Shell-crushing predators may have sparked early Cenozoic boom in marine snail evolution

edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan

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Add as preferred source Phylogenetic tree of nearly 700 Neogastropoda genera sampled across the radiation of Neogastropoda color-coded by superfamily attribution. Selected live Neogastropoda species shown on the right. Credit: Alexander Fedosov A large-scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence for their single origin, identify four new families and reveal a previously undetected burst of diversification in the early Cenozoic.

Biological diversity is fascinating and inspiring, yet much of it remains poorly known. This is particularly true of marine invertebrates, many of which are small, have cryptic lifestyles or live in environments that remain underexplored.