Biology / Unit 10 Bio 2291 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Jawless versus Jawed Fishes
Captions available
The idea
Jawless fishes, such as lampreys, lack hinged jaws and feed by suction or rasping; jawed fishes evolved hinged jaws from modified gill-arch structures.
In practice
A lamprey's round, rasping mouth contrasts with a shark's hinged jaw, which opens feeding strategies no jawless lineage has.
Where people slip
Jawless fishes are not juvenile or incomplete jawed fishes — they are an early-diverging vertebrate lineage in their own right.
Your place on the trail
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