- 著者
- Nakano Hiroaki Lundin Kennet Bourlat Sarah J. Telford Maximilian J. Funch Peter Nyengaard Jens R. Obst Matthias Thorndyke Michael C.
- 出版者
- Nature Publishing Group
- 雑誌
- Nature Communications (ISSN:20411723)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.4, pp.1537, 2013-02
- 被引用文献数
- 31 2
Xenoturbella bocki, a marine animal with a simple body plan, has recently been suggested to be sister group to the Acoelomorpha, together forming the new phylum Xenacoelomorpha. The phylogenetic position of the phylum is still under debate, either as an early branching bilaterian or as a sister group to the Ambulacraria (hemichordates and echinoderms) within the deuterostomes. Although development has been described for several species of Acoelomorpha, little is known about the life cycle of Xenoturbella. Here we report the embryonic stages of Xenoturbella, and show that it is a direct developer without a feeding larval stage. This mode of development is similar to that of the acoelomorphs, supporting the newly proposed phylum Xenacoelomorpha and suggesting that the last common ancestor of the phylum might have been a direct developer.