Matrotrophy associated with vertebrates and especially mammals, matrotrophy is found in 21 of 34 animal phyla, and is fairly common in 11 of those. It has arisen independently in more than 150 clades within Chordata and in more than 140 clades amongst invertebrates. Matrotrophy Matrotrophy is a form of maternal care during embryo development. Some flowering plants supplied the developing embryos for the first stages. The ovule has no stocks and the nutrients are provided by the "mother". In plants, matrotrophy is considered a critical evolutionary development preceding the origin of embryophytes and therefore essential to the evolution of land plants.
Venom Other insects, such as true bugs and many ants, also produce venom. At least one ant species ("Polyrhachis dives") has been shown to use venom topically for the sterilisation of pathogens. There are venomous invertebrates in several phyla, including jellyfish such as the dangerous box jellyfish and sea anemones among the Cnidaria, sea urchins among the Echinodermata, and cone snails and cephalopods including octopuses among the Molluscs. Venom is found in some 200 cartilaginous fishes, including stingrays, sharks, and chimaeras; the catfishes (about 1000 venomous species); and 11 clades of spiny-rayed fishes (Acanthomorpha), containing the scorpionfishes (over 300 species), stonefishes