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Finally, the phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial genome from nine scleractinians, six corallimorpharians and six soft corals as outgroups (three octocorallians, two actiniarians and one zoanthidean) clarified our understanding of the stony corals natural history (Medina et al 2006). Indeed, the results unambiguously indicated that the corallimorpharians are true members of scleractininians, so that the later should include the formers to refer to a natural group. Thus, scleractinians are likely ancestral to the nonmineralized corallimorpharian which are able to adapt to higher CO2 levels. The skeleton was likely lost in the ancestry of corallimorpharians which originated between -110 and -132 Ma, coinciding with high levels of oceanic CO2.
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