The taxon, ‘Phylum’ is the largest group. There are several such Phyla constituting the animal kingdom.
Members of a Phylum are recognized by certain distinctive features as shown below with different types of phylum and their characteristics.
Characters | Phylum |
Single celled animals | Protozoa |
Pore bearers | Porifera |
Common body cavity and digestive cavity | Coelenterata |
Flatworms | Platyhelminthes |
Thread-like worms | Nematoda |
Metamerically segmented animal | Annelida |
Having jointed legs | Arthropoda |
Soft bodied | Mollusca |
Spiny skinned | Echinodermata |
Having notochord | Chordata |
Apart from one specific character, the members of the Phylum may also show other common characters as well. Since a Phylum comprises enormous varieties of animals, it is further subdivided as given below:
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A Class is the next level in the hierarchy. There are only few Classes in a Phylum. The members of each Class are identified by some specific character. Thus for example the Phylum : Protozoa comprises four Classes as follows.
Class | Characteristics |
Rhizopoda | with root like pseudopodia |
Ciliata | having cilia |
Flagellata | having flagellum |
Sporozoa | producing spores |
Each Class may further be divided into Superorders or Orders
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An Order is another level in the taxonomic hierarchy. It is marked by some specific feature. A Class may have several Orders. For example, the Class : Insecta is subdivided into nearly 29 Orders. Each Order is identified by a specific character .
ORDER | CHARACTER | EXAMPLE |
Aptera | No wing | Lepisma |
Coleoptera | Horny wings | Beetles |
Lepidoptera | Scaly wings | Butterflies |
Diptera | Two winged | Mosquitoes |
Hymenoptera | Membranous wings | Wasps |
and the Order is subdivided into Families
There are total 34 to 36 phylum’s and total number of phylum’s under animal kingdom vastly explained but nine or 10 or described extent species and they are:
There are total of 34 known phylums based on different species and some on extrapolations to numbers of not previously known species , below is the phylum name along with their common names.
Phylum | Common name |
Acanthocephala | Thorny-headed worms |
Annelida | Segmented worms |
Arthropoda | Insects, crustaceans |
Brachiopoda | Lampshells |
Bryozoa | Moss animals, sea mats, ectoprocts |
Chaetognatha | Arrow worms |
Chordata | Chordates |
Cnidaria | Cnidarians |
Ctenophora | Comb jellies |
Cycliophora | Symbion |
Echinodermata | Echinoderms |
Entoprocta | Goblet worms |
Gastrotricha | Gastrotrich worms |
Gnathostomulida | Jaw worms |
Hemichordata | Acorn worms, hemichordates |
Kinorhyncha | Mud dragons |
Loricifera | Brush heads |
Micrognathozoa | Limnognathia |
Mollusca | Mollusks / molluscs |
Nematoda | Round worms, thread worms |
Nematomorpha | Horsehair worms, gordian worms |
Nemertea | Ribbon worms, rhynchocoela |
Onychophora | Velvet worms |
Orthonectida | Orthonectids |
Phoronida | Horseshoe worms |
Placozoa | Trichoplaxes |
Platyhelminthes | Flatworms |
Porifera | Sponges |
Priapulida | Penis worms |
Rhombozoa | Rhombozoans |
Rotifera | Rotifers |
Sipuncula | Peanut worms |
Tardigrada | Water bears |
Xenacoelomorpha | Acoels, xenoturbellids |
The seven phylums are, Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and Chordata
Here is how to pronounce phylum