Rotifera
Sign in to saveThe rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals.
AI overview
Rotifers are tiny animals so small you need a microscope to see them, and they're named "wheel animals" because they have rotating structures around their mouths that look like spinning wheels. They represent their own distinct group (phylum) in the animal kingdom and are found in many aquatic and semi-aquatic environments around the world.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- invertebrate
- Parent taxon
- Spiralia
- Image
- Rotifer.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- P105
- phylum
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy and naming
- Etymology
- Anatomy
- Nervous system
- Retrocerebral organ
- Retrocerebral organ secretions
- Digestive system
- Biology
- Feeding
- Reproduction and life cycle
- Loss of sexual reproduction system
- Resting eggs
- Anhydrobiosis
- Predators
- Genome size
- Gallery
- References
- External links
The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals.
They were first described by Rev. John Harris in 1696, and other forms were described by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1703. Most rotifers are around long (although their size can range from to over ), and are common in freshwater environments throughout the world with a few saltwater species.