The Lophophorata are a

Lophotrochozoan Lophotrochozoa (, "crest/wheel animals") is a clade of protostome animals within the Spiralia. The taxon was established as a monophyletic group based on molecular evidence. The clade includes animals like annelids, molluscs, bryozoans, brachiopo ...

clade consisting of the

Brachiozoa Brachiozoa is a grouping of lophophorate animals including Brachiopoda and Phoronida. It also includes their ancestors, the extinct tommotiids. References Lophophorata Protostome unranked clades {{Protostome-stub ...

and the

Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a l ...

. They have a

lophophore The lophophore () is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by four major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Hyolitha, and Phoronida, which collectively constitute the protostome group Lophophorata.protostomes Protostomia () is the clade of animals once thought to be characterized by the formation of the organism's mouth before its anus during embryonic development. This nature has since been discovered to be extremely variable among Protostomia's me ...

, but on morphological grounds they have been assessed as

deuterostome Deuterostomia (; in Greek) are animals typically characterized by their anus forming before their mouth during embryonic development. The group's sister clade is Protostomia, animals whose digestive tract development is more varied. Some exampl ...

s. Fossil finds of a segmented worm named

Wufengella ''Wufengella'' is a genus of extinct camenellan " tommotiid" that lived during the Early Cambrian ( Stage 3). Described in 2022, the only species ''Wufengella bengtsonii'' was discovered from the Maotianshan Shales of Chiungchussu (Qiongzhusi) F ...

suggest that they evolved from a worm close to annelids.An ancient hairy, armoured worm lived in the oceans over 500 million years ago
/ref>

References

{{Protostome-stub