deoxyribonucleic acid, desoxyribonucleic acid, DNA(noun) (biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information.
But even adults don't often know what a notochord is. A notochord is a primitive beginning to the backbone. It appears in embryos as a small flexible rod made from cells from the mesoderm, which is one of the three layers of cells of embryos. Notochords are only found in the phylum chordata, a group of animals that includes humans.
this is because the number of vertebrae is one of the characteristics used to classify mammals thus u will find all mammals with this distinction, vertebrates fall under the phylum Chordata which includes all animals that possess an organ called a notochord.