Lukas VFN 🇪🇺#Genomes of enigmatic tusk shells provide new insights into early molluscan #evolution https://phys.org/news/2023-09-genomes-enigmatic-tusk-shells-insights.html
#Scaphopoda is the sister taxon to #Bivalvia: Evidence of ancient incomplete lineage sorting https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2302361120
"#Scaphopods exhibit a mosaic of features resembling other lineages: tentacles like the arms of #cephalopods, unique shell ontology similar to #bivalves, and a partially degenerated head that seemingly represents an intermediate state between bivalves and #gastropods"
Genomes of enigmatic tusk shells provide new insights into early molluscan evolution
Accurate phylogenetic trees are fundamental to evolutionary and comparative biology, but the almost simultaneous emergence of major animal phyla and diverse body plans during the Cambrian Explosion poses major challenges to reconstructing deep metazoan phylogenetic relationships.