A Phylogenomic Backbone for Acoelomorpha Inferred From Transcriptomic Data.

ABSTRACT: Xenacoelomorpha are mostly microscopic, morphologically simple worms, lacking many structures typical of other bilaterians. Xenacoelomorphs-which include three main groups, namely Acoela, Nemertodermatida, and Xenoturbella-have been proposed to be an early diverging Bilateria, sister to protostomes and deuterostomes, but other phylogenomic analyses have recovered this clade nested within the deuterostomes, as sister to Ambulacraria. The position of Xenacoelomorpha within the metazoan tree has understandably attracted a lot of attention, overshadowing the study of phylogenetic relationships within this group. Given that Xenoturbella includes only six species whose relationships are well understood, we decided to focus on the most speciose Acoelomorpha (Acoela + Nemertodermatida). Here, we h

SUBMITTER: Abalde S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11809588 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature