The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of marine animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum. However, phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences place echiurans and pogonophorans within the Annelida. The Echiura fossilise poorly and the earliest known specimen is from the Upper Carboniferous.