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
3.
a vertebrate animal.
Origin
1820-30; < Latinvertebrātus jointed. See vertebra, -ate1
Related forms
nonvertebrate, adjective, noun
subvertebrate, noun, adjective
unvertebrate, adjective
Examples from the web for vertebrate
They both claim to have identified the world's smallest known vertebrate.
They were also the first to note that the lancelet resembles a vertebrate.
It is also true that the introduction of big money has permanently changed vertebrate paleontology.
But the mammalian system was thought to represent a general rule among vertebrate species.
The vertebrate eye has been the favorite example of an irreducibly complex structure that can't function when you remove a piece.
Yet a number of fruits contain chemicals that vertebrate species find unpalatable.
Its brain cavity in proportion to the size of its body was more diminutive than that of any other vertebrate.
The new discovery poses a dilemma: mammals are now the only major vertebrate group where parthenogenesis has not been observed.
Conodonts are some of our earliest vertebrate ancestors.
Indeed, such benefits may explain why the rostral nostril rule applies to almost all vertebrate animals.
British Dictionary definitions for vertebrate
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
2.
of, relating to, or belonging to the subphylum Vertebrata
Word Origin and History for vertebrate
n.
1826, from Latin vertebratus (Pliny), from vertebra "joint or articulation of the body, joint of the spine" (see vertebra).
(vûr'tə-brĭt, -brāt') 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.