Olfactores is a clade of chordates containing the subphyla Tunicata and Vertebrata. It is distinct from chordata in that it excludes the cephalochordata (lancelets). It is supported by many molecular studies.[1] Shared derived traits of this taxon are pigment cells, neural crest specifiers and proto-placodes (which develop into full neurogenic placodes in the vertebrata).
43. Delsuc F, Brinkmann H, Chourrout D, Philippe H. 2006. Tunicates and not cephalochordates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates. Nature 439, 965–968. (doi:10.1038/nature04336) [PubMed]
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edit- ^ "Key characters uniting hemichordates and chordates: homologies or homoplasies?". Retrieved 2017-01-25.
- ^ Jefferies, R. P. S. in Biological Asymmetry and Handedness (eds Bock, G. R. & Marsh, J.) 94–127 (Wiley, Chichester, 1991)