Phylum: Chordata

• Have dorsal, rod-like structure, the notochord which supports the body during the embryonic stage
• Notochord may remain in adults, or be replaced by a vertebral column
• Vertebrata classes:

  Fish

  Amphibians

  Reptiles

  Birds

  Mammals
• Bilateral symmetry and cephalisation
• Advanced nervous system with receptor organs for sight, hearing, smell and touch at the anterior end
• Triploblastic, organs that develop from an embryo with three germ layers
• Organs function together as advanced systems
• True coelom occurs in mesoderm, therefore Chordate are coelomate
• The digestive tract has two openings: mouth at anterior end, and an anus at the posterior end
• Complete/ through gut
• High specialised regions with specific functions are distinguished in the digestive tract
• Exoskeleton made of bone and/ or cartilage, with muscular system responsible for movement/ locomotion
• Heart as a pump and blood is restricted to the blood vessels, therefore Chordata have a closed blood system
• Specialised gaseous exchange organs: e.g glands in fish, lungs in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals