David Siveter

Jan 8, 2025 | nature.com | Mark Sutton |Julia D. Sigwart |Pierre Gueriau |David Siveter

AbstractMollusca is the second most species-rich animal phylum, but the pathways of early molluscan evolution have long been controversial1,2,3,4,5. Modern faunas retain only a fraction of the past forms in this hyperdiverse and long-lived group. Recent analyses6,7,8 have consistently recovered a fundamental split into two sister clades, Conchifera (including gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods) and Aculifera9, comprising Polyplacophora (‘chitons’) and Aplacophora.