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
Craniate animals, they developed duplicate sets of many gene families that are involved in cell signaling, transcription, and morphogenesis (see homeobox). In general, craniates are much more active than tunicates and lancelets and, as a result, have greater metabolic demands, as well as several anatomical adaptations. Aquatic craniates have gill slits, which are connected to muscles and nerves that pump water through the slits, engaging in both feeding and gas exchange (as opposed to lancelets, whose pharyngeal slits are used only for suspension feeding). Muscles line the alimentary canal, moving food through the canal, allowing higher craniates such as mammals to