Scalidophora

Scalidophora
Ottoia prolifica from the Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) near Field, British Columbia, Canada.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Cycloneuralia
Unranked superphylum: Scalidophora
Phyla
Synonyms

Cephalorhyncha

Scalidophora is a group of marine pseudocoelomate invertebrates, consisting of the three phyla Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera.[2] The three phyla have four characters in common — chitinous cuticle that is moulted, rings of scalids on the introvert, flosculi, and two rings of introvert retracts.[3] Their closest relatives are thought to be the Panarthropoda, Nematoda and Nematomorpha; they are thus placed in the group Ecdysozoa.

The two species in the genus Markuelia, known from fossilized embryos from the middle Cambrian, are thought to be stem Scalidophorans.

The group has also been considered a single group, Cephalorhyncha,[4] with three classes.

The group is named after the spines (scalids) covering the introvert (head that can be retracted into the trunk).[5]

References

  1. Harvey, T. H.; Dong, X.; Donoghue, P. C. (2010). "Are palaeoscolecids ancestral ecdysozoans?". Evolution & Development 12 (2): 177–200. doi:10.1111/j.1525-142X.2010.00403.x. PMID 20433458.
  2. Telford, M. J.; Bourlat, S. J.; Economou, A.; Papillon, D.; Rota-Stabelli, O. (2008). "The evolution of the Ecdysozoa" (PDF). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 363 (1496): 1529–1537. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2243. PMC 2614232. PMID 18192181.
  3. Heiner, I., Kristensen, R.H. 2005. Two new species of the genus Pliciloricus (Loricifera, Pliciloricidae) from the Faroe Bank, North Atlantic. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 243: 121–138.
  4. Dirnberger, J. "Explanations and Difficulties in Invertebrate Phylogeny". Invertebrate Zoology. Kennesaw State University. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  5. Dunn, C. W.; Hejnol, A.; Matus, D. Q.; Pang, K.; Browne, W. E.; Smith, S. A.; Seaver, E.; Rouse, G. W.; Obst, M. et al. (2008). "Broad Phylogenomic Sampling Improves Resolution of the Animal Tree of Life". Nature 452 (7188): 745–749. doi:10.1038/nature06614. PMID 18322464.