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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 5790

Kathryn A. Coates; Phylogeny and origins of Enchytraeidae. Hydrobiologia 180:17-33, 1989

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Phylogenetic analyses of Achaetinae (Enchytraeidae: Oligochaeta) and other bisetate enchytraeids indicate that the achaetines include the earliest species of Enchytraeidae but that Achaetinae is not monophyletic. The earliest species of bisetate enchytraeid now extant are restricted to South America, Africa, and India. As this part of the encytraeid lineage is ancestral to other enchytraeid taxa, it is suggested that Enchytraeidae may have arisen in South America or a contiguous Southern land mass. Less than 50% of the 11 genera of Enchytraeidae considered are supported by the results of these analyses as evolutionary or phylogenetic groups. Five are substantiated as monophyletic: Achaeta, Lumbricillus, Fridericia, Randidrilus, and Enchytronia. In addition to most of the achaetine genera, Marionina is shown to be in great need of revision. Its recognition is a continuing source of confusion to taxonomic resolution of Enchytraeidae.