CHORDATA
Organisms With Backbones
[© Arthur Anker]
Chapter Outline
- Description of Chordata
- Classification of Chordata
- Tunicata
- Cephalochordata
- Craniata
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The final phylum of animals to be explored is Chordata. Chapters 32 through 38 all contain organisms from this single phylum.
One of the things the members of this phylum all share in common, and the thing that gives the phylum its name, is a structure called a notochord. This structure may only be present during the larval stage for some organisms but they all have it at some point. The notochord plays an important role in the development of the embryo. It is not a bony structure but you can think of it as a backbone since it does become the spine in humans and other vertebrates.
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