Trichoplax

Trichoplax is a genus of simple marine animals in the phylum Placozoa, represented by the living species Trichoplax adhaerens. Its flattened body has no organs or true tissues.

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Trichoplax adhaerens: The best-known living placozoan species, a small, flattened marine animal. This species is the living representative of the genus Trichoplax.
Ciliary locomotion: Movement produced by coordinated beating of cilia. Trichoplax glides over surfaces using cilia on its lower epithelial cells.
Animal evolution: The evolutionary history and diversification of animals. Trichoplax offers a living comparison for reconstructing early animal traits.
Placozoan genome: The genetic material of a placozoan, including genes involved in cell signaling and development. The sequenced Trichoplax genome revealed unexpectedly complex gene repertoires.
Placozoa: A phylum of simple, flattened marine animals with few cell types and no organs. Trichoplax belongs to this phylum, whose name reflects its plate-like body.
Extracellular digestion: The breakdown of food outside cells by secreted digestive substances. Trichoplax releases digestive enzymes onto food beneath its body.
Metazoa: The kingdom of multicellular animals, including sponges, placozoans, and vertebrates. Placozoans are animals, though their branching position among animal lineages remains debated.
Hox gene: A developmental regulatory gene that helps specify body regions along an animal’s axis. Hox-like genes in Trichoplax complicate simple links between these genes and complex bodies.
Epithelial cell: A cell that forms a sheet covering a body surface or lining an internal space. Trichoplax has upper and lower epithelial layers despite lacking true tissues.
Phagocytosis: The uptake of particles or cells by engulfing them with a cell membrane. Some food particles are taken up by cells after external digestion.