Xenacoelomorpha
Xenacoelomorpha () is a small phylum of bilaterian invertebrate animals, consisting of two sister groups: xenoturbellids and acoelomorphs. This new phylum was named in February 2011 and suggested based on morphological synapomorphies (physical appearances shared by the animals in the clade), which was then confirmed by phylogenomic analyses of molecular data (similarities in the DNA of the animals within the clade). Phylogenetics Prior to molecular studies, xenacoelomorphs were considered to be flatworms based on their superficial similarities. Like flatworms, they do not have a coelom and are dorsoventrally flattened. With the advent of phylogenetics, '' Xenoturbella'' and Acoelomorpha were found to be sister groups and only distantly related to flatworms. Initially this phylum was considered to be a member of the deuterostomes, but because of recent transcriptome analyses, it was concluded that phylum Xenacoelomorpha is the sister group to the Nephrozoa, which includes ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bilateria
Bilateria () is a large clade of animals characterised by bilateral symmetry during embryonic development. This means their body plans are laid around a longitudinal axis with a front (or "head") and a rear (or "tail") end, as well as a left–right–symmetrical belly ( ventral) and back ( dorsal) surface. Nearly all bilaterians maintain a bilaterally symmetrical body as adults; the most notable exception is the echinoderms, which have pentaradial symmetry as adults, but bilateral symmetry as embryos. With few exceptions, bilaterian embryos are triploblastic, having three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm, and have complete digestive tracts with a separate mouth and anus. Some bilaterians lack body cavities, while others have a primary body cavity derived from the blastocoel, or a secondary cavity, the coelom. Cephalization is a characteristic feature among most bilaterians, where the sense organs and central nerve ganglia become concentrated at th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bilaterian
Bilateria () is a large clade of animals characterised by bilateral symmetry during embryonic development. This means their body plans are laid around a longitudinal axis with a front (or "head") and a rear (or "tail") end, as well as a left–right–symmetrical belly (ventral) and back (dorsal (anatomy), dorsal) surface. Nearly all bilaterians maintain a bilaterally symmetrical body as adults; the most notable exception is the echinoderms, which have pentaradial symmetry as adults, but bilateral symmetry as embryos. With few exceptions, bilaterian embryos are triploblastic, having three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm, and have complete digestive tracts with a separate mouth and anus. Some bilaterians lack body cavities, while others have a Pseudocoelomata, primary body cavity derived from the blastocoel, or a secondary cavity, the Coelomata, coelom. Cephalization is a characteristic feature among most bilaterians, where the sense organs and central nervous system ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Xenoturbella
''Xenoturbella'' is a genus of very simple bilaterians up to a few centimeters long. It contains a small number of marine benthic worm-like species. The first known species (''Xenoturbella bocki'') was collected in 1878 and 1879 in the Gullmar fiord on the Swedish west coast by August Malm and is stored in the collection of the Gothenburg Natural History Museum. A specimen is on display in the exhibition. It was collected again in the Gullmar fiord in 1915 by Sixten Bock, but it was only properly described in 1949 by Einar Westblad. The type specimens are kept at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. Description ''Xenoturbella'' has a very simple body plan. It consists of a dorsoventrally flattened acoelomate body, with a ventral furrow on each side running down from the anterior tip till they are stopped by an anterior circumferential furrow. It shows two ciliated epithelial layers: an external epidermis and an internal gastrodermis lining the simple sac-like g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Xenoturbellida
''Xenoturbella'' is a genus of very simple bilaterians up to a few centimeters long. It contains a small number of marine benthos, benthic worm-like species. The first known species (''Xenoturbella bocki'') was collected in 1878 and 1879 in the Gullmar fiord on the Swedish west coast by August Malm and is stored in the collection of the Gothenburg Natural History Museum. A specimen is on display in the exhibition. It was collected again in the Gullmar fiord in 1915 by Sixten Bock, but it was only properly described in 1949 by Einar Westblad. The type specimens are kept at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. Description ''Xenoturbella'' has a very simple body plan. It consists of a dorsoventrally flattened coelom#Acoelomates, acoelomate body, with a ventral furrow on each side running down from the anterior tip till they are stopped by an anterior circumferential furrow. It shows two ciliated epithelium, epithelial layers: an external epidermis (zoology), epidermi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Xenoturbellid
''Xenoturbella'' is a genus of very simple bilaterians up to a few centimeters long. It contains a small number of marine benthic worm-like species. The first known species (''Xenoturbella bocki'') was collected in 1878 and 1879 in the Gullmar fiord on the Swedish west coast by August Malm and is stored in the collection of the Gothenburg Natural History Museum. A specimen is on display in the exhibition. It was collected again in the Gullmar fiord in 1915 by Sixten Bock, but it was only properly described in 1949 by Einar Westblad. The type specimens are kept at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. Description ''Xenoturbella'' has a very simple body plan. It consists of a dorsoventrally flattened acoelomate body, with a ventral furrow on each side running down from the anterior tip till they are stopped by an anterior circumferential furrow. It shows two ciliated epithelial layers: an external epidermis and an internal gastrodermis lining the simple sac-like g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Acoelomorpha
Acoelomorpha is a subphylum of very simple and small soft-bodied organism, soft-bodied animals with planula-like features which live in marine (ocean), marine or brackish waters. They usually live between grains of sediment, swimming as plankton, or crawling on other organisms, such as algae and corals.Cannon, L. R. G. (1986) ''Turbellaria of the World. A guide to families and genera''. Brisbane, Queensland Museum, 136 p. With the exception of two acoel freshwater species, all known acoelomorphs are marine. Systematics Etymology The term "acoelomorph" derives from the Ancient Greek words (), the ''alpha privative'', expressing negation or absence, (), meaning "cavity", and (), meaning "form". This refers to the fact that acoelomorphs have a structure lacking a fluid-filled body cavity. Classification The subphylum Acoelomorpha is divided into two classes. There are at least 408 described species, with a majority of these falling within the Crucimusculata infraorder in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ambulacraria
Ambulacraria , or Coelomopora , is a clade of invertebrate phyla that includes echinoderms and hemichordates; a member of this group is called an ambulacrarian. Phylogenetic analysis suggests the echinoderms and hemichordates separated around 533 million years ago. The Ambulacraria are part of the deuterostomes, a clade that also includes the many Chordata, and the few extinct species belonging to the Vetulicolia. Phylogeny The two living clades with representative organisms are: * Echinodermata (sea stars, sea urchins, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, feather stars, sea lilies, etc.) * Hemichordata ( acorn worms (Enteropnuesta) and Pterobranchia (including Graptolithina)) (These together sometimes are called the ''lower deuterostomes''.) Whether the Xenacoelomorpha clade is the sister group to the Ambulacraria remains a contentious issue, with some authors arguing that the former should be placed more basally among metazoans, and other authors asserting that the best choice ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Acoelomorph
Acoelomorpha is a subphylum of very simple and small soft-bodied animals with planula-like features which live in marine or brackish waters. They usually live between grains of sediment, swimming as plankton, or crawling on other organisms, such as algae and corals.Cannon, L. R. G. (1986) ''Turbellaria of the World. A guide to families and genera''. Brisbane, Queensland Museum, 136 p. With the exception of two acoel freshwater species, all known acoelomorphs are marine. Systematics Etymology The term "acoelomorph" derives from the Ancient Greek words (), the ''alpha privative'', expressing negation or absence, (), meaning "cavity", and (), meaning "form". This refers to the fact that acoelomorphs have a structure lacking a fluid-filled body cavity. Classification The subphylum Acoelomorpha is divided into two classes. There are at least 408 described species, with a majority of these falling within the Crucimusculata infraorder in Acoela. * Acoela comprise small fla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are motility, able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of Cell (biology), cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Animals form a clade, meaning that they arose from a single common ancestor. Over 1.5 million extant taxon, living animal species have been species description, described, of which around 1.05 million are insects, over 85,000 are molluscs, and around 65,000 are vertebrates. It has been estimated there are as many as 7.77 million animal species on Earth. Animal body lengths range from to . They have complex ecologies and biological interaction, interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nephrozoa
Nephrozoa is a proposed major clade of bilaterian animals. Under this hypothesis, Xenacoelomorpha forms the earliest diverging branch of Bilateria, with all other bilaterians placed in Nephrozoa. It contrasts with the Xenambulacraria hypothesis, which instead posits that Xenacoelomorpha is most closely related to Ambulacraria (usually placed as Deuterostome, deuterostomes). Which hypothesis is correct has been debated, and as of 2024 the issue is unresolved. The clade is named after a key synapomorphy of the group: the presence of specialized excretory organs known as Nephridium, nephridia. Below is a proposed phylogenetic tree of Nephrozoa: References Further reading * * * External links * Bilaterians Ediacaran first appearances {{zoology-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deuterostomes
Deuterostomes (from Greek: ) are bilaterian animals of the superphylum Deuterostomia (), typically characterized by their anus forming before the mouth during embryonic development. Deuterostomia comprises three phyla: Chordata, Echinodermata, Hemichordata, and the extinct clade Cambroernida. In deuterostomes, the developing embryo's first opening (the blastopore) becomes the anus and cloaca, while the mouth is formed at a different site later on. This was initially the group's distinguishing characteristic, but deuterostomy has since been discovered among protostomes as well. The deuterostomes are also known as enterocoelomates, because their coelom develops through pouching of the gut, enterocoely. Deuterostomia's sister clade is Protostomia, animals that develop mouth first and whose digestive tract development is more varied. Protostomia includes the ecdysozoans and spiralians, as well as the extinct ''Kimberella''. Together with the Xenacoelomorpha, these constitute t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deuterostomia
Deuterostomes (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) are bilaterian animals of the superphylum Deuterostomia (), typically characterized by their anus forming before the mouth during embryogenesis, embryonic development. Deuterostomia comprises three Phylum, phyla: chordate, Chordata, Echinodermata, hemichordate, Hemichordata, and the extinct clade Cambroernida. In deuterostomes, the developing embryo's first opening (the blastopore) becomes the anus and cloaca, while the mouth is formed at a different site later on. This was initially the group's distinguishing characteristic, but deuterostomy has since been discovered among protostomes as well. The deuterostomes are also known as enterocoelomates, because their coelom develops through pouching of the gut, enterocoely. Deuterostomia's sister clade is Protostomia, animals that develop mouth first and whose digestive tract development is more varied. Protostomia includes the ecdysozoans and spiralians, as well as the extinct ''Kimberella'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |