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Taxonomy:
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata, 100,000 species (2016)
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This phylum is all the vertebrate animals, those with a backbone, which are bilaterally symmetric, and have body cavity. Of all the living species of Chordata phyla, the group with the largest number of species are bony fish of the sub-class Osteichthyes.
The world′s largest animal is the blue whale and the world′s fastest animal is the peregrine falcon at 242 mph, of which both species are in the phylum Chordata.
Class:
Amphibia
(amphibians) 7,302 species
Examples: caecilia, frogs, newts, salamanders, toads
Class:
Aves
(birds) 10,425 species
Examples: coot, eagles, goose, hawks, moorhen, spoonbill, woodpeckers
Class:
Pisces
(fish) 34,000 species
There are three sub-classes of fish:
Sub-class:
Agnatha
(jawless fish) about 100 species
Examples: hag fish, lampreys
Sub-class:
Chondrichthyes
(cartilaginous fish) about 1000 species
Examples: dogfish, electric fish, ratfish, rays, sawfish, sharks, skates
Sub-class:
Osteichthyes
(bony fish) about 33,000 species
Examples: eel, flounder, lungfish, perch, salmon, seahorse, sturgeon, trout
Class:
Mammalia
(mammals) 5,513 species
Examples: apes, bats, kangaroo, opossum, platypus, rodents, whales
Class:
Reptilla
(reptiles) 10,026 species
Examples: caimans, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles
Proving Evolution?
In their endeavor to prove evolution, some biologists claim that all Chordates are animals possessing a notochord, a dorsal nerve cord, an endostyle (producing mucus), a post-anal tail, display segmentation and have many other characteristics that are, methinks overly descriptive.
However, in the creation, there seems to be an exception in this description of this phylum. According to the evolutionary description of this phylum, there should be an additional class included in the phyla Chordata, and that is the phyla Hemichordata (acorn worms, pterbranchs) containing 100 species which have a notochord and a partial dorsal nerve cord. Evolutionist say that these worms are the ancestors to all of the Chordata vertebrate animals.
Methinks that this is a stretch and not even close to being the truth. These worms may have possession of a notochord and dorsal nerve cords; but they are invertebrates, not vertebrates. As for the two additional classes which evolutionist consider to be in the Chordata phyla which are the Class Tunicata, which inclued salps and sea squirts and the Class Cephalochordata, comprising the lancelets, both of these classes of animals are invertebrates because they lack bony structures. Thus, they are not vertebrates nor do they belong in the phylum Chordata.
The inclusion of the classes Hemichordata, Tunicata and Cephalochordata in the phylum Chordata reflects an evolutionary relationship based on what they believe: which is that these three additional classes have a common ancestry with those already listed in Phylum Chordata; rather than a functional grouping of similar adult forms.
Never, in any stretch of the imagination is this true, nor could this belief prove evolution. In fact, the Bible clearly states that God created each animal according to its kind [Hebrew: mîyn, meaning: kind, species]. (Genesis 1:20-25) This makes sense because the definition of a species is the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, which is typically done by sexual reproduction. In scientific nomenclature, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism and can only reproduce according to such species.
Conservation Status
The conservation status indicates to what extent modern scientist believe how endangered a species is in reference to becoming extinct.
EX Extinct
EW Extinct in the Wild
CR Critically Endangered
EN Endangered
VU Vulnerable
NT Near Threatened
CD Conservation Dependent
LC Least Concern
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