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
Killing of animals Temples following Shakti school of Hinduism are the ones where sacrifice usually takes place. There are many village temples in Tamil Nadu where this kind of sacrifice takes place. Many animals are sacrificed during the three-day-long Gadhimai festival in Nepal. In 2009 it was speculated that more than 250,000 animals were killed In 2014, 100,000 animals were sacrificed which was a decrease from previous numbers. Animals range from buffalo to rats have been sacrificed. The temple authorities enacted a ban on animal sacrifice in 2015. Many Indo-European religious branches show evidence for horse sacrifice, and comparative mythology suggests that they