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Phylum Chordata
It is hard to believe that some of the organisms that are chordates are closely related to us and vertebrates like us - everything from fish to amphibians and reptiles, to birds and mammals. Chordates are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, as well as several closely related invertebrates. Some chordates, as we will soon see, appear to be nothing more than animals resembling marine invertebrates, like the tunicates. Chordates also include the lancelets, which appear as mostly featureless and simplified swimming animals. What these all have in common, though, are certain characteristics appearing either in the larval or adult forms, and which we will explore further in the first section.
Vertebrates all have backbones or spinal columns as well as some other defining characteristics. About 58,000 species have been described and contain many familiar groups of large land animals.
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Miller & Levine pg 848-869 Â
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