Chordates

See also:

• Science: Biology: Flora and Fauna: Animalia: Chordata  (4,826)

• Anatomical Terms of Location - Article from Wikipedia describing the complex terminology necessary to be used when describing the anatomy of animals in order to avoid confusion.
• Animal Cells and Tissues: Organization of the Animal Body - Notes by Michael J. Farabee on the structure and functions of each of the four major animal tissue types: epithelial, muscle, connective and bone.
• Animal Diversity - Gives the key anatomical characteristics of members of Phylum Hemichordata, Phylum Chordata and its Subphyla Urochordata, Cephalochordata and Vertebrata. Illustrated by slides.
• Animal Organ Systems and Homeostasis - Homeostasis describes the physical and chemical parameters that an organism must maintain to allow proper functioning of its component cells, tissues and organs.
• The Annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy - Details of this year’s meeting of SVPCA and abstracts from presentations made in previous years.
• Biological Diversity: Animals - Outlines the evolutionary history of animal groups from the simple coelomates to the chordates and the various vertebrate classes, with diagrams and photographs.
• Bone - Article from Wikipedia describing the characteristics, functions and types of bone and how bone is formed.
• Breathing in Stegocephalians - Most tetrapods breathe with the lungs that they inherited from their ancestors such as the coelacanth and lungfishes and this is probably also true of extinct groups of stegocephalians.
• Cardiovascular System: The Heart and Vessels - Outlines the function of this system, its anatomy and physiology, and compares the mammalian organs with those of birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish.
• Chordata - Information on the invertebrate members of the phylum Chordata, what they have in common, and the characteristics of the two subphyla, Urochordata and Cephalochordata.
• Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates - Educational and research resource with sections on ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology and mammalogy.
• Department of Vertebrate Zoology - Information on the research and programs being undertaken at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
• The Evolution of Left-Right Asymmetry in Chordates - Article by Clive Boorman and Sebastian Shimeld discussing directional asymmetric morphology in which sidedness is fixed for a population, species or higher taxon. [PDF]
• Guide to Animal Sounds on the Net - Provides an index to animal sounds on the Web including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects.
• Hearing in Stegocephalians - In this article, Michael Laurin outlines the anatomy and evolution of the outer, middle and inner ear in land vertebrates.
• Infrared Zoo - Uses infrared photography to show the differences between warm and cold blooded animals.
• The Integument - Notes on the functions and anatomy of skin and its evolution.
• The Integument and its Derivatives - These notes cover the dermis and epidermis including skin, beaks, nails, hooves, horns, hair, feathers, scales and teeth.
• Invertebrate Members of the Phylum Chordata - Outlines the differences between the subphylum Vertebrata and the two subphyla, Urochordata and Cephalochordata.
• Life History of Stegocephalians - Michael Laurin outlines the life history of tetrapods and extinct terrestrial vertebrates.
• Molecular Patterns of Sex Determination in the Animal Kingdom: a Comparative Study of the Biology of Reproduction - Abstract from an article studying a variety of regulatory mechanisms that determine the sex of offspring in the animal kingdom.
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Collections - Searchable database of specimens that includes over 50,000 tissue samples for use in molecular analyses.
• Online Biology Book: Glossary - Comprehensive list of the technical terms you are likely to come across, with cross references.
• Other Animal Sounds - Clips recorded by Doug Von Gausig of the sounds made by various amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds.
• Phylogeny of Stegocephalians - Stegocephalians are tetrapods with digits rather than fins. Michael Laurin explores the relationship between the extant and the extinct members of this group.
• Phylum Hemichordata, Urochordata and Cephalochordata - Illustrated description of these three phyla, and the three classes within Urochordata. Also information on the larval stages which form part of the plankton. [PDF]
• Respiratory System - Notes on external and internal respiration, ventilation, aquatic and aerial gas exchange in all classes of vertebrate. [PDF]
• Sensory Systems in Amphioxus: A Window on the Ancestral Chordate Condition - Abstract from a paper comparing the sensory systems of vertebrates with the less-developed systems of Amphioxus.
• Skulls: Structure and Function - Though primarily designed to protect the brain, the architecture of an animal’s skull can help scientists to deduce many of its dietary and social patterns.
• The Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) - SEB membership is open to scientists world-wide and the Animal Section is a thriving community of enthusiastic scientists working across diverse scientific fields.
• Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology - Devoted to the study of terrestrial vertebrates in the Pacific northwest. Offers publications and reference data.
• Terrestrial Vertebrates - Describes the principle characteristics of tetrapods, which have well defined joints and digits, their classification and phylogenetic relationships.
• Tissue Engineering - Describes research at the National University of Ireland, Galway into developing methods of constructing organs in the laboratory that can subsequently be used in medical applications.
• The Vertebrate: Glossary - Provides a comprehensive list of definitions of the technical terms likely to be met when studying the vertrebates.
• Vertebrate Zoology - Lecture notes on the characteristics of the Phylum Chordata and the further characteristics of the classes of animals in the Subphylum Vertebrata.
• The Vertebrates - Notes on the classification structure of the Vertebrates with a cladogram to review the evolutionary relationships of the craniata.
• Will's Skull Page - Features images and measurements of mammalian skulls as well as updates and related links.