Alternatives Database

The Biology of Chordates

The Phylum Chordata includes tunicates, sea lancelets, hagfish, and all familiar vertebrate animals. This program explores how these seemingly diverse animals evolved and how the group is unified by four characteristic structures: a hollow dorsal nerve chord, a supportive notochord, gill slits, and a post-anal tail. Key milestones in vertebrate evolution included improvements in swimming and feeding, the evolution of paired fins and a primitive lung, movement onto the land, and the amniotic egg.

Year of production: 2006 Format: VHS NTSC, DVD Running time: VHS NTSC 18 mins, DVD 21 mins. Price: US$55.00 (VHS NTSC), US$ 68.00 (DVD)