In the twelve years since publication of Invertebrates, Second Edition, fundamental shifts have occurred in our understanding of the origins and evolutionary relationships among protists and animals. These changes are largely due to the explosion of molecular phylogenetics and evo-devo
research, emergence of the new field of animal genomics, major fossil discoveries in China, Australia, and elsewhere, and important new embryological and ultrastructural studies. As a result:- New phyla have been described (e.g., Micrognathozoa, Xenacoelomorpha).
– Old phyla have been collapsed into others (e.g., Sipuncula and Echiura are now placed within Annelida; acanthocephalans are now known to be highly modified, parasitic rotifers).
– Phyla once thought to be deuterostomes are now part of the protostome clade (e.g., Chaetognatha, Phoronida, Bryozoa, Brachiopoda).
– The Protostomia has been reorganized into two major clades known as Ecdysozoa and Spiralia.

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