Phylum Platyhelminthes is commonly known as the flatworms, including free-living flatworms (class Turbellaria), as well as mostly parasitic flukes and tapeworms (classes Monogenea, Trematoda, and Cestoda). Collectively, they are primitive organisms that are flat, soft-bodied, and symmetrical.
Recent molecular studies suggest that the
Platyhelminthes as a whole may have arisen as two independent groups from different ancestral groups. If this is correct, most of the flatworms may belong to the Lophotrochozoa, a large group within the animal kingdom that includes molluscs and earthworms, while the rest belong near the base of animal diversity.
A tool for future research on the parasitic Platyhelminthes (Aspidogastrea, Digenea, Polyopisthocotylea, Monopisthocotylea, Gyrocotylidea, Amphilinidea, and Eucestoda). www.mnhn.fr/mnhn/bpph/Data/Spermplaty
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