Jawed vertebrates facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gnathostomata Temporal range: Ordovician - Recent
Megalodon jaws
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Infraphylum:	Gnathostomata

Gnathostomata is the group of vertebrates with jaws.

The group was meant to include all jawed fish, but in modern fashion it also includes all the tetrapods as well, since they evolved from jawed fish. It is the sister group of the Agnatha, the jawless vertebrates.

The Gnathostomata first appeared in the Ordovician period and became diverse in the Devonian period, the 'Age of Fishes'. Land vertebrates appeared in the Carboniferous period.

Classification

The group is traditionally a superclass, broken into three top-level groupings: Chondrichthyes, or the cartilaginous fish; Placodermi, an extinct clade of armored fish; and Teleostomi, which includes the familiar classes of bony fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Some classification systems have used the term Amphirhina. It is a sister group of the jawless craniates Agnatha.

Subgroups

• Chondrichthyes cartilaginous fish
• Acanthodii† 'spiny sharks'
• Placoderms† armoured fish
• Osteichthyes bony fish
  • Actinopterygii ray-finned fish
    • Neopterygii (includes teleosts)
• Sarcopterygii lobe-finned fish
• Tetrapods land vertebrates

See also

In Spanish: Gnathostomata para niños