This document summarizes the evolution of vertebrates from their earliest ancestors to modern forms. It describes the key traits that unite each major group, from non-vertebrate chordates like tunicates and lancelets, to the earliest jawless fish like hagfish and lampreys, to jawed fish groups like sharks and bony fish. It outlines the major transitions from marine to freshwater habitats and the evolutionary innovations in skeletal and sensory systems that occurred in the main vertebrate lineages over 500 million years.