Ecdysozoa

The Ecdysozoa (including Cycloneuralia) are a group of protostome animal phyla. This is a taxon above the level of phylum. It includes the Arthropoda (insects and crustaceans), Nematoda, and several smaller phyla.^[1]

Ecdysozoa Temporal range: Lower Cambrian – Recent
Centipede (Panarthropoda)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
(unranked):	Protostomia
Superphylum:	Ecdysozoa Aguinaldo et al., 1997
Phyla, classes, and clades
Cycloneuralia: Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Palaeoscolecida Panarthropoda: "Lobopodia" Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Dinocaridida

They were first defined in 1997, based mainly on phylogenetic trees taken from 18S ribosomal RNA genes.^[2] A large study in 2008 strongly supported the Ecdysozoa as a clade, that is, a group consisting of a common ancestor and all its descendants.^[3]

The group is also supported by morphological characters, and includes all animals that shed their exoskeleton (see ecdysis).

References

1. Telford M.J. et al 2008. The evolution of the Ecdysozoa (2008). "The evolution of the Ecdysozoa". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B. 363 (1496): 1529–37. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2243. PMC 2614232. PMID 18192181.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. Aguinaldo A.M.A. et al 1997. Evidence for a clade of nematodes, arthropods and other moulting animals. (1997). "Evidence for a clade of nematodes, arthropods and other moulting animals". Nature. 387 (6632): 489–493. doi:10.1038/387489a0. PMID 9168109. S2CID 4334033.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. Dunn C.W. et al 2008. Broad phylogenomic sampling improves resolution of the animal tree of life (2008). "Broad phylogenomic sampling improves resolution of the animal tree of life". Nature. 452 (7188): 745–749. doi:10.1038/nature06614. PMID 18322464. S2CID 4397099.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)