Platyzoa
superphylum of animals
The Platyzoa ("flat animals") are a group of protostomes proposed by Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 1998. This is a taxon above the level of phylum, and is not part of the usual system of classification.
Platyzoa | |
---|---|
Pseudobiceros bedfordi (Bedford's Flatworm) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Subkingdom: | |
(unranked): | |
Superphylum: | Platyzoa Cavalier-Smith, 1998
|
Phyla | |
Cavalier-Smith included here the Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and a new phylum Acanthognatha, into which he gathered several previously described phyla of microscopic animals. Subsequent studies have supported Platyzoa as a viable clade, while differing on the phyla included and on relationships within Platyzoa.