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Calcarea & Silicea
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Calcarea and Silicea are basically defined as sponges, still animals that simply lack tissues.
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They were previously mistaken as plants.
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They live as suspension feeders, so they have to wait for particles to float by to consume them.
- They are basal animals, meaning they are very closely related to the original invertebrate ancestor.
- They may not have tissues, but they do have layers of cells that classify them as animals.
- They are known for producing antibiotics and other medicines.
- They are using them to treat Streptococcus, as well as being tested for cancer treatments.
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Cnidaria
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One of the oldest lineages in the clade Eumetazoa, animals with true tissues.
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They are known for representing those animals that haven't physically changed in 570 million years.
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The basic body plan is a sac that has two functions: as a mouth and an anus.
- They are also only found in two forms: in polyp form, face=up, or medusa form, face-down.
- They are carnivores that tend to have tentacles around their mouth to catch their prey.
- As they do no have a brain, their movements are coordinated by a nerve net instead.
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Lophotrochozia
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Not only are they in the Eumetazoa clade, but also in the Bilateria clase, which shows bilateral symmetry and develpment.
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Lophotrochozoa were identified by molecular data.
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Its name came from some of the physical features of the group.
- They are the most diverse clade in terms of body plan.
- The diversity is shown through the number of animal phyla in the group: 18 animal phyla. This is more than twice the number of any other group.
- Most members consist of a lophophore, which is a crown of tentacles that help in eating. This is what the group was named for.
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Ecdysozoa
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They were found primarily by molecular evidence.
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It includes animals that shed an external coat, a cuticle, as they grow.
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The group actually received their name for this shedding process, called molting or ecdysis.
- It consists of 8 animal phyla.
- It contains more species than all other plant, protist, animal, and fungus groups combined.
- Two of the largest and successful phyla it has are the nematodes and arthropods.
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Deuterostomia
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Much of this group consists of the phylum Chordata, which actually includes vertebrates, but we are not going to include them.
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Some of the invertebrate Deuterostomia do have similar characteristics to vertebrates, though.
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They have radial cleavage and the formation of the mouth opposite of the blastopore.
- This group is defined primarily by DNA similarities, not developmental.
- This is because molecular evidence indicates that some animal phyla from other groups could technically be classified into this group.
- The three groups of invertebrates placed in the Chordata group are lancelets, tunicates, and hagfishes.