Multicellular Animals

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XXIV

   PDF

2. Trochozoa

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 1-2

3. Lacunifera

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 2-3

4. Kamptozoa — Mollusca

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 3-10

5. Aplacophora — Eumollusca

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 11-11

6. Solenogastres — Caudofoveata

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 11-14

7. Polyplacophora — Conchifera

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 14-18

8. Neopilinida — Ganglioneura

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 18-21

9. Rhacopoda — Ancyropoda

   • Peter Ax

   Pages 21-23

10. Gastropoda — Cephalopoda

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 23-32

11. Scaphopoda — Bivalvia

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 32-39

12. Sipunculida — Articulata

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 39-43

13. Annelida — Arthropoda

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 43-47

14. Polychaeta — Clitellata

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 47-49

15. Scolecida — Palpata

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 49-51

16. Aciculata — Canalipalpata

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 52-64

17. Branchiobdellida — Hirudinea

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 65-69

18. Acanthobdella peledina — Autobdella

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 69-71

19. Rhynchobdellida — Arhynchobdellida

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 72-76

20. Onychophora — Euarthropoda

    • Peter Ax

    Pages 77-83

Those who wish for permanence in classifi­ cation must pay the price of stasis - as if for­ ever condemned to confound whales with fish. M. T. Ghiselin 1981, p. 283 Scientific argument is a debate concerned with the solution of unresolved problems. Before continuing with the phylogenetic system of the Metazoa this foreword gives me the opportunity to discuss some controversial ques­ tions, to state selected positions more precisely and to remedy omissions. I would like to draw special attention to serious problems for phylogenetic systematics resulting from the inevitable confrontation with the current rules of nomenclature 1. In carrying out this debate, I hope not to lose the goodwill of those readers who are experts within the first few pages. A textbook for students? - Critics who ask that question and answer in the negative probably underestimate the open-mindedness of young people who are not troubled by, or can easily free themselves from, the restraints and arbitrariness of traditional classifications - and to whom systematics is offered as a scientific product in such a form that arguments for every single decision are comprehensible and checkable and can therefore be fully analyzed.

• Annelida
• Chelicerata
• Crustacea
• Euarthropoda
• Insecta
• Kamptozoa
• Metazoa
• Mollusca
• Myriapoda
• Onychophora
• Phylogenie
• Phylogeny
• Systematik
• Zoologie
• classification

• Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

  Peter Ax

Policies and ethics