The dorsal nerve cord is one of the embryonic features unique to chordates, along with a notochord, a post-anal tail, an endostyle, and pharyngeal slits. The dorsal nerve cord is a hollow cord dorsal to the notochord. It is formed from a part of the ectoderm that rolls, forming the hollow tube, compared to other animal phyla, which have solid, ventral tubes. The dorsal nerve cord is later modified into the brain and spinal cord. Dorsal nerve cord is mainly found in subphylum Vertebrata.
Dorsal means the "back" side, as opposed to the belly side (ventral).
Famous quotes containing the words nerve and/or cord:
“There must be some nerve and heroism in our love, as of a winter morning.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“one is in a shoe factory cursing the machine,
one is at the aquarium tending a seal,
one is dull at the wheel of her Ford,
one is at the toll gate collecting,
one is tying the cord of a calf in Arizona,
one is straddling a cello in Russia....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)