Phylum Chordate Research Paper

The phylum chordate is one of the first phylum’s everybody learns in school. This is because it includes the human species and a lot of other animals that we know, in which they all have a spine aka vertebrate. All animals in the chordate have similar characteristics, sometime through their life cycle, this can include when they are an embryo. All of this phylum have pharayneal slits which are a series of opening that connect the outside of their neck with the inside of their throat, these are otherwise called gills. Another similar characteristic all members of the chordate phylum have is a notochord which runs underneath the nerve and helps support it. They also have a dorsal nerve chord, this is a bunch of nerves that run from your organs and mussels connecting them into your brain. All of the phylum Chordata have a post-anal …show more content…
The thylacine is put into this particular family because of its stripes and pouch. It is though that the closest animals that it is related to is the numbat (figure 2) and the Tasmanian devil (figure 3) they all fall under the Order of Dasyuromorphia but then fall into different family’s but they seem to be the closest living thing to it that they have discovered so far. The Numbat looks very similar to the Thylacine but is much smaller. They have stripes down their back, are similar colours (red, grey, brown) and have long tails and snouts just like the Thylacine does, one of the key differences besides being remarkably smaller is that the Numbat does not have a pouch under their stomach unlike the Tasmanian tiger. The Tasmanian devil is still much smaller than the thylacine but has many similar characteristics. They are both carnivores and they both have pouches on their stomachs to hold their young in whilst they develop properly. Although it is uncommon for an animal to have a family all to itself the thylacine proves that it can