Due to this unique structure, skates and rays are able to not only propel themselves forward along the seafloor but become fearsome predators of the ocean floor. A fascinating example is the wing-like appendages on batoid fishes (skates and rays) in which the pectoral fins are fused with the head and extend anteriorly. As well as those paired appendages we have seen displayed in tetrapods, the Chondrichthyans (all cartilaginous fish) have different fin structures that also exhibit an exquisite diversity of uses. Vertebrates evolved and diversified alongside key developmental innovations.
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