Cycloneuralia

Cycloneuralia
Temporal range:
Priapulus caudatus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Superphylum: Ecdysozoa
Clade: 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.