Platyzoa
| Platyzoa | |
|---|---|
| Pseudobiceros bedfordi (Bedford's Flatworm) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Subkingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| Superphylum: | Platyzoa Cavalier-Smith, 1998
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| Phyla | |
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The Platyzoa ("flat animals") are a group of protostomes proposed by Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 1998. This is a taxon above the level of phylum, and is not part of the usual system of classification.
Cavalier-Smith included here the Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and a new phylum Acanthognatha, into which he gathered several previously described phyla of microscopic animals. Subsequent studies have supported Platyzoa as a viable clade, while differing on the phyla included and on relationships within Platyzoa.