Abstract.-Recent phylogenetic studies of Paleozoic gastropods show the classification provided by the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology to include numerous highly polyphyletic taxa. Here we test whether this classification reflects limits on the range of possible designs, general architectura l constraints, or common functional solutions for Paleozoic gastropods. Our test evaluates whether superfamilial/subordinal level archetypes as defined by the Treatise evolved more frequently than expected among 626 Late Cambrian-Middle Devonian species. Using a previously established phylogeny and ...

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