Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
The notochord is the defining feature (synapomorphy) of chordates, and was present throughout life in many of the earliest chordates. Although the stomochord of hemichordates was once thought to be homologous or from a common lineal origin, it is now viewed as analogous, convergent , or from a different lineal origin. [ 22 ]
The Chordata ancestor gave rise to the lancelets (Amphioxii) and Olfactores. Ancestral chordates evolved a post-anal tail, notochord, and endostyle (precursor of thyroid). The pharyngeal slits (or gills) are now supported by connective tissue and used for filter feeding and possibly breathing.
Another feature present in both the Hemichordata and Chordata is pharyngotremy — the presence of spiracles or gill slits into the pharynx, which is also found in some primitive fossil echinoderms . [17] [18] A hollow nerve cord is found in all chordates, including tunicates (in the larval stage). Some hemichordates also have a tubular nerve cord.
Vertebrates belong to the chordates, a phylum characterised by five synapomorphies (unique characteristics), namely a notochord, a hollow nerve cord along the back, an endostyle (often as a thyroid gland), and pharyngeal gills arranged in pairs. Vertebrates share these characteristics with other chordates.
All chordates share a common ancestor which lost its echinoderm stereom calcite skeleton. However, later revisions of the theory had each separate lineage losing its calcitic skeleton independently, [ 6 ] as it evolved from its own mitrate ancestor, making the chordates a paraphyletic group [ citation needed ] .
The Cambrian chordates are an extinct group of animals belonging to the phylum Chordata that lived during the Cambrian, between 538 and 485 million years ago. The first Cambrian chordate known is Pikaia gracilens , a lancelet -like animal from the Burgess Shale in British Columbia , Canada.
Segmentation in chordates is characterized as the formation of a pair of somites on either side of the midline. This is often referred to as somitogenesis. In vertebrates, segmentation is most often explained in terms of the clock and wavefront model.