Scientists at the University of Manchester and the University of Bristol have used powerful X-rays to peer inside the skeletons of some of our oldest vertebrate relatives, solving a 160-year-old ...

Among them were the chordates, to which vertebrates (animals with backbones ... and animals with jointed, external skeletons known as arthropods—the ancestors of insects, spiders, and crustaceans.

The researchers focused primarily on seven pairs of symmetrical arches that are thought to be a precursor to modern skeletons, and especially of the head and jaws of vertebrates. The arches’ structure ...

Evolutionary biologist and master skeleton builder Ben Garrod presents a six-part series looking at how bones have enabled vertebrates to colonise and dominate practically every habitat on Earth.