Metazoa

American  

[met-uh-zoh-uh] / ˌmɛt əˈzoʊ ə /

noun

1. a zoological group comprising the multicellular animals.

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Other Word Forms

• metazoal adjective
• metazoan adjective
• metazoic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Metazoa

From New Latin, dating back to 1870–75; see origin at meta-, -zoa

Example Sentences

Our integrative analyses place Ctenophora as the earliest lineage within Metazoa.

From Nature • May 20, 2014

These two forms at least indicate a possible stepping-stone from Ctenophora to 594 Turbellaria, that is to say, from diploblastic to triploblastic Metazoa.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various

At the same time it is necessary to observe that it is by no means certain that the mesoderm found in various groups of Metazoa is a similar or homologous formation in all cases.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various

The main assumption was that the neural or blastoporal surface must be homologous throughout the Metazoa, though it was dorsal in the Chordata, ventral in the Annelida and Arthropoda.

From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

These are presented to us when we study the early stages in the development of the embryos of the Metazoa in general.

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Spencer, Herbert