CHORDATES
Kingdom Animalia or the Animal Kingdom is broadly classified into two groups, i.e- Chordates and Non-chordates.
Chordates are the animals those who have a notochord at some stage of their life. Similarly, Non-chordates are the animals those don't have notochord at any stage of their life.
Notochord (Gr., noton=back, L., chorda=cord) is a cartilagenous string or rod like stucture present along the back of chordates, at some stage of their life. Sub-kingdom chordata has only one phylum named the same i.e., Phylum Chordata.
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Phylum chordata is classified into 2 major groups, i.e.,
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Acraniata or Protochordata
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Craniata or vertebrata or Euchordata
Acraniata or Protochordata involves the animals those who have notochord but is not replaced by vertebral column. Protochordata is further classified into 2 Sub-phyla:
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Urochordata or Tunicata e.g., Herdmania
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Cephalochordata e.g., Amphioxus
To know detailed about Urochordates and Cephalochordates, please visit the sub-pages of Phylum Chordata.​
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Craniata or Vertebrata or Euchordata includes the animals those who possesses notochord during a period of their life, but at a particular stage it get replaced by a vertebral column. Sub-phylum Vertebrata is further divided into 2 main divisions:
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Agnatha
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Gnathostomata​
In the present era​, Agnatha has only one living class i.e., Cyclostomata e.g., Petromyzon. For details about Cyclostomata, please follow the sub-pages of Chordates.
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Division Gnathostomata includes 2 Super-classes i.e.,
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Pisces
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Tetrapoda
Super-class Pisces has 4 classes, namely:
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Elasmobramchii e.g., Scoliodon
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Holocephali e.g., Chimaera
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Teleostomi e.g., Lebeo
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Dipnoi e.g., Protopterus
Similarly, Super-class Tetrapoda includes 4 classes, namely:
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Amphibia e.g., Frog
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Reptilia e.g., Snake
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Aves e.g., Birds
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Mammalia e.g., Humanbeing
For details about all above listed Super-classes and Classes, Please visit the sub-page of Chordata.
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