Craniata

Craniata (sometimes Craniota) is a proposed clade of chordate animals that contains the vertebrates (subphylum Vertebrata) and Myxini (hagfish) as living representatives. Craniata includes all animals with a skull, or cranium, as the name suggests.

Craniata Temporal range: Early Cambrian - Recent
Pacific hagfish resting on bottom down off Oregon coast.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
(unranked):	Craniata Janvier 1981
Subphyla
Cephalaspidomorphi (disputed) Vertebrata Myllokunmingiidae

These two taxa lack proper vertebrae, which are characteristic for vertebrates according to the new interpretation, whereas traditionally—and confusingly—they were not (Hickman et al., 2007).

Craniata Media

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  Idealised vertebrate body plan, showing key characteristics

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  Fossilized skeleton (cast) of Diplodocus carnegii, showing an extreme example of the vertebral column that gives the vertebrates their name. The species is a tetrapod, its four legs adapting the fish-like body plan for walking on land. The specimen is 26 m (85 ft) long.

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  Branchial arches bearing gills in a pike

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  The Cambrian Haikouichthys, 518 mya

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  Acanthostega, a Devonian labyrinthodont, c. 365 mya

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  Hyperodapedon, a diapsid reptile of the Triassic, c. 230 mya

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  Nahmavis, an Eocene bird, c. 50 mya

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  Diversity of various groups of vertebrates through the geologic ages. The width of the bubbles signifies the number of families.

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  Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Amphioxus lanceolatus)

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  This is schematic drawing of salp specimen (Order: Salpida).