CONCLUSIONS: The Tree of Life (click on tree to see full cladogram) |
a) What is the correct phylogenetic placement of sponge classes? ctenophores? acoel flatworms? 'pseudocoelomates'? lophophorates?
b) What was the form of the ancestral deuterostome? chordate?
c) Excitement about phylogenetic relations is as high now as it was in the years following the Darwinian revolution.
d) Many fascinating things remain to be learned about the history of life on this planet.
Copyright (c) 2007 by A. Richard Palmer. All rights reserved.
(revised Jan. 29, 2007)