Deuterostome
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| Deuterostomes Fossil range: Late Ediacaran - Recent |
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| A Sea cucumber | |||||||||
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Deuterostomes (Deuterostomia) are a superphylum of animals. They are a subtaxon of the Bilateria branch of the subregnum Eumetazoa, and are opposed to the protostomes. Deuterostomes are distingued by their embryo, in deuterostomes, the first opening (the blastopore) becomes the anus, while in protostomes it becomes the mouth.
[change] Classification
There are four living phyla of deuterostomes:
- Phylum Chordata (vertebrates and their kin)
- Phylum Echinodermata (starfishes, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc.)
- Phylum Hemichordata (acorn worms and possibly graptolites)
- Phylum Xenoturbellida (2 species of worm-like animals)
