A member of an extinct class of small, heavily armored fish with sharp spines, representing some of the earliest jawed vertebrates.
From Greek 'akantha' (spine) + '-ian' (member of a group), indicating membership in this distinctive group of spiny fish.
Acanthodians bridge a crucial evolutionary gap—they had the first real jaws with teeth but also kept ancient fish features, making them living fossils that help us understand how modern fish evolved.
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