Lack of attention to determining the homology of character states is recognized as being responsible for the ever increasing numbers of phylogenetic schemes for the Crustacea that appear and disappear so rapidly. Detailed study of musculature. segmentation and setation of the limbs of all 10 orders of copepods revealed numerous phylogenetically informative characters. based on segmental fusion patterns and the presence of individually identified setation elements. Simple counts of limb segments (or of setae) were found to be virtually useless for constructing phylogenies in the copepods. This conclusion can probably be extended to other crustacean groups.
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