Abstract Characterization of species diversity of zooplankton is key to understanding,
assessing, and predicting the function and future of pelagic ecosystems throughout the …

Animal evolution is often presented as a march toward complexity, with different living
animal groups each representing grades of organization that arose through the progressive …

Shifts in phenology are already resulting in disruptions to the timing of migration and
breeding, and asynchronies between interacting species,,,–. Recent syntheses have …

Ctenophora, comprising approximately 200 described species, is an important lineage for
understanding metazoan evolution and is of great ecological and economic importance …

Identifying our most distant animal relatives has emerged as one of the most challenging
problems in phylogenetics. This debate has major implications for our understanding of the …

The earliest evolution of the animals remains a taxing biological problem, as all extant
clades are highly derived and the fossil record is not usually considered to be helpful. The …

Animal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is commonly described as a small, circular molecule
that is conserved in size, gene content, and organization. Data collected in the last decade …

The evolutionary history of life includes two primary components: phylogeny and timescale.
Phylogeny refers to the branching order (relationships) of species or other taxa within a …

Molecular phylogenetic analyses have produced a plethora of controversial hypotheses
regarding the patterns of diversification of non-bilaterian animals. To unravel the causes for …

Metazoa comprises 35–40 phyla that include some 1.3 million described species.
Phylogenetic analyses of metazoan interrelationships have progressed in the past two …