In this study, we analyze the current state of knowledge on extant Eunicida systematics,
morphology, feeding, life history, habitat, ecology, distribution patterns, local diversity and …

Fossils provide our only direct window into evolutionary events in the distant past.
Incorporating them into phylogenetic hypotheses of living clades can help time-calibrate …

The Herefordshire Lagerstätte (c. 430 Ma) from the UK is a rare example of soft-tissue
preservation in the Silurian. It yields a wide range of invertebrates in unparalleled three …

Chaetognaths, with their characteristic gras** spines, are the oldest known pelagic
predators, found in the lowest Cambrian (Terreneuvian). Here, we describe a large stem …

The phylum of annelids is one of the most disparate animal phyla and encompasses
ambush predators, suspension feeders and terrestrial earthworms. The early evolution of …

Mollusks encompass enormous disparity, including familiar clams and snails alongside less
familiar aculiferans (chitons and vermiform aplacophorans) with complex multicomponent …

The performance of DNA metabarcoding approaches for characterizing biodiversity can be
influenced by multiple factors. Here, we used morphological assessment of taxa in …

Fossils are the only remaining evidence of the majority of species that have ever existed,
providing a direct window into events in evolutionary history that shaped the diversification …

Meiofaunal life forms are found all over the animal tree of life, and miniaturization seems to
have occurred within otherwise macrofaunal clades multiple times. While sponges, comb …

Background A median, segmented, annelid nerve cord has repeatedly been compared to
the arthropod and vertebrate nerve cords and became the most used textbook …