Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on June 6, 2007
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2007 47(5):670-676; doi:10.1093/icb/icm040
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Can we ever identify the Urmetazoan?


*ITZ, Ecology & Evolution, TiHo Hannover, Bünteweg 17d, D-30559 Hannover, Germany;
American Museum of Natural History, Division of Invertebrate Zoology 79 St. at Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA
Correspondence: 1E-mail: bernd.schierwater{at}ecolevol.de
Unraveling the root of the metazoan tree of life has been a difficult task since the time of Haeckel and the invention of phylogenetics. Even considerable amounts of recent molecular data have not provided a generally accepted answer. Here, we review the major problems of this phylogenetic conundrum and provide some directions for solving it.
From the symposium "Key Transitions in Animal Evolution" presented at the annual meeting of Society of Integrative and Comparitive Biology, January 3–7, 2007, at Phoenix, Arizona.