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Platyhelminthes

Platyhelminthes (plăt"ēhelmin'thēz) [key], phylum containing about 20,000 species of soft-bodied, bilaterally symmetrical, invertebrate animals, commonly called flatworms. There are four classes: the free-living, primarily aquatic class, Turbellaria, and Trematoda, Cestoda, and Monogenea, which are considerably modified for their exclusively parasitic existence. While the structure of the flatworms marks a major step in animal evolution, their origin and relationships within the group are still controversial.

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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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Platyhelminthes: Class Turbellaria - Class Turbellaria The mostly free-living, primarily carnivorous, flatworms of class Turbellaria are ...

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Zoology: Invertebrates

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Observations on feeding behavior by the terrestrial flatworm bipalium adventitium (platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Terricola) from Illinois (The American Midland Naturalist)

Asexual Reproduction in Pygospic elegans C1aparede (Annelida, Polychaeta) in Relation to Parasitism by Lepocreadium setiferides (Miller and Northup) (Platyhelminthes, Trematoda). (The Biological Bulletin)

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