Xenacoelomorpha
Sign in to saveXenacoelomorpha () is a small phylum of bilaterian invertebrate animals, consisting of two sister groups: acoelomorphs and xenoturbellids. This new phylum was named in February 2011 and suggested based on morphological synapomorphies (physical appearances shared by the animals in the clade), which was then confirmed by phylogenomic analyses of molecular data (similarities in the DNA of the animals within the clade).
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- invertebrate
- Parent taxon
- Bilateria
- Image
- Proporus sp.png
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- P105
- phylum
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Article
5 sectionsContents
- Phylogenetics
- Internal phylogeny
- Characteristics
- See also
- References
Xenacoelomorpha () is a small phylum of bilaterian invertebrate animals, consisting of two sister groups: acoelomorphs and xenoturbellids. This new phylum was named in February 2011 and suggested based on morphological synapomorphies (physical appearances shared by the animals in the clade), which was then confirmed by phylogenomic analyses of molecular data (similarities in the DNA of the animals within the clade).
== Phylogenetics == Prior to molecular studies, xenacoelomorphs were considered to be flatworms based on their superficial similarities. Like flatworms, they do not have a coelom and are dorsoventrally flattened. With the advent of phylogenetics, Xenoturbella and Acoelomorpha were found to be sister groups and only distantly related to flatworms. Initially, this phylum was considered to be a member of the deuterostomes, but because of recent transcriptome analyses, it was concluded that the phylum Xenacoelomorpha is the sister group to the Nephrozoa, which includes both the protostomes and the deuterostomes, making the phylum the basalmost bilaterian clade. This would mean they are neither deuterostomes nor protostomes.