What is the difference between chordates and non chordates

Chordates are animals marked by the presence of backbone while non-chordates are animals without backbone or notochord. Chordates are animals with both endoskeleton and exoskeleton while non-chordates have only exoskeleton.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What is the difference between chordates and non-chordates? The animal has a cord or backbone in their body structure are chordates. Contrary, Non-chordates are the animals without backbone or notochord, this the vital difference between chordates and non-chordates is that the. These animals belong to the different phyla of the animal kingdom.

Also being same at the multicellular level, there is a lot of difference between patterns of organization of cells in this kingdom. Lower animals like coelenterates, sponges differ in cellular level of organization, at the organ level radial and bilateral Platyhelminthes and other members differ. While higher animals like arthropods, annelids, mollusks, comes under Non-chordate and Aves, Reptiles, mammals fall under chordates, they all differ in some of their special physiological function and other unique features like body symmetry, digestive, circulatory or reproductive system, etc.

The design of classifying, the animal kingdom is broadly divided into several major groups called phyla. Till yet there are approximately 30 animal phyla recognized. The last and the major group of the animal kingdom was the phylum Chordata.

In this article we will consier some important points which distinguish the chordates to that of non-chordates:.

Through body surface, gills,or tracheae. Body temperature Cold or warm-blooded. Notochord Present at some stage or replaced by a backbone made of ring like vertebrae present in embryo. Notochord or backbone absent. Haemoglobin In red corpuscles RBC. In plasma or absent. Nervous system Hollow central dorsal. Solid central nervous system. Germ layers Triploblastic Can be absent or diploblastic or triploblastic.

Coelom Truly Coelomate. Acoelmate, pseudocoelmate or truly coelmate. Symmetry Bilateral. Radial, bi radial, bilateral or lacking. Metamorphism linear series of body segments True Metamerism. The Key Differences The body of chordates is bilaterally symmetrical with some level of organ-system organization. Chordates can be cold-blooded or warm-blooded whereas non-chordates are only cold-blooded.

A notochord is a flexible skeletal rod that is made up of cartilage. In some species of phylum chordate, the notched is present only in the larval tail and in some; it is present throughout their life from head to tail region. Respiration in non-chordates takes place through body surface, gills or trachea while respiration in chordates is through gills or lungs.

The central nervous system of chordates is hollow and dorsal while non-chordates, their central nervous system is solid and either ventral or lateral within the body. Chordates have a post-anal-tail at some stage in their life while non-chordates do not at all have a post-anal-tail in their stages of life. These animals are bilaterally symmetric. These animals can be bilateral, bi-radial, asymmetrical or radial.

They are true coelomates. They can either be true coelomates, acoelomates or pseudocoelomates. Exoskeleton is present in some of the chordates, for example, tortoises. Exoskeleton is present in all non-chordates.

Endoskeleton is present in chordates. Endoskeleton is absent in non-chordates. Chordates have poor regeneration. Non-chordates have good regeneration, mostly. The anus of these animals is differentiated and opens before the last segment. Anus in these animals is usually absent and if present, it opens on the last segment. The brain of chordates is present, and located dorsal to the pharynx in head. Brain is not as complex as that of chordates if present in some of the animals.

They have a body with an organ system. Their body organization is protoplasmic to the organ system. Chordates Non-Chordates Notochord Presence of cord or notochord. Limbs Limbs are two pairs.