

1. Any of a large group of chordates of the subphylum Vertebrata (or Craniata), characterized by having a backbone. Vertebrates are bilaterally symmetrical and have an internal skeleton of bone or cartilage, a nervous system divided into brain and spinal cord, and not more than two pairs of limbs. Vertebrates have a well-developed body cavity (called a coelom) containing a chambered heart, large digestive organs, liver, pancreas, and paired kidneys, and their blood contains both red and white corpuscles. Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Other Word Forms

• nonvertebrate adjective
• subvertebrate noun
• unvertebrate adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertebrate¹

First recorded in 1820–30, vertebrate is from the Latin word vertebrātus jointed. See vertebra, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

In most vertebrates, this crossing transfers information from the right eye to the left side of the brain and vice versa.

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Until now, only humans and a few other vertebrates, including pigeons and macaques, were known to distinguish between these two durations.

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Researchers found that this ancient system, shared across all vertebrates, can independently produce center-surround interactions -- a core visual process that helps detect edges, contrast, and attention-grabbing details in the environment.

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"The marine environment is the cradle of a lot of vertebrates," said Liu, an assistant adjunct professor of integrative biology and an assistant curator in the UC Museum of Paleontology.

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"For Nanotyrannus to be a juvenile T. rex, it would need to defy everything we know about vertebrate growth," explains James Napoli, an anatomist at Stony Brook University and co-author of the research.

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Related Words

• beast 
• creature 
• pet