Placozoa
E443082
Placozoa is a phylum of simple, flat, millimeter-sized marine animals with only a few distinct cell types and no true tissues or organs, considered among the most basal and primitive of all multicellular animals.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
animal phylum
ⓘ
taxon ⓘ |
| bodyPlan | dorsoventrally flattened body ⓘ |
| bodyShape | flat ⓘ |
| cellAdhesion | simple cell junctions ⓘ |
| cellLayerOrganization |
intermediate fiber cell layer
ⓘ
lower epithelial layer ⓘ upper epithelial layer ⓘ |
| cellTypeDiversity | few distinct cell types ⓘ |
| circulatorySystem | no circulatory system ⓘ |
| commonName | placozoans ⓘ |
| describedAs | simple marine animals ⓘ |
| diet |
bacteria
ⓘ
microalgae ⓘ organic detritus ⓘ |
| digestiveSystem | no true gut ⓘ |
| discovery | first described in the late 19th century ⓘ |
| distribution | cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical seas ⓘ |
| domain | Eukaryota NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| evolutionarySignificance | among the simplest known multicellular animals ⓘ |
| feedingMode |
external digestion
ⓘ
phagocytosis ⓘ |
| gasExchange | diffusion across body surface ⓘ |
| genomeFeatures |
contains many genes shared with other metazoans
ⓘ
relatively small genome ⓘ |
| germLayers | diploblastic or ambiguous germ layer organization ⓘ |
| habitat |
benthic zone
ⓘ
marine environments ⓘ |
| kingdom | Animalia ⓘ |
| lifestyle | free-living ⓘ |
| locomotion | ciliary gliding ⓘ |
| musculature | no true muscles ⓘ |
| nervousSystem | no true nervous system ⓘ |
| notableSpecies | Trichoplax adhaerens NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| organOrganization | lacking true organs ⓘ |
| osmoregulation | diffusion-based ⓘ |
| phylogeneticPosition | basal metazoans ⓘ |
| reproduction |
asexual reproduction by budding
ⓘ
asexual reproduction by fission ⓘ sexual reproduction (poorly understood) ⓘ |
| researchUse |
model for early animal evolution
ⓘ
model for minimal multicellularity ⓘ |
| respiratorySystem | no specialized respiratory organs ⓘ |
| skeleton | lacks hard skeleton ⓘ |
| substrateAssociation | moves along hard substrates ⓘ |
| symmetry | asymmetrical ⓘ |
| taxonRank | phylum ⓘ |
| tissueOrganization | lacking true tissues ⓘ |
| typicalSize | millimeter-sized ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.