craniate
Animal with skull
A craniate is any animal with a skull—the bony or cartilaginous case enclosing the brain.
The term encompasses all vertebrates plus hagfish, which have skulls but lack true vertebrae.
As an adjective, craniate describes skull-bearing creatures: craniate animals.
The word appears mainly in zoology and evolutionary biology.
Spinal column animal
Head's bone casing
- vertebraSegmented bone of spine
- backboneVertebral column, or courage
- spineColumn of vertebrae
- endoskeletonBody's inner framework
notochord · brain · jaw · mandible · maxilla · occipital · parietal · temporal
Evolutionary relationships among organisms
- CambrianEarliest Paleozoic period
- fossil recordRemains documenting prehistoric life
- cladisticsClassification by common descent
- paleontologyStudy of ancient organisms
ancestry · divergence · homology · speciation · adaptation · radiation · extinction · common ancestor
Signal transmission network
- cerebrumBrain's largest division
- brainstemLower neural trunk
- cerebellumMovement coordination organ
- neuronImpulse-conducting cell
sensory · endothermic · ectothermic · homeostasis · metabolism · bilateral symmetry · circulation · respiration
vertebrate
Spinal column animal
- chordateNotochord-possessing animal
- tetrapodFour-limbed vertebrate animal
- amphibianDual-habitat cold-blooded vertebrate
reptile · mammal · bird · fish · jawed · jawless · lamprey · hagfish
skull
Head's bone casing
endoskeleton · notochord · brain · jaw · mandible · maxilla · occipital · parietal · temporal · frontal
phylogeny
Evolutionary relationships among organisms
- CambrianEarliest Paleozoic period
- fossil recordRemains documenting prehistoric life
- cladisticsClassification by common descent
paleontology · ancestry · divergence · homology · speciation · adaptation · radiation · extinction · common ancestor · basal
nervous system
Signal transmission network
- cerebrumBrain's largest division
- brainstemLower neural trunk
- cerebellumMovement coordination organ
neuron · sensory · endothermic · ectothermic · homeostasis · metabolism · bilateral symmetry · circulation · respiration · gills
- cranial cavitySkull's interior chamber
- cranial nerveNerve originating in brainstem
- cranial surgeryMedical procedure on head
- cranial bonesBones encasing the brain
- cranial capacitySkull's internal volume