Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having no jaws; agnathous; specifically, having no lower jaw, as a lamprey or hag.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lacking a jaw.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of animals having no jaw

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

jaw +‎ -less

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Examples

  • The containing group of jawed vertebrates and jawless fishes is vertebrata.

    A New Book 2010

  • The containing group of jawed vertebrates and jawless fishes is vertebrata.

    A New Book 2010

  • Sure, the jawless fish is doing quite well with out Factor V …. but look what it does have.

    Behe's Test 2008

  • So, showing that the jawless fish doesn't have Christmas Factor doesn't really do much to his claim.

    Behe's Test 2008

  • By examining fossils and DNA, Shubin shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look and function like those of worms and bacteria.

    The Panda's Thumb: Resources for Biologists Archives 2010

  • In going from amphioxus to jawless fish to jawed fish to land vertebrates we see an increase in complexity of the clotting cascade:

    Behe's Test 2008

  • Even sharks are closer cousins to humans than they are to lampreys and hagfish the only modern survivors of the once thriving and diverse group of jawless fishes but again, we call them all fish.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • For example, the first gill arch in jawless fishes like lampreys (and in embryos of jawed vertebrates) corresponds to the jaws in those vertebrates that have them (that is, all modern vertebrates except lampreys and hagfishes).

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • Even sharks are closer cousins to humans than they are to lampreys and hagfish the only modern survivors of the once thriving and diverse group of jawless fishes but again, we call them all fish.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • For example, the first gill arch in jawless fishes like lampreys (and in embryos of jawed vertebrates) corresponds to the jaws in those vertebrates that have them (that is, all modern vertebrates except lampreys and hagfishes).

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

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