ABSTRACT
The genus Lovenia (Loveniidae) has a very derived morphology. A cladistic approach is used to infer the phylogenetic relationships between the Recent species. This study is complemented by a purely phenetic analysis which quantifies the morphological dissimilarities of the tests of the Lovenia species. The results of the cladistic analysis are compared with those of the phenetic study: the phenogram based on the oral surface has some broad similarities with the cladogram, the phenogram based on the aboral surface is highly discordant with the cladogram.
