Fig. 1: Life history, locomotory capacity and average branch lengths of the Bilaterian dataset used to conduct the analyses.

The phylogeny was inferred using amino acid sequences of 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes and constrained at the phylum level according to Laumer et al. 54. Two major bilaterian clades, Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa, are indicated by shading. A triangle at the branch tip indicates that the phylum was collapsed to a single branch. Leaf labels show phyla names and the number of species (in parentheses). Pie charts show the proportion of each life-history (LHT) and locomotory capacity (LOC) category in each phylum. Branch lengths (BRL) are shown in the phylogram, with the average root-to-tip branch lengths per phylum shown as bars to the right and exact numbers shown above the bars. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.