In the article that follows, we will delve into the fascinating world of Spiralia. We will explore its origins, evolution and relevance today, analyzing its impact on different aspects of society. Since Spiralia, we have witnessed its influence on culture, the economy, technology and politics, among other areas. Through a comprehensive and multidimensional approach, we aim to shed light on this exciting topic and provide the reader with a broad and enriching vision.
Clade of protosomes with spiral cleavage during early development
The Spiralia are a morphologically diverse clade of protostome animals, including within their number the molluscs, annelids, platyhelminths and other taxa. The term Spiralia is applied to those phyla that exhibit canonical spiral cleavage, a pattern of early development found in most (but not all) members of the Lophotrochozoa.
Distribution of spiralian development across phylogeny
Previously, spiral cleavage was thought to be unique to the Spiralia in the strictest sense—animals such as molluscs and annelids which exhibit classical spiral cleavage. The presence of spiral cleavage in animals such as platyhelminths could be difficult to correlate with some phylogenies.
Evidence of a close relationship between molluscs, annelids and lophophorates was found in 1995 and Lophotrochozoa was defined as the group containing these taxa and all the descendants of their last common ancestor. More recent research has established the Lophotrochozoa as a superphylum within the Metazoa.
With this understanding, the presence of spiral cleavage in polyclad platyhelminths, as well as the more traditional Spiralia, has led to the hypothesis that spiral cleavage was present ancestrally across the Lophotrochozoa as a whole.
With the introduction of Platytrochozoa and Rouphozoa, the cladogram is as follows, with an indication approximately how many million years ago (Mya) the clades radiated into newer clades.
An alternative phylogeny was given in 2019, with a basal grouping Mollusca with Entoprocta grouping named Tetraneuralia, and a second grouping of Nemertea with Platyhelminthes named Parenchymia as sister of Annelida. In their proposal and according to the original definition, Lophotrochozoa may become a senior synonym for Platytrochozoa.
A 2022 study supported the Trochozoa and Platyzoa hypotheses, as shown below. The same year another study placed bryozoans, entoproctans and cycliophorans in the group Polyzoa as one of the earliest branches among Lophotrochozoa.
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