The Stylet

Diversity and Systematics of Acoela and Nemertodermatida

Phylogeny of the nemertodermatida (Acoelomorpha, Platyhelminthes). A cladistic analysis

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2000
Authors:L. Kennet
Journal:Zoologica Scripta
Pagination:65-74
Keywords:EPIDERMAL CILIARY ROOTLETS 18S RDNA SEQUENCES ACOELA PLATHELMINTHES COMPARATIVE ULTRASTRUCTURE FRONTAL ORGAN TAXON NAMES SP-N TURBELLARIA XENOTURBELLIDA HOMOPLASY
Abstract:

The Nemertodermatida is a small group of worms, regarded as an order of the Platyhelminthes. The group is of special systematic interest because of its putative basal phylogenetic position in the Platyhelminthes. The phylogeny of the Nemertodermatida was estimated using paup 4.0 software for parsimony analysis. The analysis was based on 72 structural parsimony-informative characters totalling 184 different character states. All eight well described species of nemertodermatids were included in the ingroup. As outgroup were chosen species of the Acoela, Catenulida, Macrostomida and Xenoturbellida. A single most parsimonious tree was obtained with 140 steps and a consistency index (CI) of 0.80. The Nemertodermatida, Ascoparidae and Nemertodermatidae are shown as monophyletic taxa in the tree. The species Nemertoderma psammicola does not group with the other members of the genus Nemertoderma, hence criteria of phylogenetic taxonomy imply that N. psammicola should be renamed. A suggested new name is Sterreria psammicola gen. n.

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