In today's society and modern medicine, animals are extremely important in research, particularly in translational research. Translational research is research that applies its findings to medical practices as well as a myriad of other fields in order to positively influence subjects (Rubio et al. 470-475). Research cannot be done on humans for moral reasons, which is why animals are used. To ensure that animals are not mistreated during research, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must approve research projects requiring the use of animals. Some animals are used during research. Let's find out which animals and why. Chords are an important phylum in research. This phylum includes a wide variety of animals ranging from birds and snakes to rats and mice. Chordates are presumed to be descendants of echinoderms and date back to the Precambrian era. Some characteristics of chordates include living in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater habitats, bilateral symmetry, triploblasticity, and, most importantly, the five hallmarks shared among all chordates, w...