| Organization | Cellular | Porifera |
| Tissue | Cnidaria, Ctenophora |
| Organ | Platyhelminthes |
| Organ-system | Aschelminthes, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Echinodermata, Hemichordata, Chordata |
| Symmetry | Asymmetrical/Radial | Porifera |
| Radial | Cnidaria, Ctenophora, adult Echinodermata |
| Bilateral | Platyhelminthes, Aschelminthes, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Hemichordata, Chordata |
| Germ Layers | None (cellular) | Porifera |
| Diploblastic | Cnidaria, Ctenophora |
| Triploblastic | Platyhelminthes → Chordata (all remaining) |
| Coelom | Absent | Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora |
| Acoelomate | Platyhelminthes |
| Pseudocoelomate | Aschelminthes |
| Coelomate | Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Echinodermata, Hemichordata, Chordata |
| Excretion | Flame cells | Platyhelminthes |
| Nephridia | Annelida |
| Malpighian tubules | Arthropoda |
| Water vascular system diffusion | Echinodermata |
| Circulation | None | Platyhelminthes, Aschelminthes |
| Closed | Annelida (most), Cephalopoda, ALL Vertebrata |
| Open | Arthropoda, most Mollusca |
| Segmentation | True metameric | Annelida |
| Tagmatization | Arthropoda |
| None | All others |