Neurophylogeny: Architecture of the nervous system and a fresh view on arthropod phyologeny

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationships within the Arthropoda have been controversial for more than a century. Today, comparative studies on the structure and development of the nervous system contribute important arguments to this discussion, so that the term "neurophylogeny" was coined for this discipline. The large number of recent studies on the nervous system in various nonmodel arthropods indicates that we are far advanced in the process of analyzing the cellular architecture of the arthropod nervous system in a depth that will ultimately provide characters at a level of resolution equal or even superior to that of characters traditionally used in morphological phylogenetic studies. This article sets out to summarize the current state of the discussion on arthropod phylogeny and briefly evaluates the morphological characters that have been used as arguments in favor of the traditional Tracheata hypothesis. Then, a thorough overview is given of characters derived from structure and development of the arthropod brain and the ventral nerve cord from the cellular level to the level of larger neuropil systems. These characters support the new Tetraconata hypothesis suggested by Dohle and provide evidence for a clade that unites malacostracan and remipede crustaceans with the Hexapoda.