Hundreds of planarian species exist worldwide, representing a rich phenotypic diversity. This chapter presents an overview of the morphology and anatomy of various taxonomic groups of planarian flatworms, focusing on features enabling recognition and identification of the animals. The most recent view on the phylogenetic relationships of the planarians is presented, together with geographic distribution patterns of major groups of triclads. The chapter concludes with a brief methodological section outlining species identification on basis of anatomical features. In conjunction with the established laboratory model species, the phenotypic diversity of planarians provides rich opportunities for comparative studies, which this chapter aims to inspire.
CITATION STYLE
Sluys, R., & Riutort, M. (2018). Planarian diversity and phylogeny. In Methods in Molecular Biology (Vol. 1774, pp. 1–56). Humana Press Inc. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7802-1_1
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.