Category
page 1Lophophorata
Lophophorata
The Lophophorata (also called Tentaculata; not to be confused with Tentaculata Eschscholtz 1825, a class within the Ctenophora) are a lophotrochozoan clade consisting of the Brachiozoa and the Bryozoa. They have a lophophore. On morphological grounds lophophorates have been assessed as deuterostomes, but molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that they are protostomes. Fossil finds of the "tommotiid" Wufengella suggest that they evolved from worm-like animals that resembled annelids. The phylogenetic relationships between these groups are as follows:
Brachiozoa
Brachiozoa is a grouping of lophophorate animals including Brachiopoda and Phoronida.
Tommotiid
Tommotiids are an extinct group of Cambrian invertebrates thought to be early total-group lophophorates (the group containing Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, and Phoronida), including members of the lophophorate stem group, as well as early diverging members of the crown group.