Diversity and evolutionary process of megascolecid earthworms in Japan

Earthworms of the family Megascolecidae are a dominant group of macro-invertebrate detritivores in the soil ecosystem of East Asia including the Japanese Archipelago. However, their species diversity and phylogenetic relationships among species are not well understood. In this project, we use phylogenomic approaches including the analysis of mitogenome DNA sequence data to resolve the phylogenetic diversity and origin of megascolecid earthworms in Japan.