Radiata Temporal range: Ediacaran – Recent | |
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A moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Subkingdom: | |
(unranked): | Radiata Linnaeus, 1758 |
Phyla | |
The Radiata is a superphylum which includes both the echinoderms and the ctenophores. It is not part of the usual classification system, and is not used by all biologists.
The group includes the radially symmetric animals of the Eumetazoa. The echinoderms, however, are members of the Bilateria, because they exhibit bilateral symmetry in their developing stages. Their radial symmetry is secondary.
Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 1983 defined a subkingdom called Radiata consisting of the phyla Porifera, Myxozoa, Placozoa, Cnidaria and Ctenophora in Radiata, that is, all the animals that are not in Bilateria.