Megascolecidae is a large family of earthworms which has native representatives in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast and East Asia, and North America. Primitive members of the family show a Gondwanan distribution and have been used as evidence of continental drift. Members of the Pheretima group of genera (e.g. Amynthas) are widely distributed around the tropics, much as some Lumbricidae are distributed through the temperate zones. The North American native genera Argilophilus, Driloleirus, Arctiostrotus and others belong to this family. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Placozoa (trichoplax) Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Classes and subclasses Class Polychaeta (paraphyletic?) Class Clitellata    Oligochaeta - Earthworms and others    Acanthobdellida    Branchiobdellida    Hirudinea - Leeches Class Myzostomida Class Archiannelida (polyphyletic) Class Echiura *Some authors consider the subclasses under Clitellata to be classes The annelids, collectively called Annelida, are a large phylum of animals, comprising the segmented worms, with about... Clitellata is a Class of Annelid worms. ... Orders Arhynchobdellida Haplotaxida Rhynchobdellida The Oligochaeta or few-bristled worms (singular Oligochaete, IPA /ˈɒlɪgoʊˌkit/) are well-segmented Annelids, most with a spacious coelom that is used as a hydroskeleton. ... Families Suborder Haplotaxina   Haplotaxidae Suborder Moniligastrina   Moniligastridae Suborder Lumbricina   Alluroididae   Eudrilidae   Glossoscolecidae   Lumbricidae   Sparganophilidae   Acanthodrilidae   Octochaetidae   Exxidae   Megascolecidae   Microchaetidae   Eudrilidae Suborder Tubificina   Dorydrilidae   Enchytraeidae   Naididae   Opistocystidae   Phreodrilidae   Tubificidae Earthworm is the common name for the larger members of the Oligochaeta (which is either a class or subclass depending on the... Pangea broke into the two supercontinents, Laurasia and Gondwana The southern supercontinent Gondwana (originally Gondwanaland) included most of the landmasses which make up todays continents of the southern hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Arabia, Australia-New Guinea and New Zealand. ... Portrayal of shifting continents The concept of continental drift was first proposed by Alfred Wegener. ... Common genera Lumbricus Eisenia Eiseniella Allolobophora Aporrectodea Bimastos Dendrobaena Dendrodrilus (and more) The Lumbricidae is a family of earthworms which includes most of the well-known earthworm species. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... *or Class depending on the author Argilophilus is a genus of western North American earthworms of the family Megascolecidae. ...

Many genera in the Megascolecidae exhibit meronephry, where the nephridia, instead of being the primitive two per segment, have become broken up into many. Some taxa also exhibit enteronephry where the nephridia, instead of emptying to the body surface, empty into the digestive tract. A paired organ found in nearly all segments of the earthworms body; filters wastes from the coelomic fluid ...