ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 

Decapods, 10-legged crustaceans broadly categorized into shrimp, lobsters, and crabs, are a globally important food source worth billions of dollars.

But the animals in this order, which contains more than 15,000 living species and 3,000 extinct ones, are also ecologically fascinating. Decapods make homes in a wide variety of global habitats, from the open oceans to coral reefs, as well as in freshwater streams and lakes. But despite the economic and environmental significance of decapods, piecing together the evolutionary relationships of this group has been difficult.

Now, a new study led by researchers at the Museum, Harvard University, and Florida International University resolves gaps in our understanding of the decapod tree of life.