KingdomAnimalia

I'd like to start filling in some of these categories, so that new animals can be filed into a tree rather than a flat list. However, I'm not entirely sure I like the naming system I originally came up with. Does anyone have an opinion on whether subcategories should be things like PhylumPorifera, PoriFera or SpongE?

Characteristics that set animals off from other eukaryotes:

• Oogamous, with anteriorly uniflagellate sperm
• Multicellular diploid individuals with an initial blastula stage (ie zygote divides to form a hollow sphere)
• Cells separated by septate junctions, presence of collagen in extracellular matrix

...and that's about it. In the "higher" animals (Metazoa) the individuals are differentiated into a variety of cell types, usually grouped to form distinct organs, and typically include muscles and nerves. The individual is radially or bilaterally symmetrical and has a definite adult morphology (unlike a plant, which just sort of grows).

Parazoan and mesozoan animals:

• PhylumPorifera
• PhylumRhombozoa
• PhylumOrthonectida
• PhylumPlacozoa

Lower metazoa:

• PhylumCnidaria (=Ctenophora)
• PhylumCtenophora
• PhylumPlatyhelminthes - probably paraphyletic to higher groups
• PhylumRotifera
• PhylumAcanthocephala

Trochozoa:

• PhylumNemertea
• PhylumMollusca (e.g. AbalonE)
• PhylumSipuncula
• PhylumEchiura
• PhylumPogonophora
• PhylumVestimentifera
• PhylumAnnelida

Ecdysozoa:

• PhylumCephalorhyncha (=priapulids, kinorhynchs, loriciferans)
• PhylumNematoda
• PhylumNematomorpha
• PhylumOnychophora
• PhylumTardigrada
• PhylumArthropoda

Lophophorata:

• PhylumBrachiopoda
• PhylumEctoprocta (=Bryozoa)
• PhylumPhoronida

Deuterostomia:

• PhylumChaetognatha
• PhylumEchinodermata
• PhylumHemichordata
• PhylumChordata (e.g. HomoSapiens, AardvarK, WolF)