Stephen A Smith, Nerida G Wilson, Freya E Goetz, Caitlin Feehery, Sónia CS Andrade, Greg W Rouse, Gonzalo Giribet, Casey W Dunn

2011/12/15

Nature

480

7377

364

Nature Publishing Group

Abstract Molluscs (snails, octopuses, clams and their relatives) have a great disparity of
body plans and, among the animals, only arthropods surpass them in species number. This
diversity has made Mollusca one of the best-studied groups of animals, yet their evolutionary
relationships remain poorly resolved. Open questions have important implications for the
origin of Mollusca and for morphological evolution within the group. These questions include
whether the shell-less, vermiform aplacophoran molluscs diverged before the origin of the ...