Name the three chordate subphyla. Give a characteristic that distinguishes each group.?

Answer 1

Phylum Chordata

* Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates
* Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets
* Subphylum Vertebrata (Vertebrates - animals with backbones)

Urochordata (sometimes known as tunicata and commonly called urochordates, tunicates, sea squirts or cunji) is the subphylum of saclike filter feeders with incurrent and excurrent siphons.As with other chordates, tunicates possess a notochord during their early stages of development.

Cephalochordata - Unlike the vertebrates, however, the dorsal nerve cord is not protected by bone, but a rather simpler notochord made up of a cylinder of cells that are closely-packed to form a toughened rod. The lancelet notochord, unlike the vertebrate spine, extends into the head. This gives the subphylum its name (cephalo- meaning 'relating to the head').

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata , specifically, those chordates with backbones or spinal columns.Characteristics of the subphylum are a muscular system that mostly consists of paired masses, as well as a central nervous system which is partly located inside the backbone (if one is present). Usually, the defining characteristic of a vertebrate is considered the backbone or spinal cord, a brain case, and an internal skeleton, but the latter do not hold true for lampreys, and the former is arguably present in some other chordates. Rather, all vertebrates are most easily distinguished from all other chordates by having an unequivocal head, that is, sensory organs - especially eyes are concentrated at the fore end of the body and there is pronounced cephalization.