Kingdom Animalia – Platyhelminthes

Table of Contents

• Phylum Platyhelminthes

– Reproduction

• Summary
• What’s Next?

In the previous segment of the chapter ‘Diversity in Living Organisms’, we studied about the

phylum Coelenterata. In this segment, let us get introduced to the phylum Platyhelminthes.

What is Phylum Platyhelminthes?

Flatworm Tapeworms

• The phylum Platyhelminthes includes the organisms with a flat body.
• They are flatworms with a dorso-ventrally flattened body.

For example, tapeworms.

• Their body is symmetrical bilaterally and can be divided into two equal parts when cut through the central axis.

Embryonic layers

• These organisms do not have a true body cavity which makes them acoelomate organisms. Their bodies are triploblastic, formed from three proper embryonic layers namely endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm.