Invertebrate Paleontology
Invertebrate paleontology (also spelled invertebrate palaeontology) is sometimes described as invertebrate paleozoology or invertebrate paleobiology. Whether it is considered to be a subfield of paleontology, paleozoology, or paleobiology, this discipline is the scientific study of prehistoric invertebrates by analyzing invertebrate fossils in the geologic record. By ''invertebrates'' are meant the ''non-vertebrate'' creatures of the kingdom Animalia (or Metazoa) in the biotic domain of Eukaryota. By phyletic definition, these many-celled, ''sub-vertebrate'' animals lack a vertebral column, spinal column, vertebrae, backbone, or long, full-length notochord—in contrast to the vertebrates in the one phylum of Chordata. Relatedly, invertebrates have never had a cartilaginous or boney internal skeleton, with its skeletal supports, gill slits, ribs and jaws. Finally, throughout geologic time, invertebrates have remained non-craniate creatures; that is, they never dev ...
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