Chordates, phylum Chordata, are a phylum of animals which have a notochord.
The group includes vertebrates, with some closely related invertebrates.
Chordates Temporal range: Late Ediacaran – Present | |
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A X-ray tetra is one of the few chordates with a visible backbone | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Superphylum: | Deuterostomia |
Phylum: | Chordata Bateson, 1885 |
Typical Classes | |
See below |
Chordata |
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Note: Lines show likely evolutionary relationships. Extinct groups are marked with a "†". Extinct animals are ones that have completely died out.
According to a long-standing theory, the origin of chordates may be found in transformed larvae of sea-squirts (tunicates). Adult tunicates are sessile, but their larvae are motile, and have some features found in early vertebrates. The process of paedomorphosis, where juvenile features are retained in the adult, is the proposed mechanism. Genome analysis shows that tunicates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates.
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