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:
“our nerve filaments twitch with its presence
day and night,
nothing we say has not the husky phlegm of it in the saying,
nothing we do has the quickness, the sureness,
the deep intelligence living at peace would have.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“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)