Animals having a flexible rod supporting their dorsal or rear sides belong to the Chordata phylum.
The vertebrates, lancelets, and tunicates are members of the Chordata phylum, which includes creatures with a notochord, dorsally located central nervous system, and gill slits at some stage of development.
Urochordata, Cephalochordata, and Vertebrata are the three chordate clades.
Urochordata:
A Notochord, a hollow nerve cord, and a post-anal tail are all present.
There are more than two cell layers in the human body, which include tissues and organs.
Its gut is in the shape of a U.
There is no coelomic body cavity in the body.
During the larval stage, their chordate characteristics are more prominent.
In adulthood, they resemble invertebrates rather than chordates.
Eg. Ascidia
Cephalochordata:
Both sides of the body are symmetrical.
The structure of the body is comparable to that of a fish.
There is no head on the body, and it is separated into two sections: the trunk and the tail.
The epidermis is only one layer thick, and the exoskeleton is gone.
As the name says, the body is elongated, flattened, non-pigmented, and pointed at both ends.
Fins on the dorsal, ventral, and caudal sides that are low and continuous.
Lancelet is an example.
Vertebrata:
All vertebrates have a notochord, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail.
The transformation of the notochord into a bony backbone distinguishes the subphylum Vertebrata from the phylum Chordata.
Amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds are all vertebrates, as are jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks, and rays.