Within the Animal Kingdom there are many phyla, or categories of
animals. One such category is chordata. All chordates have, at some
time in their development, a notochord. For some animals this
notocord later develops into a spinal column
Vertebrates are members of the subphylum vertebrata: chordates
with backbones or spinal columns.
Vertebrate zoology is the study of non-human vertebrates.