Neodermata Explained

Neodermata is a clade of rhabditophoran flatworms containing the parasitic groups Trematoda, Monogenea and Cestoda.

Description

All neodermatans are parasites, in many groups having a free-swimming larval stage. The most striking feature uniting all neodermatans is that the ciliated epidermis (typical of most flatworms) is cast off in adult worms, being replaced by a syncytium called tegument or neodermis. Other characters found in all neodermatans are related to the anatomy of the protonephridium and the rootlets of epidermal locomotory cilia.[1]

Phylogeny

Currently, the monophyly of Neodermata is undisputed, being supported by both morphological and molecular data.[2] It is clear that they evolved from free-living flatworms (turbellarians), but their sister-group was for a long time a matter of debate. The first attempts to reconstruct the phylogeny of flatworms, based on morphological evidence, considered Rhabdocoela to be the sister-group of Neodermata, but this was based on weak morphological similarities and was not supported by molecular studies.[3]

The most recent evidences put the order Bothrioplanida as the sister-group of Neodermata, uniting them in a clade called Bothrioneodermata.

Notes and References

  1. Rohde . K. . Phylogeny of platyhelminthes, with special reference to parasitic groups . International Journal for Parasitology . 20 . 8 . 1990 . 979–1007 . 0020-7519 . 10.1016/0020-7519(90)90041-K. 2074143 .
  2. Littlewood . D. T. J. . Rohde . K. . Bray . R. A. . Herniou . E. A. . Phylogeny of the Platyhelminthes and the evolution of parasitism . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . 68 . 1–2 . 1999 . 257–287 . 0024-4066 . 10.1111/j.1095-8312.1999.tb01169.x. free .
  3. Egger . B. . Lapraz . F. . Tomiczek . B. . Müller . S. . Dessimoz . C. . Girstmair . J. . Škunca . N. . Rawlinson . K. A. . Cameron . C. B. . Beli . E. . Todaro . M. A. . Gammoudi . M. . Norẽna . C. . Telford . M. . A transcriptomic-phylogenomic analysis of the evolutionary relationships of flatworms . Current Biology . 2015 . 25 . 10 . 1347–1353 . 10.1016/j.cub.2015.03.034. 25866392 . 4446793 .