Cycloneuralia
| Cycloneuralia Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Priapulus caudatus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Subkingdom: | Eumetazoa |
| Clade: | ParaHoxozoa |
| Clade: | Bilateria |
| Clade: | Nephrozoa |
| Clade: | Protostomia |
| Superphylum: | Ecdysozoa |
| (unranked): | Cycloneuralia |
| Subclades | |
Cycloneuralia is a proposed clade of ecdysozoan animals including the Scalidophora (Kinorhynchans, Loriciferans, Priapulids), the Nematoida (nematodes, Nematomorphs), and the extinct Palaeoscolecida. It may be paraphyletic, or may be a sister group to Panarthropoda. Or perhaps Panarthropoda is paraphyletic with respect to Cycloneuralia. The group has also been considered a single phylum, sometimes given the old name Nemathelminthes. The uniting character is the nervous system organization with a circumpharyngeal brain and somata–neuropil–somata pattern. The name derives from the position of the brain around the pharynx.