. "\"The process whose specific outcome is the progression of the ventral cord over time, from its formation to the mature structure. The ventral cord is one of the distinguishing traits of the central nervous system of all arthropods (such as insects, crustaceans and arachnids) as well as many other invertebrates, such as the annelid worms.\" [GOC:bf, GOC:go_curators, http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/S/Spemann.html]" . . "ventral cord development" . .