ENTEROCOELOMATE


Meaning of ENTEROCOELOMATE in English

any animal in which the body cavity (coelom) arises in the embryonic stage as an outpocketing of the developing gut (enteron). This form of development, found in echinoderms (e.g., starfishes, sea urchins) and a few other invertebrate phyla and in chordates (e.g., fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals), has been viewed as evidence of the common ancestry of echinoderms and chordates.

Britannica English vocabulary.      Английский словарь Британика.