Chordate of the three subdivisions of chordates, all have distinct skulls. They include the hagfish, which have no vertebrae. Michael J. Benton commented that "craniates are characterized by their heads, just as chordates, or possibly all deuterostomes, are by their tails". Most craniates are vertebrates, in which the notochord is replaced by the vertebral column. These consist of a series of bony or cartilaginous cylindrical vertebrae, generally with neural arches that protect the spinal cord, and with projections that link the vertebrae. However hagfish have incomplete braincases and no vertebrae, and are therefore not regarded as vertebrates, but as members of
Kosher animals Kosher animals Kosher animals are animals that comply with the regulations of kashrut and are considered kosher foods. These dietary laws ultimately derive from various passages in the Torah with various modifications, additions and clarifications added to these rules by Halakha. Various other animal-related rules are contained in the 613 commandments. and both give the same general set of rules for identifying which land animals (Hebrew: בהמות "Behemoth") are ritually clean. According to these, anything that "chews the cud" and has a completely split hoof is ritually clean, but those animals that only chew the cud or only have cloven