cephalochordate
Definition
- Noun:
- A primitive marine animal resembling a fish: A cephalochordate is a small, translucent, fish-like chordate animal that lives buried in sand in shallow temperate or tropical seas.
- An animal with a notochord in place of a true backbone: It belongs to the subphylum Cephalochordata, characterized by having a notochord (a flexible rod-like structure) extending the length of the body, which serves as a primitive axial skeleton instead of a vertebral column.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The lancelet is a well-known example of a cephalochordate.
- Biologists study the cephalochordate to understand the evolution of vertebrates.
Advanced Usage
- In evolutionary biology: The term is used to describe an organism representing an early stage in chordate evolution.
- The cephalochordate body plan provides key insights into the ancestry of all vertebrates.
Variants and Related Words
- Cephalochordata (n): The subphylum name to which these animals belong.
- The subphylum Cephalochordata contains only a few dozen species.
Synonyms
- Lancelet: The common name for animals in this group.
- Amphioxus: An older, synonymous genus name often used to refer to these animals.
Different Meanings
This word has a highly specific, scientific meaning and is not commonly used in other contexts. It refers exclusively to the biological group described.
Noun
-
fish-like animals having a notochord rather than a true spinal column
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