If an animal possesses a backbone but does not have a notochord, can it still be classified as a chordate?

Question

anonymous · Answer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chordate Chordates are animals possessing a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail for at least some period of their life cycles. Taxonomically, the phylum includes the subphyla Vertebrata, including mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds; Tunicata, including salps and sea squirts; and Cephalochordata, comprising the lancelets. Members of the phylum Chordata are bilaterally symmetric, deuterostome coelomates, and the vertebrate Chordates display segmentation. So no.

anonymous · Answer

So the spinal chord is the same thing as the notochord? SInce that is where all the nerves branch off?

anonymous · Answer

I'm not sure but if it doesn't have a notochord it's not a chordate.

anonymous · Answer

Oh ok! Thank you so much :)

anonymous · Answer

No problem, anytime.