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Factsheets
A Classroom Resource About Each Phylum
Factsheets
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Factsheet
Sponges: The TrailblazersScientists believe sponges are the oldest animal phylum. They first appeared about 600 million years ago.
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Factsheet
Cnidarians: The Polyp and MedusaScientists think that cnidarians were the first animals to have muscles and nerves to produce behavior.
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Factsheet
Flatworms: An Ancient Body PlanAround 20,000 flatworm species today have the same basic body plan that appeared roughly 500 million years ago.
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Factsheet
Annelids: Not Lowly, LovelyAnnelids are impressively adapted animals that live in every habitable niche on earth except the sky.
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Factsheet
Marine Arthropods: An Adaptive Body PlanMarine arthropods are the most abundant group of animals in the ocean.
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Terrestrial Arthropods: Bold Explorers!Arthropods were the first animals to venture out of the sea onto land all over the earth.
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Factsheet
Molluscs: Beauty and DiversityThe diversity of molluscs shows how a fleshy soft body plan can evolve into a variety of forms.
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Factsheet
Echinoderms: The Spiny RebelsModern echinoderms, which include sea stars, urchins, sea cucumbers and sea lilies, have a unique body plan with a five-part symmetry.
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Factsheet
Chordates: This Is UsThe chordate phylum includes both invertebrates (without backbones) and vertebrates (with backbones).
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Cambrian ExplosionThe Cambrian Explosion was a burst of animal evolution that occurred in the ocean about 540 million years ago.
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