NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Answer and Explanation: Vertebrates are members of the phylum Chordata, a group of animals whose other members’ “tunicates and lancelets” are quite different from most modern vertebrates, being small, marine, and sluggish or entirely sessile as adults. This statement is true.

Detailed explanation-2: -Phylum Chordata belongs to the Kingdom Animalia and includes all the vertebrates, i.e., animals with a backbone, and several invertebrates, i.e., organisms without a backbone. They possess a bilaterally symmetrical body and are divided into three different sub-phyla.

Detailed explanation-3: -Chordates include Urochordates, Cephalochordates (both are called protochordates) and vertebrates. In vertebrates notochord is replaced by vertebral column (backbone), however vertebral column is not present in protochordates. Therefore, all vertebrates are chordates but all chordates are not vertebrates.

Detailed explanation-4: -The members of Vertebrata possess notochord during embryonic development. Thus, all vertebrates are chordates. However, the notochord gets replaced by a cartilaginous or bony vertebral column in the adult.