A Latin or scientific term referring to cartilaginous animals, particularly fish like sharks and rays that have skeletons made entirely of cartilage rather than bone.
From Latin 'cartilaginosus' (cartilaginous) + the plural suffix '-i,' used in Linnaean taxonomic classification.
The Cartilaginei (now called Chondrichthyes) represent an ancient group of fish that evolved over 500 million years ago and have cartilage instead of bone—a design that proved so successful that sharks have remained virtually unchanged for 200 million years.
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