Neopilina

Neopilina is a mollusc, the only surviving genus of monoplacophora.Peters, Dieter Stefan  2000. Organisms, genes and evolution: evolutionary theory at the crossroads. Proceedings of the 7th International Senckenberg Conference. Franz Steiner Verlag.
, 9783515076593
Some molecular results show that they fall within the polyplacophora clade,Giribet, Gonzalo et al 2006. Evidence for a clade composed of molluscs with serially repeated structures: Monoplacophorans are related to chitons. PNAS 103, 7723–7728.  although these have been called into question.  Fossil and morphological data show that they are rather derived and bear very little resemblance to an 'ancestral mollusc'.

The monoplacophora were well-known as a fossil group from the Cambrian to the Devonian. They were thought to be long extinct. One species was dredged up from the Pacific Ocean off Mexico in 1952. It was found to be a Monoplacophoran, and given the genus of Neopilina.Lemche, Henning 1957. Nature 179, 413–416.  This was one of the most remarkable modern discoveries of a 'living fossil', and a Lazarus taxon.

 Species 
Four species are recognized: 
 Neopilina bruuni Menzies, 1968
 Neopilina galatheae Lemche, 1957
 Neopilina rebainsi Moskalev, Starobogatov & Filatova, 1983
 Neopilina starobogatovi Ivanov & Moskalev, 2007

 References 

Category:Molluscs