bio "trivia"? regarding taxonomy

[johndoe3344]

I came across a few questions like...

Which of the following are not members of the phylum Chordata?
A. tunicates
B. apes
C. birds
D. ants

Is there any... list that's recommended for us to memorize? Of like the common animals and what classification they are? I personally didn't even know what a tunicate was, and after I looked it up, I was still shocked to find out a tunicate was a member of Chordata.

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[linkin06]

I came across a few questions like...

Which of the following are not members of the phylum Chordata?
A. tunicates
B. apes
C. birds
D. ants

Is there any... list that's recommended for us to memorize? Of like the common animals and what classification they are? I personally didn't even know what a tunicate was, and after I looked it up, I was still shocked to find out a tunicate was a member of Chordata.

well chordata just means vertebrate right? it seems like only ants don't have a spinal cord.

knowing very broad classifications like this can easily translate into common sense answers.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

vertebrata is a subphylum of the phylum chordate, so that is not necessarily true.

 

[johndoe3344]

Do sea squirts seem like they have a spinal cord to you?

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bluebell_tunicates_Nick_Hobgood.jpg

 

[Adamska]

ants are obviously arthropods so that makes this question easy...the only confusing thing about tunicates is if you confuse them with lancelets, which are urochordata and cephalochordata respectively...but still chordata.