Question

How useful is the study of the nature of body cavity and coelom in the classification of animals?

Answer 1

Coelom is a fluid filled space between the body wall and digestive tract. The presence or absence of body cavity or coelom plays a very important role in the classification of animals. Animals that possess a fluid filled cavity between body wall and digestive tract are known as coelomates. Annelids, mollusks, arthropods, echinodermates, and chordates are examples of coelomates. On the other hand, the animals in which the body cavity is not lined by mesoderm are known as pseudocoelomates. In such animals, mesoderm is scattered in between ectoderm and endoderm. Aschelminthes is an example of pseudocoelomates. In certain animals, the body cavity is absent. They are known as acoelomates. An example of acoelomates is platyhelminthes.