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The clade composed of the Atlantic species Encope aberrans and E. michelini was the first to have split from all other extant species of Encope in the Middle Miocene. Each of these two sympatric morphospecies is monophyletic, having split from each other approximately 6 Ma ago. Thus, the molecular phylogeny did not justify A. Agassiz’s (1872) and Mortensen’s (1948) suggestions that they should be considered as conspecific.

Mortensen, T. (1948). A Monograph of the Echinoidea. IV, 2. Clypeasteroida. Clypeasteridæ, Arachnoidæ, Fibulariidæ, Laganidæ and Scutellidæ. 471 pp., C. A. Reitzel, Copenhagen. 

Coppard, S.E. & Lessios, H.A. (2017). Phylogeography of the sand dollar genus Encope: implications regarding the Central American Isthmus and rates of molecular evolution. <em>Scientific Reports.</em> 7(1): 11520.