PPT Slide

General Characteristics

• They exhibit bilateral symmetry: anterior and posterior ends are different; so are the dorsal (top) and ventral (bottom) surfaces

• The platyhelminths also exhibit some degree of cephalization Commonly referred to as the 'flatworms' because their bodies are dorsoventrally flattened.

• They are acoelomates

• This phylum (and all remaining phyla) possess 3 germ layers (=triploblastic)

• The mesoderm (third germ layer) gives rise to muscles, various organ systems, and the parenchyma, a form of solid tissue containing cells and fibers

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