It is incorporated into the nuclei pulposi in adult vertebrates, but in other organisms it lies above the alimentary canal and below the nerve cord and acts as a protagonist for the muscles.
This structure derives during gastrulation from cells that migrate anteriorly in the midline between the hypoblast and the epiblast, with the cells coalescing immediately beneath the developing central nervous system. It is incorporated into the nuclei pulposi in adult vertebrates, but in other organisms it lies above the alimentary canal and below the nerve cord and acts as a protagonist for the muscles. FTP, what is this flexible rodlike structure, the principle structural element of chordates?
This structure derives during gastrulation from cells that migrate anteriorly in the midline between the hypoblast and the epiblast, with the cells coalescing immediately beneath the developing central nervous system.
notochord