Corticata ("one with a cortex"), in the classification of eukaryotes (living organisms with a cell nucleus), is a clade suggested by Thomas Cavalier-Smith[1][dubious ] to encompass the eukaryote supergroups of the following two groups:
Corticata | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | |
(unranked): | Corticata or Bikonta Lankester 1878, emend. Cavalier-Smith, 2002
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Supergroups | |
Cavalier-Smith currently includes Rhizaria as well, resulting in an equivalency to Diaphoretickes.[3][4][5]
The clade comprising Chromista and Plantae was originally called photokaryotes (Cavalier-Smith, 1999) but following a criticism that this misleadingly implied a common photosynthetic ancestry of both groups (which would be untrue if they are sisters as most evidence indicates, but true if chromists were nested within Plantae as a few trees have suggested) it was changed to corticates because both kingdoms have cortical alveoli in one or more phyla (Cavalier-Smith, 2003a; see also 2003b; Cavalier-Smith and Chao, 2003a). However Adl et al. (2012) introduced an entirely unnecessary, and less euphonious third synonym with no intuitive meaning – Diaphoretickes, which is destabilising and should not be used. To stabilise nomenclature we now formally establish superkingdom Corticata to embrace kingdoms Plantae and Chromista (i.e. to mean the same as the vernacular term 'corticates' so either can be used as is appropriate).