Thread:Dinoman972/@comment-25175729-20180613014026/@comment-24941009-20180613150122

It does matter, but not as much as in real life. For example, all chordates are four limbed in real life, like their common ancestors, and if a creature with six limbs was to be discovered it would not be an ordinary chordate (the existance of such an animal has even been labeled as impossible, as the existence of a six-limbed chordate would have completely overriden the evolution of the species in the taxon as we know it, as all other chordates would be six-limbed as well). In the wiki, number of limbs is a lesser criteria, which is mostly used for separating families rather than entire phyla (plural for phylum).