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All chordates are deuterostomes. This means that, during embryonic development, the anus forms before the mouth does. All chordates are based on a bilateral body plan. [15] All chordates are coelomates, and have a fluid-filled body cavity with a complete serosal lining derived from mesoderm called mesothelium (see Brusca and Brusca). [16]
Initially, Deuterostomia included the phyla Brachiopoda, [6] Bryozoa, [7] Chaetognatha, [8] and Phoronida [6] based on morphological and embryological characteristics. However, Deuterostomia was redefined in 1995 based on DNA molecular sequence analyses, leading to the removal of the lophophorates which was later combined with other protostome animals to form the superphylum Lophotrochozoa. [9]
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.
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.
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.
Lancelets have four known kinds of light-sensing structures: Joseph cells, Hesse organs, an unpaired anterior eye and lamellar body, all of which utilize opsins as light receptors. All of these organs and structures are located in the neural tube, with the frontal eye at the front, followed by the lamellar body, the Joseph cells, and the Hesse ...
This change from a body plan for breathing and navigating in gravity-neutral water to a body plan with mechanisms enabling the animal to breath in air without dehydrating and move on land is one of the most profound evolutionary changes known. [18] [19] Tetrapods can be divided into four classes: amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
The body segments are anatomically blocks of skeletal muscles, called the myomeres, which are found in vertebrates only. No eyes can be observed. [24] The muscle orientation and flat shaped body indicate that Pikaia was an active and free swimmer. [8] It would have swum by throwing its body into a series of S-shaped, zigzag curves, as do living ...