A new paper, published online in Nature this week, aims to
resolve long-standing disputes within Arthropod phylogenetics.
This work offers strong evidence for, and opens new, perplexing
questions about, the deep evolutionary history of arthropods.
The phylum Arthropoda consists of four major subphyla: -
Chelicerata – Arachnids, horseshoe crabs, sea spiders. -
Myriapoda – Centipedes, millipedes. - Crustacea – Crabs,
lobsters, shrimp, copepods, ostracods, barnacles, pill bugs,
brine shrimp, water fleas, remipedes, ect. - Hexapoda – Insects,
silverfish, springtails. All known arthropods are included in
these subphyla. However, the interrelation of the subphyla has
long been in contention. Up to now, a series of morphological
and molecular-based classification paradigms have been employed
to parsimoniously resolve the deep phylogeny of arthropods; with
mixed results. Two of the competing hypotheses of deep arthropod
phylogenetics are the Paradoxopoda and Mandibulata models. Both
Mandibulata and Paradoxopoda propo