(© Stephanie Pipke-Painchaud 2002)
To view images of Chordates, check out the sites listed below:

• Digital Saskatchewan - try a search here
• Tree of Life - Chordata 1; Chordata 2

• All chordates have at some point in their development (embryo or adult):
  • a notocord (cannot be shortened or lengthened and it retains the length of the organism. Provides a place for muscle attachment)
  • paired gill slits (pharyngeal gill slits - present at some time during embryonic development - were at one time used for feeding and then moved to respiration)
  • a hollow dorsal nerve cord
  • a post anal tail (with extensions of nerve cord)
  • ventral heart
• All chorodates exhibit bilateral symmetry
• have well developed brains
• have an endoskeleton (internal skeleton)
• During vertebrate development:
  • a backbone of vertebrae develops
  • the nerve cord is enclarged at the anterior (front) end into a brain which is protected by a skull.

Resource Pages:

• The Bio-Web Group - Phylum Chordata
• Chordata - University of California Museum of Paleontology Berkeley
• BIODIDAC - a bank of digital resources for teaching Biology
• Phylum Chordata - Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce
• Canadian Museum of Nature Online
• Yahooligans - animals