Teleostomi

The teleostomes include all jawed vertebrates except the chondrichthyans and the extinct class Placodermi. Recent studies indicate that Osteichthyes evolved from placoderms like Entelognathus, while acanthodians are more closely related to modern chondrichthyes. Teleostomi, therefore, is not a valid, natural clade, but a paraphyletic group of species. The origins of the teleostomes are obscure. They are traditionally assumed to be descendants of the acanthodians ("spiny sharks") from the Early Silurian Period; however, more recent discoveries show that the "spiny sharks" are actually a paraphyletic assemblage leading to Chondrichthyes, and that placoderms like Entelognathus are more closely related to true bony fish. Living teleostomes constitute the clade Euteleostomi, which includes all osteichthyans and tetrapods. Even after the acanthodians perished at the end of the Permian, their euteleostome relatives flourished such that today they comprise 99% of living vertebrate species. Teleostomes have two major adaptations that relate to aquatic respiration.