notochord

American  

[noh-tuh-kawrd] / ˈnoʊ təˌkɔrd /

noun

Embryology.

1. a rodlike cord of cells that forms the chief axial supporting structure of the body of the lower chordates, as amphioxus and the cyclostomes, and of the embryos of the vertebrates.

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notochord British  

/ ˈnəʊtəˌkɔːd /

noun

1. a fibrous longitudinal rod in all embryo and some adult chordate animals, immediately above the gut, that supports the body. It is replaced in adult vertebrates by the vertebral column

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notochord Scientific  

/ nō′tə-kôrd′ /

1. A flexible rodlike structure that forms the main support of the body in all chordates during some stage of their development. In vertebrates, the notochord develops into a true backbone in the embryonic phase. Primitive chordates, such as lancelets and tunicates, retain a notochord throughout their lives.

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Other Word Forms

• notochordal
  adjective
• subnotochordal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of notochord

First recorded in 1840–50; noto- + chord ¹ 5 (in the sense of “a cordlike anatomical structure”)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

notochord

Yes, according to Osaka Metropolitan University researchers, who found that suppression of Pcdh8 is essential for the notochord to elongate properly in zebrafish.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024

One of the major stations is the notochord, which produces a signal that plays a crucial role in organizing the developing spinal cord.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2024

Ogden's team captured images of the transport process happening in the cytonemes originating from the notochord.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2024

In chordates, it is located dorsally to the notochord.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

The two pleurocentra of each vertebra are separate ventrally as well as dorsally, but form thin, broad plates of about the same height as the notochord.

From A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas by Eaton, Theodore H. (Theodore Hildreth)