| Girardia dorotocephala | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Order: | Tricladida |
| Family: | Dugesiidae |
| Genus: | Girardia |
| Species: | G. dorotocephala |
| Binomial name | |
| Girardia dorotocephala (Woodworth, 1897) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Girardia dorotocephala is a species of dugesiid triclad native to North America. [1] It has been accidentally introduced in Japan. [2] Girardia dorotocephala is cannibalistic, which led to its usage in memory transfer experiments. [3]
A planarian is one of the many flatworms of the traditional class Turbellaria. It usually describes free-living flatworms of the order Tricladida (triclads), although this common name is also used for a wide number of free-living platyhelminthes. Planaria are common to many parts of the world, living in both saltwater and freshwater ponds and rivers. Some species are terrestrial and are found under logs, in or on the soil, and on plants in humid areas.
Memory transfer was a biological process proposed by James V. McConnell and others in the 1960s. Memory transfer proposes a chemical basis for memory termed memory RNA which can be passed down through flesh instead of an intact nervous system. Since RNA encodes information living cells produce and modify RNA in reaction to external events, it might also be used in neurons to record stimuli. This explained the results of McConnell's experiments in which planarians retained memory of acquired information after regeneration. Memory transfer through memory RNA is not currently a well-accepted explanation and McConnell's experiments proved to be largely irreproducible.
Nidovirales is an order of enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses which infect vertebrates and invertebrates. Host organisms include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, molluscs, and helminths. The order includes the families Coronaviridae, Arteriviridae, Roniviridae, and Mesoniviridae.
Genome-based peptide fingerprint scanning (GFS) is a system in bioinformatics analysis that attempts to identify the genomic origin of sample proteins by scanning their peptide-mass fingerprint against the theoretical translation and proteolytic digest of an entire genome. This method is an improvement from previous methods because it compares the peptide fingerprints to an entire genome instead of comparing it to an already annotated genome. This improvement has the potential to improve genome annotation and identify proteins with incorrect or missing annotations.
Romankenkius is a genus of freshwater planarian in the family Dugesiidae.
Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms.
Bipalium is a genus of large predatory land planarians. They are often loosely called "hammerhead worms" or "broadhead planarians" because of the distinctive shape of their head region. Land planarians are unique in that they possess a "creeping sole", a highly ciliated region on the ventral epidermis that helps them to creep over the substrate. Native to Asia, several species are invasive to the United States, Canada, and Europe. Some studies have begun the investigation of the evolutionary ecology of these invasive planarians.
Continenticola is a clade that includes the land planarians (Geoplanidae) and the freshwater triclads.
Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater planarians distributed worldwide. The type genus is Dugesia Girard, 1850.
Girardia is a genus of freshwater planarians belonging to the family Dugesiidae.
Schmidtea is a genus of freshwater triclads. Species of the genus Schmidtea are widely used in regeneration and developmental studies.
Dugesia sicula is a species of dugesiid triclad that lives in freshwater bodies of the Mediterranean Basin, where it is widely distributed. It has been reported from Sicily, Elba and Mallorca, Eivissa, Sardinia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Crete.
Kenkiidae is a family of freshwater triclads. Their species can be found sporadically in caves, groundwater, and deep lakes in Central Asia, Far East and North America.
Girardia tigrina, known as the brown planarian or the immigrant triclad flatworm, is a species of dugesiid native to the Americas. It has been accidentally introduced into Europe and Japan.
Cura is a genus of freshwater flatworm (triclad)s belonging to the family Dugesiidae.
Neppia is a genus of dugesiid triclad that is found in South America, Subantarctic region, Africa, Tasmania and New Zealand.
Bdellocephala is a genus of freshwater triclad that inhabits different regions of Eurasia.
Geoplaninae is a subfamily of land planarians endemic to the Neotropical region. Members of this family are sometimes referred to as the Neotropical land planarians. However, one species, Obama nungara has been introduced in Europe.
The reproductive system of planarians is broadly similar among different families, although the associated structures can vary in complexity.
Masaharu Kawakatsu is a Japanese zoologist known for his studies on the taxonomy and ecology of planarians.
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