noun
- animals that have a notochord (flexible rod-like structure) at some stage of their development, including vertebrates and some primitive marine animals
Usage: biology; plural form
Examples
- All mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish are chordates.
- Chordates are distinguished by having a notochord during embryonic development.
- Sea squirts are simple chordates that live attached to rocks in the ocean.
- The chordate phylum includes both primitive and highly evolved species.
- Students learned to classify animals as either chordates or invertebrates.
- Chordates typically have a dorsal nerve cord and gill slits at some point in their lives.