<P> Vertebrates originated about 525 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion , which saw the rise in organism diversity . The earliest known vertebrate is believed to be the Myllokunmingia . Another early vertebrate is Haikouichthys ercaicunensis . Unlike the other fauna that dominated the Cambrian , these groups had the basic vertebrate body plan : a notochord , rudimentary vertebrae , and a well - defined head and tail . All of these early vertebrates lacked jaws in the common sense and relied on filter feeding close to the seabed . A vertebrate group of uncertain phylogeny , small - eel - like conodonts , are known from microfossils of their paired tooth segments from the late Cambrian to the end of the Triassic . </P>
<P> Vertebrates originated about 525 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion , which saw the rise in organism diversity . The earliest known vertebrate is believed to be the Myllokunmingia . Another early vertebrate is Haikouichthys ercaicunensis . Unlike the other fauna that dominated the Cambrian , these groups had the basic vertebrate body plan : a notochord , rudimentary vertebrae , and a well - defined head and tail . All of these early vertebrates lacked jaws in the common sense and relied on filter feeding close to the seabed . A vertebrate group of uncertain phylogeny , small - eel - like conodonts , are known from microfossils of their paired tooth segments from the late Cambrian to the end of the Triassic . </P>
when did the first vertebrates appear on earth
when did the first vertebrates appear on earth
about 525 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion
about 525 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion