Definition of craniate in English:
craniate
noun ˈkreɪnɪətˈkrānēˌāt
Zoology An animal that possesses a skull.
Subphylum Craniata, phylum Chordata; used instead of Vertebrata in some classification schemes
Compare with vertebrate
Example sentencesExamples
- Unfortunately, there are few quantitative data on the relative sizes of major brain divisions in most craniates.
- Thus, there exist two competing theories about the interrelationships of craniates, i.e., animals with a skull.
- The immediate outgroup of craniates, the Cephalochordata, show strong asymmetry during development.
- We still have no fossil evidence of the nature of the transition between cephalochordates and craniates.
- Hagfish are the oldest lineage of craniates and thus are considered important to evolutionary studies.
adjective ˈkreɪnɪətˈkrānēˌāt
Zoology Relating to the craniates.
Example sentencesExamples
- It can have at once, the concentration of a craniate animal and the diffused vitality of an amoeba.
- After the publication of the first computer-generated phylogenies of the major craniate groups, the discussion has become quite difficult.
- How can changes in an ancestral ontogeny be reconstructed, since the ancestors of most craniate radiations are extinct?
- The recent discovery of the Cambrian craniate Haikouichthys has confused matters somewhat.
- The relationships between hagfishes, lampreys, and jawed vertebrates are one of the still-unresolved problems in craniate phylogeny.
Origin
Late 19th century: from modern Latin craniatus, from medieval Latin cranium (see cranium).