Eutelic organisms have a fixed number of

somatic cell A somatic cell (from Ancient Greek σῶμα ''sôma'', meaning "body"), or vegetal cell, is any biological cell forming the body of a multicellular organism other than a gamete, germ cell, gametocyte or undifferentiated stem cell. Such cells compo ...

s when they reach maturity, the exact number being relatively constant for any one

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. This phenomenon is also referred to as cell constancy. Development proceeds by cell division until maturity; further growth occurs via cell enlargement only. This growth is known as auxetic growth. It is shown by members of phylum

Aschelminth The Aschelminthes (also known as Aeschelminthes, Nemathelminthes, Nematodes), closely associated with the Platyhelminthes, are an obsolete phylum of pseudocoelomate and other similar animals that are no longer considered closely related and have be ...

es. In some cases, individual organs show eutelic properties while the organism itself does not.

Background

In 1909, Eric Martini coined the term eutely to describe the idea of cell constancy and to introduce a term literature sources would be able to use to identify organisms with a fixed amount and arrangement of cells and tissues. Since the introduction of eutely in the early 1900s, textbooks and theories of

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

and

ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...

have not provided it mindfulness. Advancements in the field of eutely has been developed by morphologists. Eutely has come under scrutiny by many

zoologists This is a list of notable zoologists who have published names of new taxa under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A * Abe – Tokiharu Abe (1911–1996) * Abeille de Perrin, Ab. – Elzéar Abeille de Perrin (1843–1910) * ...

Mendelians Mendelian inheritance (also known as Mendelism) is a type of biology, biological Heredity, inheritance following the principles originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866, re-discovered in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, an ...

, and

uniformitarianism Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in ...

-supporters, as it has previously been widely accepted that body size is determined solely by the amount of somatic cells found within the organism. Studying of eutelic organisms has also proved challenging, as most eutelic organisms are microscopic. Additionally, there is potential for mistakes in cell counting (often completed via an automated cell counter) and observation when larger organisms have numerous cells. In organisms of small size, errors in the examination and explanation of units may entirely negate reconstructions and deductions. Therefore, investigation of most eutelic organisms is done with intense scrutiny and review. There are two distinct classes of organisms which display eutely: # Eutelic organisms whose somatic cells show a fixed, or complete pattern of cell and tissue number and arrangement # Eutelic organisms whose somatic cells show a limited, or incomplete pattern of cell and tissue number and arrangement

Examples

Eutely has been confirmed to certain degrees in various forms of diversity and sections of the

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History ...

. Examples include

rotifer The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...

s, many species of

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s (including

ascaris ''Ascaris'' is a genus of parasite, parasitic nematode worms known as the "small intestinal roundworms", which is a type of parasitic worm. One species, ''Ascaris lumbricoides'', affects humans and causes the disease ascariasis. Another species ...

and the organism ''

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (ro ...

'' whose male individuals have 1,033 cells),

tardigrades Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ...

larvacea Larvaceans, class Appendicularia, are solitary, free-swimming tunicates found throughout the world's oceans. Like most tunicates, larvaceans are filter feeders. Unlike most other tunicates, they live in the pelagic zone, specifically in the pho ...

and

dicyemida Dicyemida, also known as Rhombozoa, is a phylum of tiny parasites that live in the renal appendages of cephalopods. Taxonomy Classification is controversial. Traditionally, dicyemids have been grouped with the Orthonectida in the Mesozoa, an ...

. Other examples of eutely have been found in the chordate subphylum Tunicata. Additionally, examples of cell constancy have been seen among

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s, specifically within sensory and nervous organs. Circumstances of partial cell consistency has been discovered in various

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

Annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

s have been observed to provide evidence demonstrating constancy in the amount and arrangement of cells in larva of various species and in certain nervous cells of

leech Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodie ...

es. The phylums

Rotifer The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...

and

Gastrotrich The gastrotrichs ( phylum Gastrotricha), commonly referred to as hairybellies or hairybacks, are a group of microscopic (0.06-3.0 mm), worm-like, acoelomate animals, and are widely distributed and abundant in freshwater and marine environme ...

a are thought to show absolute cell constancy. Preliminary studies of

s led scientists to believe only single organs of nematodes showed eutely. However, later evidence proved complete cell constancy for the tissues of multiple nematode forms. Within the

Acanthocephala Acanthocephala (Greek , ', thorn + , ', head) is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to p ...

n phylum, various degrees of constancy have been studied but cell number and arrangement constancy has been seen in at least one family. Within the

Platyhelminthes The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a Phylum (biology), phylum of relati ...

, subphylum

Turbellaria The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from to large freshwater forms more ...

display evidence of constancy. Organisms within class

Trematoda Trematoda is a Class (biology), class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate parasite, obligate internal Parasitism, parasites with a complex biological life cycle, life cycle requiring at least two Host_(biology), hosts. The intermedia ...

display constant gland cell number as do

epithelial cells Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellula ...

in a few

Miracidia Trematodes are parasitic flatworms of the class ''Trematoda'', specifically parasitic flukes with two suckers: one ventral and the other oral. Trematodes are covered by a tegument, that protects the organism from the environment by providing sec ...

Phylogeny

Since eutelic organisms have displayed such wide variety and diversity in lineage and ancestry, there is yet to be an attempt to establish a phylogenetic relationship. Previous researchers have made efforts to determine the relationship between trematodes and rotifers as their complete constancy qualities suggest a close relatedness. In the most primitive

Protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

species, close to where animals differentiated from plants, certain microscopic

flagellate A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word ''flagellate'' also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and their ...

s might provide clues to how cell constancy in animals developed. These organisms have the ability to establish colonies with distinct amounts of cells. This quality is assumed to have been passed on to all subsequent

metazoan Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motility, able to move, ca ...

groups: the development of constant cell numbers. However, this trait is thought to have been lost when new conditions or more influential genes were introduced to the developmental program.

''Hydatina senta''

Until 2001, roundworm species ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' was considered to be the model organism for complete cell constancy. However, research has unveiled that in the epidermis of these organisms, as the mean cell number increased, as did the variance in cell number within that species. These studies revealed that variability in most taxa assumed to be eutelic is not abnormally low. A relationship between mean cell number and cell number variation was established following a law possessing an exponent of 2 upon a variety of multicellular eutelic taxa. ''Hydratina senta'' (Phylum Rotifera, Order

Bdelloidea Bdelloidea (Greek ''βδέλλα'', ''bdella'', "leech") is a class of rotifers found in freshwater habitats all over the world. There are over 450 described species of bdelloid rotifers (or 'bdelloids'), distinguished from each other mainly o ...

) is a species of rotifers which demonstrate the most complete cell constancy of any species studied before 1912. Studies have revealed 958 somatic cells in female Hydatina. Hydatina somatic cell nuclei have spatial zones and are easily counted and compared to other counts from that of the same species. The cells from

gastric glands The gastric glands are glands in the lining of the stomach that play an essential role in the process of digestion. All of the glands have mucus-secreting foveolar cells. Mucus lines the entire stomach, and protects the stomach lining from the ef ...

and the

vitellarium {{Short pages monitor