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A chordate (/ ˈ k ɔːr d eɪ t / KOR-dayt) is a deuterostomal bilaterian animal belonging to the phylum Chordata (/ k ɔːr ˈ d eɪ t ə / kor-DAY-tə).All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five distinctive physical characteristics (synapomorphies) that distinguish them from other taxa.
Idealised vertebrate body plan, showing key characteristics. Vertebrates (and other chordates) belong to the Bilateria, a group of animals with mirror symmetrical bodies. [6] They move, typically by swimming, using muscles along the back, supported by a strong but flexible skeletal structure, the spine or vertebral column. [7]
Segmentation in biology is the division of some animal and plant body plans into a linear series of repetitive segments that may or may not be interconnected to each other. This article focuses on the segmentation of animal body plans, specifically using the examples of the taxa Arthropoda, Chordata, and Annelida. These three groups form ...
The Cambrian chordates are characterised by the presence of segmented muscle blocks called myomeres and notochord, the two defining features of chordates. Before the full understanding of Cambrian fossils, chordates as members the most advanced phylum were believed to appear on Earth much later than the Cambrian.
This article contains a list of all of the classes and orders that are located in the Phylum Chordata. The subphyla Tunicata and Vertebrata are in the unranked Olfactores clade, while the subphylum Cephalochordata is not. Animals in Olfactores are characterized as having a more advanced olfactory system than animals not in it.
According to this theory, there is a deep agreement between the vertebrates and cephalochordates, and even all chordates. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] With the advent of molecular genetics lancelets are once again regarded as a model of vertebrate ancestors, and are used again as a model organism.
This, combined with an apparent lack of vertebral elements within the Myxini, suggested that the Myxini were descended from a more ancient lineage than the vertebrates, and that the skull developed before the vertebral column. The clade was thus composed of the Myxini and the vertebrates, and any extinct chordates with skulls.
The dorsal nerve cord is an anatomical feature found in chordate animals, mainly in the subphyla Vertebrata and Cephalochordata, as well as in some hemichordates.It is one of the five embryonic features unique to all chordates, the other four being a notochord, a post-anal tail, an endostyle, and pharyngeal slits.