- plural of vertebrate.
vertebrates
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Human beings are vertebrates.
The five traditional class es of vertebrates are amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles. (Compare invertebrates.)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Greenland sharks are the longest-living vertebrates known to science, with some individuals surviving for as long as 400 years.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
It also reinforces the importance of South America for the study of the origin and diversification of major groups of terrestrial vertebrates.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Fossil sites containing dinosaurs also frequently preserve animals that were much smaller, including mammals, lizards, amphibians, and other vertebrates.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
In particular, competition with early small mammals could have prevented dinosaurs from moving into the mouse-sized and sparrow-sized niches that are filled by many vertebrates today.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
There are vertebrates, to be sure, but not many.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
