Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes

380pp  ISBN 0748409033      £80.00

The phylum Platyhelminthes is constituted of about 50,000 species of flatworms, most of which are parasites of vertebrates, but many living freely in a wide variety of habitats from the deep-sea to the damp soils of tropical forests. They are, at least superficially, morphologically simple and have been considered the most primitive of multi-cellular animals. This book elucidates the position of the flatworms in the animal kingdom and the radiation of free-living and parasitic groups, by the use of established and modern systematic techniques.

Contents

EARLY ORIGINS OF BASAL TAXA
The Early Worm - Origins and Relationships of the Lower Flatworms Seth Tyler
Contributions to the Phylogeny and Systematics of the Acoelomorpha Olga I. Raikova, Maria Reuter and
Jean-Lou Justine The Nemertodermatida Kennet Lundin and Wolfgang Sterrer
Phylogenetic Systematics of the Macrostomorpha Reinhard M. Rieger

FREE-LIVING GROUPS
The Proseriata Marco Curini-Galletti
Molecular Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Tricladida Jaume Baguñà, Salvador Carranza, Jordi Paps, Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo and Marta Riutort
Towards a Phylogenetic Classification and Characterisation of Dugesiid Genera (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae) - a morphological perspective Ronald Sluys

SYMBIONTS AND PARASITES
The Prolecithophora Ulf Jondelius, Michael Norén and Jan Hendleberg
The Temnocephalida Lester R.G. Cannon and Boris I. Joffe
Phylogenetic Relationships of the Monogenoidea Walter A.Boeger and Delane C. Kritsky
The Gyrocotylidea, Amphilinidea and the Early Evolution of Cestoda Willi E.R. Xylander
Phylogeny Among the Orders of the Eucestoda (Cercomeromorphae): Integrating Morphology, Molecules and Total Evidence Eric P. Hoberg, Jean Mariaux and Dan R. Brooks
Cestode Systematics in the Molecular Era Jean Mariaux and Peter D. Olsen
Interrelationships Among Tetraphyllidean and Lecanicephalidean Cestodes Janine N. Caira, Kirsten Jensen and Claire J. Healy
The Aspidogastrea, an Archaic Group of Platyhelminthes Klaus Rohde
The Digenea Thomas H. Cribb, Rodney A.Bray, D. Timothy J. Littlewood, Sylvie P. Pichelin, Elizabeth A. Herniou
Molecular Phylogeny of the Suborder Plagiorchiata and its Position in the System of Digenea Vasyl V. Tkach, Jan Pawlowski, Jean Mariaux and Zdzislaw Swiderski
The Schistosomatidae: Advances in Phylogenetics and Genomics Scott D. Snyder, Eric S. Loker, David A. Johnston and David Rollinson

CHARACTERS AND TECHNIQUES
Protonephridia as Phylogenetic Characters Klaus Rohde 20. Insights from Comparative Spermatology in the "Turbellarian" Rhabdocoela Nikki A. Watson
Spermatozoa as Phylogenetic Characters for the Platyhelminthes Jean Lou-Justine
Comparative Neurobiology of the Platyhelminthes Maria Reuter and David W. Halton
The Use of Life Cycle Characters in Studies of the Evolution of Cestodes; Ian Beveridge
Embryology and Developmental Genes as Clues to Flatworm Relationships; Maximilian J. Telford
Small Subunit rDNA and the Platyhelminthes: Signal, Noise, Conflict and Compromise; D. Timothy J. Littlewood and Peter D.Olson
Flatworm Phylogeneticist: Between Molecular Hammer and Morphological; Anvil Boris I. Joffe and Elena E. Kornakova
Towards a Phylogenetic Supertree of the Platyhelminthes; Mark Wilkinson, Joseph L. Thorley, D. Timothy J. Littlewood and Rodney A. Bray