In biology, a phylum (/ˈfaɪləm/; pl.: phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants accepts the terms as equivalent. Depending on definitions, the animal kingdom Animalia contains about 31 phyla, the plant kingdom Plantae contains about 14 phyla, and the fungus kingdom Fungi contains about eight phyla. Current research in phylogenetics is uncovering the relationships among phyla within larger clades like Ecdysozoa and Embryophyta.
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Superphyla in the context of Avalon Explosion
The Avalon explosion, named from the Precambrian faunal trace fossils discovered on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, eastern Canada, is a proposed evolutionary radiation of prehistoric animals about 575 million years ago in the Ediacaran period, with the Avalon explosion being one of three eras grouped in this time period. This evolutionary event is believed to have occurred some 33 million years earlier than the Cambrian explosion, which had been long thought to be when complex life started on Earth.
Scientists are still unsure of the full extent behind the development of the Avalon explosion, which resulted in a rapid increase in metazoan biodiversity, including the first appearance of some extant infrakingdoms/superphyla such as cnidarians and bilaterians. Many of the Avalon explosion animals are sessile soft-bodied organisms living in deep marine environments, and the first stages of the Avalon explosion were observed through comparatively minimal species.