Elsevier, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 3(53), p. 1037-1041
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.031
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The monophyletic origin of Spiralia within the metazoan tree of life is supported by many large-scale phylogenomic data. While there is now substantial molecular evidence for Lophotrochozoa being a monophyletic taxon within Spiralia, the phylogenetic affiliations of many other spiralian phyla remain unclear. Here we focus on the question of a monophyletic taxon Gnathifera, which was originally characterized by jaw morphology as comprising the taxa Rotifera, Acanthocephala and Gnathostomulida. Based on a large-scale molecular sequence dataset of 11,146 amino acid residues, we reconstructed phylogenetic trees of spiralian phyla using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian approaches. We obtain the first phylogenomic evidence for the clade Gnathifera, linking Syndermata (Rotifera + Acanthocephala) with Gnathostomulida. Furthermore, our data support recent findings concerning the paraphyly of Eurotatoria.