vertebrate

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablebiology

   An animal that has a backbone, such as a fish, bird, reptile, amphibian or mammal.

   Grammar: Countable: a vertebrate, many vertebrates.

   Patterns

   • a vertebrate with something

   A frog is a vertebrate, but a snail is not.

   Fish were the first vertebrates to appear on Earth.

   Birds are warm-blooded vertebrates with feathers.

2. 2adjectivebefore a nounbiology

   Having a backbone or a spinal column.

   Grammar: Used mostly in science before a noun: vertebrate animals.

   Patterns

   • vertebrate animals

   Vertebrate animals have an internal skeleton.

   The class studied vertebrate anatomy.

   Vertebrate fossils were found in the cliff.

Word forms

Common combinations

vertebrate animal

Every vertebrate animal has a spine of some kind.

marine vertebrate

The whale is a marine vertebrate that breathes air.

land vertebrates

Land vertebrates evolved from fish over millions of years.

vertebrate species

Thousands of vertebrate species live in the rainforest.

vertebrate evolution

The museum has a hall on vertebrate evolution.

Synonyms and how they differ

backboned animal

Backboned animal is a plain way to say vertebrate, but it is rarely used in science.

Opposites

Word family

vertebra noun

one of the small bones of the spine

vertebral adjective

relating to the vertebrae

invertebrate noun

an animal without a backbone

vertebrae noun

the plural of vertebra, the bones of the spine

Commonly confused: vertebrate or vertebra? vertebrate or invertebrate?

Practice

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