Endoskeleton three phyla and one subclass of animals, endoskeletons of various complexity are found: Chordata, Echinodermata, Porifera, and Coleoidea. An endoskeleton may function purely for support (as in the case of sponges), but often serves as an attachment site for muscle and a mechanism for transmitting muscular forces. A true endoskeleton is derived from mesodermal tissue. Such a skeleton is present in echinoderms and chordates. The poriferan 'skeleton' consists of microscopic calcareous or siliceous spicules or a spongin network. The Coleoidae do not have a true endoskeleton in the evolutionary sense; there, a mollusk exoskeleton evolved into several sorts of internal
Bacterial phyla Bacterial phyla The bacterial phyla are the major lineages, known as phyla or divisions, of the domain "Bacteria". In the scientific classification established by Carl von Linné, each bacterial strain has to be assigned to a species (binary nomenclature), which is a lower level of a hierarchy of ranks. Currently, the most accepted mega-classification system is under the three-domain system, which is based on molecular phylogeny. In that system, bacteria are members of the domain "Bacteria" and "phylum" is the rank below domain, since the rank "kingdom" is disused at present in bacterial taxonomy. When bacterial nomenclature was controlled under