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A genome-based phylogeny for Mollusca is concordant with fossils and morphology


Citation

Chen, Zeyuan and Antonio Baeza, J. and Chen, Chong and Gonzalez, Maria Teresa and González, Vanessa Liz and Greve, Carola and Kocot, Kevin M. and Arbizu, Pedro Martinez and Moles, Juan and Schell, Tilman and Schwabe, Enrico and Sun, Jin and Wong, Nur Leena W.S. and Yap-Chiongco, Meghan and Sigwart, Julia D. (2025) A genome-based phylogeny for Mollusca is concordant with fossils and morphology. Science, 387 (6737). pp. 1001-1007. ISSN 0036-8075; eISSN: 1095-9203

Abstract

Extreme morphological disparity within Mollusca has long confounded efforts to reconstruct a stable backbone phylogeny for the phylum. Familiar molluscan groups—gastropods, bivalves, and cephalopods—each represent a diverse radiation with myriad morphological, ecological, and behavioral adaptations. The phylum further encompasses many more unfamiliar experiments in animal body-plan evolution. In this work, we reconstructed the phylogeny for living Mollusca on the basis of metazoan BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs) genes extracted from 77 (13 new) genomes, including multiple members of all eight classes with two high-quality genome assemblies for monoplacophorans. Our analyses confirm a phylogeny proposed from morphology and show widespread genomic variation. The flexibility of the molluscan genome likely explains both historic challenges with their genomes and their evolutionary success.


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Additional Metadata

Item Type: Article
Subject: Multidisciplinary
Divisions: International Institute of Aquaculture and Aquatic Science
DOI Number: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads0215
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Keywords: Mollusca; Fossils; Phylogeny
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 15: Life on Land, SDG 14: Life Below Water, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Depositing User: Ms. Siti Radziah Mohamed@mahmod
Date Deposited: 23 Apr 2026 08:26
Last Modified: 23 Apr 2026 08:26
Altmetrics: http://www.altmetric.com/details.php?domain=psasir.upm.edu.my&doi=10.1126/science.ads0215
URI: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/123270
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