<< A major misconception is that jawless fishes evolved into sharks, then
skarks
into armored fishes like sturgeons and bowfin, then armored fishes into
higher
teleosts (e.g., minnows, cichlids, gobies, etc.). In truth, these groups all
evolved independently and represent entirely different CLASSES of animals.
Calling all these critters fishes is like calling all animals without
backbones
invertebrates. The term is correct, but there are no ancestor-descendant
relationships. A mollusk is to a crustacean as a lamprey is to a minnow. >>
Good explanation, Chris. This really spells out the differences between
fishes for me and illustrates how unrelated they are to me.
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