The genus Xenoturbella lives off the coast of Scandinavia, Scotland and Iceland. It shares a simple body structure with the acoelomorph worms: these organisms, which reach a maximum size of just a few ...

Figure 1: Phylogenetic hypotheses concerning Xenacoelomorpha from previous molecular studies. Figure 2: Maximum likelihood topology of metazoan relationships inferred from 212 genes. No statistical ...

Two groups of lowly marine worms are related to complex species including vertebrates (such as humans) and starfish, according to new research. Previously thought to be an evolutionary link between ...

Figure 2: Animal phylogeny based on mitochondrial proteins reconstructed using the CAT + GTR + Γ model under a Bayesian analysis. Finally, the deuterostome affinity of the Xenacoelomorpha implies that ...

An international team of scientists including Albert Poustka from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin has discovered that Xenoturbellida and the acoelomorph worms, both simple ...