title: Animal Evolution: Are Phyla Real?
abstract: A recent study compares developmental gene expression among very distantly related animal species and interprets the results as providing biological justification for phyla. Several problems in the design and interpretation of the study call this conclusion into question.
authors.affiliation: Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5008 Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: andreas.hejnol@uib.no.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hejnol
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Electronic address: casey_dunn@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Casey W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution