Hidden support from unpromising data sets strongly unites snakes with anguimorph 'lizards'

A combined analysis of nuclear, mitochondrial and morphological data robustly resolves snakes as the sister taxon to anguimorph 'lizards'. Analysed in isolation, nuclear DNA (nDNA) produces a trichotomy between snakes, iguanians and anguimorphs, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is largely uninfor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of evolutionary biology Vol. 22; no. 6; pp. 1308 - 1316
Main Author LEE, M.S.Y
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2009
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Anguimorpha
Animals
Bayes Theorem
Bayesian inference
branch support
combined analysis
Data analysis
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
Evolutionary biology
hidden support
Lizards - anatomy & histology
Lizards - genetics
Mitochondrial DNA
morphological phylogenetics
Ophidia
parsimony
Phylogeny
Reptilia
Snakes
Snakes - anatomy & histology
Snakes - genetics
Squamata
Taxonomy
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:A combined analysis of nuclear, mitochondrial and morphological data robustly resolves snakes as the sister taxon to anguimorph 'lizards'. Analysed in isolation, nuclear DNA (nDNA) produces a trichotomy between snakes, iguanians and anguimorphs, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is largely uninformative at deeper levels, and morphology tends to nest snakes deep within anguimorphs or with various legless squamate groups. When analysed simultaneously, the nuclear signal is sufficiently strong that mtDNA and morphology are constrained to choose between alternative resolutions of the iguanian-anguimorph-snake trichotomy (generated by the nDNA) - and both support the snake-anguimorph solution. Combined analyses of fast-evolving or idiosyncratically evolving markers (mtNDA, morphology) with conservative traits (e.g. nuclear genes) might be the best way to resolve ancient, closely spaced divergences. Fast or idiosyncratic markers potentially provide the most information about short, ancient internodes, but can converge on spurious trees if analysed in isolation. However, if constrained to only choosing between plausible trees, such data can contribute unique and valuable phylogenetic signal that resolves such problematic divergences.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01751.x
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01751.x