<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><!DOCTYPE Zthes SYSTEM "http://zthes.z3950.org/xml/zthes-05.dtd">  <Zthes><term><termId>31339683</termId><termName>Protochordata</termName><termType>PT</termType><termNote><![CDATA[ Group of marine animals characterized by having at some point in their life cycle a hollow dorsal nerve cord, a notochord, and gill slits, including hemichordates, urochordates, cephalochordates, or any hypothetical ancestral form of any of these. The protochordates lack a skull and vertebrae and are believed to resemble the ancestors of the vertebrates. They include the subphylums of Tunicata and Cephalochordata. ]]></termNote><termCreatedDate>2026-03-30 20:31:36</termCreatedDate><relation><relationType>UF</relationType><termId>31339684</termId><termName>protochordate</termName><termType>ND</termType></relation><relation><relationType>UF</relationType><termId>31339685</termId><termName>protochordates</termName><termType>ND</termType></relation><relation><relationType>BT</relationType><termId>31316352</termId><termName>Chordata</termName><termType>PT</termType></relation><relation><relationType>NT</relationType><termId>31339660</termId><termName>Tunicata</termName><termType>PT</termType></relation><relation><relationType>NT</relationType><termId>31339665</termId><termName>Vertebrata</termName><termType>PT</termType></relation></term>  </Zthes>