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intermezzoa

Intermezzoa is a term used in some discussions of eukaryotic taxonomy to denote a proposed clade or informal grouping that would lie between major eukaryotic lineages in the early diversification of the group. The idea is to identify a set of lineages whose relationships are uncertain or weakly resolved by traditional morphology but show some shared molecular signatures, effectively describing an evolutionary "intermezzo" rather than a defined, monophyletic group.

Because intermezzoa are not defined by universally accepted diagnostic features and because phylogenetic methods and data

Consequently, Intermezzoa is generally treated as an informal or historical term rather than a formal taxon,

With advances in phylogenomics and large-scale datasets, current taxonomy emphasizes well-supported clades and clearly defined supergroups;

have
not
produced
a
stable,
reproducible
consensus,
the
concept
remains
controversial
and
is
not
widely
adopted
in
current
classifications.
Different
analyses
have
placed
the
included
organisms
in
various
positions
relative
to
recognized
supergroups,
or
have
failed
to
recover
consistent
support
for
a
single
clade
called
Intermezzoa.
and
references
to
it
are
encountered
mainly
in
discussions
of
early
eukaryote
evolution
or
methodological
debates
in
protist
systematics.
as
a
result,
the
use
of
the
term
intermezzoa
has
diminished
in
contemporary
literature.