Chordates

Chordates include nearly every animal we see on a daily basis. Dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, rabbits, deer, sheep, horses and people are all Chordates. Really, the only thing you need to be in Phylum Chordata is a spinal cord.

Classification

• Kingdom Animalia - animals
• Subkingdom Eumetazoa - animals with organs
• Branch Bilateria - bilaterally symmetric
• Grade Coelamata - body cavities
• Subgrade Enterocoela - mesoderm pouches to form the body cavity
• Phylum Chordata - animals with spinal cords
• Subphylum Urochordata - tunicates
• Subphylum Cephalochordata - Amphioxus
• Subphylum Vertebrata - animals with a vertebral column
• Class Agnatha - jawless fish
• Class Placodermi - armored fish
• Class Chondrichthyes - cartilaginous fish
• Class Osteichthyes - bony fish
• Class Amphibia - amphibians
• Class Reptila - reptiles
• Class Aves - birds
• Class Mammalia - mammals

Dissected Specimens

Chordates are so varied, there really isn't all that much they have in common with each other. Detailed discussions will be presented with the picture of the individual specimens.

• The Perch
• The Mouse
• The Pigeon
• The Mudpuppy



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