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The growing success of molecular methods has challenged traditional views of animal evolution and a large number of alternative hypotheses are hotly debated today. For the deep metazoan phylogeny project, data sets of hitherto unmatched quality and quantity were compiled and analysed with innovative bioinformatics tools. The book begins at the base of the tree of life to discuss the origin of animals and early branches of the phylogenetic tree. The following section presents special data sets gained from mitochondrial genomes and from morphology, with a focus on nervous systems. The final section is dedicated to theoretical aspects of data analysis and new bioinformatics tools. The book closes with a unique general discussion of all hypotheses contained in previous chapters.This work provides the most comprehensiveoverview available of the state of the art in this exciting field of evolutionary research.

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"Geht es um die reine Sammlung morphologischer und molekularer Merkmale sowie um die methodischen Schwierigkeiten, daraus evolutionäre Aussagen auf dem Gebiet der Großphylogenie abzuleiten, ist man mit dem Buch sicherlich auf dem neusten Stand."Tareq Syed in: Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau, 67.Jhg. Heft 8, 2014

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Johann-Wolfgang Wägele, ZFMK, Bonn, Germany; Thomas Bartholomaeus, University of Bonn, Germany.

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Johann-Wolfgang Wägele, ZFMK, Bonn, Germany; Thomas Bartholomaeus, University of Bonn, Germany

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