Morphological Tree



Phylogenetic relationship of rotifer orders including the putative relationship of the Acanthocephala with rotifers. Numbers of character states are: 1, paired gonads; 2, vitellarium,; 3, male; 4, resting egg formation; 5, desiccation; 6, trophi types: a, aberrant, b: ramate; c: others, d: malleoramate; e: uncinate trophi 7, spermatophores; 8, prostate gland; numbers with asteriks indicate alternative evolutionary position when ancestral character is uncertain. [Wallace, R.L. and T.W. Snell. 1991 Rotifera. In: Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. J.H. Thorpe & A.P. Covich, eds. Academic Press, New York.

For other morphological cladograms see:
1) Wallace & Colburn
2) Wallace RL 1993
3) Starkweather



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