Phylogeny of the Neuropterida (Insecta: Holometabola)

The Neuropterida, with about 6500 known species — living fossils in a way — at the base of the Holometabola (as a sister group of the Coleoptera), comprise Raphidioptera (about 210 species, two families), Megaloptera (about 300 species, two families) and Neuroptera (6000 species, 17 families). Megaloptera + Neuroptera is argued vs. the traditional Raphidioptera + Megaloptera. Raphidioptera are undisputedly monophyletic. Monophyly of Megaloptera is the operational hypothesis, although occasionally questioned. Sucking tubes of the larvae are the most spectacular autapomorphy of Neuroptera. The construction of larval head capsules indicates three evolutionary lines: Nevrorthiformia, and Myrmeleontiformia + Hemerobiiformia. Traditional Myrmeleontiformia is Psychopsidae + (Nemopteridae + (Nymphidae + (Myrmeleontidae + Ascalaphidae))), the present approach is (Psychopsidae + Nemopteridae) + all other Myrmeleontiformia. Hemerobiiformia are based on the ‘maxillary head’ concept. The ithonid clade Ithonidae/Rapismatidae + Polystoechothidae and the dilarid clade Dilaridae + (Mantispidae + (Rhachiberothidae + Berothidae)) are based on robust criteria. Other relationships remain unclear: Hemerobiidae + Chrysopidae (on similarity) and the ‘early offshoot’ concept of coniopterygidae (on autapomorphies) should not be perpetuated. Chysopidae + Osmylidae and (Hemerobiidae + (Coniopterygidae + Sisyridae)) + dilarid clade are discussed. Aquatic larvae, regarded as independent apomorphies of megaloptera and neuropteran Nevrorthidae and Sisyridae for a long time, are re‐interpreted as a synapomorphy of Megaloptera + Neuroptera and thus plesiomorphic within these groups. Terrestrial larvae (with cryptonephry to solve osmotic problems) are consequently apomorphic. Aquatic Sisyridae with cryptonephry of a single malpighian tubule, is conflicting, but larvae may have become secondarily aquatic, after a terrestrial intermezzo.     

Phylogeny of Myrmeleontiformia based on larval morphology (Neuropterida: Neuroptera)

The suborder Myrmeleontiformia is a derived lineage of lacewings (Insecta: Neuroptera) including the families Psychopsidae, Nemopteridae, Nymphidae, Ascalaphidae and Myrmeleontidae. In particular, Myrmeleontidae (antlions) are the most diverse neuropteran family, representing a conspicuous component of the insect fauna of xeric environments. We present the first detailed quantitative phylogenetic analysis of Myrmeleontiformia, based on 107 larval morphological and behavioural characters for 36 genera whose larvae are known (including at least one representative of all the subfamilies of the suborder). Four related families were used as outgroups to polarize character states. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using both parsimony and Bayesian methods. The reconstructions resulting from our analyses corroborate the monophyly of Myrmeleontiformia. Within this clade, Psychopsidae are recovered as the sister family to all the remaining taxa. Nemopteridae (including both subfamilies Nemopterinae and Crocinae) are recovered as monophyletic and sister to the clade comprising Nymphidae + (Myrmeleontidae + Ascalaphidae). Nymphidae consist of two well‐supported clades corresponding to the subfamilies Nymphinae and Myiodactylinae. Our results suggest that Ascalaphidae may not be monophyletic, as they collapse into an unresolved polytomy under the Bayesian analysis. In addition, the recovered phylogenetic relationships diverge from the traditional classification scheme for ascalaphids. Myrmeleontidae are reconstructed as monophyletic, with the subfamilies Stilbopteryginae, Palparinae and Myrmeleontinae. We retrieved a strongly supported clade comprising taxa with a fossorial habit of the preimaginal instars, which represents a major antlion radiation, also including the monophyletic pit‐trap building species.     

Phylogeny and biogeography of water skinks of the genus Tropidophorus (Reptilia: Scincidae): a molecular approach

Phylogenetic relationships of the Oriental semiaquatic lygosomine skinks of the genus Tropidophorus were inferred from 1219 base positions of mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes. Results of the phylogenetic analyses incorporating data for representatives of other lygosomine genera indicated that the basal phylogenetic split within Tropidophorus separated a clade of continental Indochinese species exclusive of T. cocincinensis and T. microlepis from one comprising T. cocincinensis , T. microlepis and species from Borneo, Sulawesi and the Philippines. Of the latter group, the two continental species form the sister taxon to a clade comprising the island species. Diversification among species in Indochina and among Borneo, the Philippines and Sulawesi was likely concentrated in the Miocene, with no apparent dispersal among these regions during the Pleistocene. The body depression recognized in several Indochinese species is likely to have occurred twice in parallel as an adaptation to saxicolous habitats.     

Phylogeny of the insulin-like growth factors (IGFS) and receptors: A molecular approach

The IGFs (IGF-I and IGF-II) are essential for normal mammalian growth and development. Their actions are mediated primarily by their interactions with the type I IGF receptor (IGF-I receptor), a transmembrane tyrosine kinase. The ligands and the IGF-I receptor are structurally related to insulin and to the insulin receptor, respectively. Analysis of evolutionary conservation has often provided insights into essential regions of molecules such as hormones and their receptors. The genes for insulin and IGFs have been partially characterized in a number of vertebrate species extending evolutionarily from humans as far back as fish. The sequences of the exons encoding the mature insulin and IGF peptides are highly conserved among vertebrate species, and IGF-I-Iike molecules are found in species whose origins extend back as much as 550 million years. The insulin receptor is also highly conserved in vertebrate species, and an insulinreceptor-like molecule has been characterized in Drosophila. In contrast, IGF-I receptors have only been characterized in mammalian species and partially studied in Xenopus, in which the tyrosine kinase domain is highly conserved. Studies are presently being undertaken to analyze in more detail the regulation of the genes encoding this important family of growth factors and the structure/function relationships in the gene products themselves. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Phylogeny of the Acipenseriformes: cytogenetic and molecular approaches

The review of the data on karyology and DNA content in Acipenseriformes shows that both extant families, the Polyodontidae and Acipenseridae, originated from a tetraploid ancestor which probably had a karyotype consisting of 120 macro- and microchromosomes and DNA content of about 3.2–3.8 pg per nucleus. The tetraploidization of the presumed 60-chromosome ancestor seems to have occurred at an early time of evolution of the group. The divergence of the Acipenseridae into Scaphirhyninae and Acipenserinae occurred without polyploidization. Within the genus Acipenser, polyploidization was one of the main genetic mechanisms of speciation by which 8n and 16n-ploid species were formed. Individual gene trees constructed for sequenced partial fragments of the 18S rRNA (230 base pairs, bp), 12S rRNA (185 bp), 16S rRNA (316 bp), and cytochrome b (270 bp) genes of two Eurasian (A. baerii and A. ruthenus) and two American (A. transmontanus and A. medirostris) species of Acipenser, Huso dauricus, Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni, Scaphirhynchus albus, and Polyodon spathula showed a low level of resolution; the analysis of a combined set of data for the four genes, however, gave better resolution. Our phylogeny based on molecular analysis had two major departures from existing morphological hypotheses: Huso dauricus is a sister-species to Acipenser instead of being basal to all acipenseriforms, and Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus do not form a monophyletic group. The phylogenetic tree constructed for the cytochrome b gene fragments (with inclusion of 7 additional species of Acipenser) supported the conclusion that octoploid species appeared at least three times within Acipenser.     

Phylogeny of the holometabolous insect orders: molecular evidence

Phylogenetic relationships among the holometabolous insect orders were reconstructed using 18S ribosomal DNA data drawn from a sample of 182 taxa representing all holometabolous insect orders and multiple outgroups. Parsimony analysis supports the monophyly of all holometabolous insect orders except for Coleoptera and Mecoptera. Mecoptera is paraphyletic with respect to Siphonaptera, which is nested within Mecoptera. Coleoptera is scattered as a paraphyletic assemblage across the tree topology. These data support a monophyletic Halteria (Strepsiptera + Diptera), Amphiesmenoptera (Trichoptera + Lepidoptera), Neuropterida (Neuroptera + (Megaloptera + Raphidioptera)), but Antliophora (Halteria + Mecoptera + Siphonaptera) and Mecopterida (Antliophora + Amphiesmenoptera) are paraphyletic. The limitations of using 18S ribosomal DNA as the sole phylogenetic marker for reconstructing insect ordinal relationships are discussed.     

Phylogeny of the American silverfish Cubacubaninae (Hexapoda: Zygentoma: Nicoletiidae): a combined approach using morphology and five molecular loci

Relationships within the subfamily Cubacubaninae, the dominant subfamily of Nicoletiidae in America, are appraised based on parsimony analysis of 20 morphological characters and sequence data from five loci (nuclear 18S and 28S rRNA, mitochondrial 16S rRNA, nuclear protein coding gene histone H3, and mitochondrial protein coding gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I). The data, analyzed under direct optimization for a range of analytical parameter sets, indicated that species may show some biogeographical structure. It also indicated that the presence of articulated submedian appendages on urosternum IV is not a valid discriminating character in taxonomy. Species within the traditional genera Anelpistina, Cubacubana and Neonicoletia were found to belong to a group in which no clear morphological or molecular distinction was present. It is proposed that members of these three genera should be united within a single taxon. On the contrary, the genus Prosthecina is well supported by the data. © The Willi Hennig Society 2006.     

Cladistic analysis of Neuroptera and their systematic position within Neuropterida (Insecta: Holometabola: Neuropterida: Neuroptera)

A phylogenetic analysis of Neuroptera using thirty‐six predominantly morphological characters of adults and larvae is presented. This is the first computerized cladistic analysis at the ordinal level. It included nineteen species representing seventeen families of Neuroptera, three species representing two families (Sialidae and both subfamilies of Corydalidae) of Megaloptera, two species representing two families of Raphidioptera and as prime outgroup one species of a family of Coleoptera. Ten equally most parsimonious cladograms were found, of which one is selected and presented in detail. The results are discussed in light of recent results from mental phylogenetic cladograms. The suborders Nevrorthi‐ formia, Myrmeleontiformia and Hemerobiiformia received strong support, however Nevrorthiformia formed the adelphotaxon of Myrmeleontiformia + Hemerobiiformia (former sister group of Myrmeleontiformia only). In Myrmeleontiformia, the sister‐group relationships between Psychopsidae + Nemopteridae and Nymphidae + (Myrmeleontidae + Ascalaphidae) are corroborated. In Hemerobiiformia, Ithonidae + Polystoechotidae is confirmed as the sister group of the remaining families. Dilaridae + (Mantispidae + (Rhachiberothidae + Berothidae)), which has already been proposed, is confirmed. Chrysopidae + Osmylidae emerged as the sister group of a clade comprising Hemerobiidae + ((Coniopterygidae + Sisyridae) + (dilarid clade)). Despite the sister‐group relationship of Coniopterygidae + Sisyridae being only weakly supported, the position of Coniopterygidae within the higher Hemerobiiformia is corroborated. At the ordinal level, the analysis provided clear support for the hypothesis that Megaloptera + Neuroptera are sister groups, which upsets the conventional Megaloptera + Raphidioptera hypothesis.     

Phylogeny of Mantodea based on molecular data: evolution of a charismatic predator

Abstract. The previously unknown phylogenetic relationships among Mantodea (praying mantids) were inferred from DNA sequence data. Five genes (16S rDNA, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase II and histone 3) were sequenced for sixty‐three taxa representing major mantid lineages and outgroups. The monophyly of mantid families and subfamilies was tested under varying parameter settings using parsimony and Bayesian analyses. The analyses revealed the paraphyly of Hymenopodidae, Iridopterygidae, Mantidae, and Thespidae and the monophyly of the Amorphoscelidae subfamily Paraoxypilinae. All represented subfamilies of Iridopterygidae and Mantidae appear paraphyletic. Mantoididae is sister group to the rest of the sampled mantid taxa. Lineages congruent with current subfamilial taxonomy include Paraoxypilinae, Hoplocoryphinae, Hymenopodinae, Acromantinae and Oligonicinae. The mantid hunting strategy is defined as either generalist, cursorial or ambush predators. By mapping hunting strategy onto our phylogeny, we reconstructed the ancestral predatory condition as generalist hunting, with three independent shifts to cursorial hunting and one shift to ambush hunting, associated with the largest radiation of mantid species.     

Phylogeny and molecular dating of the cerato-platanin-encoding genes

The cerato-platanin family consists of proteins that can induce immune responses, cause necrosis, change chemotaxis and locomotion and may be related to the growth and development of various fungi. In this work, we analyzed the phylogenetic relationships among genes encoding members of the cerato-platanin family and computed the divergence times of the genes and corresponding fungi. The results showed that cerato-platanin-encoding genes could be classified into 10 groups but did not cluster according to fungal classes or their functions. The genes transferred horizontally and showed duplication. Molecular dating and adaptive evolution analyses indicated that the cerato-platanin gene originated with the appearance of saprophytes and that the gene was under positive selection. This finding suggests that cerato-platanin-encoding genes evolved with the development of fungal parasitic characteristics.     

分子进化研究中系统发生树的重建

在现代分子进化研究中,根据现有生物基因或物种多样性来重建生物的进化史是一个非常重要的问题。一个可靠的系统发生的推断,将揭示出有关生物进化过程的顺序,有助于我们了解生物进化的历史和进化机制。本文简要介绍了系统发生树推断的几个重要问题：建树方法、数据转换、树的可靠性及目前使用较多的几种分析软件。     

Phylogeny and molecular evolution in primates

Statistical methods for estimating the branching order and the branching dates from DNA sequence data, taking into account of the rate variation among lineages, are reviewed. An application of the methods to data from primates suggests that chimpanzee is the closest relative of man, and further suggests that these two species diverged about 4-5 million years ago.     

Phylogeny of Glaucosomatidae inferred from molecular evidence

Most species of glaucosomatids (Teleostei: Glaucosomatidae) are endemic to Australia, except Glaucosoma buergeri that is widely distributed from Australia to Japan. This study elucidated phylogenetic relationships among glaucosomatids based on the morphological characters of the saccular‐otolith sagitta, in addition to molecular evidence of mitochondrial 16S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and cytochrome b (cyt b) sequences, and nuclear rhodopsin sequences. The topologies of individuals' phylogenetic trees, based on 16S rDNA, COI and cyt b sequences, were statistically indistinguishable from one another, and were only slightly different from a tree based on rhodopsin sequences. These molecular tree topologies, however, differed from species relationships in morphology‐based phylogenetic hypothesis proposed in previous studies. Specimens of G. buergeri from Australia and Taiwan showed differences in the sagitta and molecular differentiation at the four genes, suggesting a possible speciation event. Both molecular and morphological evidences indicate that Glaucosoma magnificum is the plesiomorphic sister species of other glaucosomatid species. Glaucosoma hebraicum is the sister species of a clade composed of G. buergeri and Glaucosoma scapulare. Molecular and morphological evidences also support the species status of G. hebraicum.     

Phylogeny and evolutionary origins of the Leporidae: a review of cytogenetics, molecular analyses and a supermatrix analysis

• 1 We review current knowledge of the evolutionary relationships among species of Leporidae drawing on molecular, cytogenetic and morphological data. We highlight problems associated with retrieving phylogenetic information under conditions of a rapid radiation and the lack of phylogenetically informative cytogenetic and mitochondrial DNA characters. Most morphological features underpinning generic distinctions are subtle and prone to reversal and convergence and as a consequence, they generally provide little basis for assessing phylogenetic affinity.
• 2 We report the results of a supermatrix analysis that combines published nucleotide sequence data, unique insertion/deletion events, morphological characters and presumed geographical centres of origin of each genus. This represents the most comprehensive intergeneric comparison of the Leporidae thus far undertaken.
• 3 The monophyly of the 11 leporid genera is unambiguously supported. There is support for an Afroasian assemblage that comprises Poelagus, Pronolagus and Nesolagus, a primitive Lepus, with the problematic Bunolagus, Oryctolagus, Caprolagus and Pentalagus as derived species in a clade that also includes the closely related Brachylagus and Sylvilagus as sister taxa.
• 4 There is no support for the Palaeolaginae, although Romerolagus is an ancient lineage within the extant Leporidae.
• 5 We hold that of the polytypic genera Lepus remains the most problematic, and provide a working hypothesis that will hopefully encourage future research on the various hare species.

     

Phylogeny of the superfamily Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an exemplar approach

Phylogenetic relationships within the megadiverse lepidopteran superfamily Gelechioidea have been poorly understood and consequently the family level classification has been problematic. An analysis of phylogeny using 193 characters, including 241 informative character states, derived from larval, pupal and adult morphology and larval ecology, was performed to resolve the phylogeny of the Gelechioidea. 143 species representing the diversity of the putative Gelechioidea were included, supplemented with 13 species representing 11 other Ditrysian families. The monophyly of the Gelechioidea was supported, although only with homoplastic characters. The putative position of the Gelechioidea as the sister group of the Apoditrysia was not supported, since the Gelechioidea was nested within this clade. The Gelechioidea was divided into two main lineages: (1) the gelechiid lineage constituting Deoclonidae, Syringopainae, a re‐composed Coleophoridae (including Coelopoetinae and Batrachedrinae as paraphyletic with Stathmopodinae, and Coleophorinae nested within it), Momphidae, Pterolonchidae, Scythrididae, Cosmopterigidae, and Gelechiidae, and (2) the oecophorid lineage constituting the “autostichid” family assemblage (including taxa formerly assigned to Autostichinae, Holcopogoninae, Symmocinae, Glyphidoceridae and Lecithoceridae), Xyloryctidae s.l. (including a paraphyletic Xyloryctidae of authors, some oecophorids of authors, Deuterogoniinae and Blastobasinae), Oecophoridae s.s., Amphisbatidae s.s., Carcinidae, Stenomati[n/d]ae, Chimabachidae and Elachistidae (including Depressariinae s.s., Telechrysis, Ethmiinae, Hypertrophinae s.l., miscellaneous “amphisbatids”sensu authors, Aeolanthinae, Parametriotinae, Agonoxeninae and Elachistinae). Detritivory/fungivory may have evolved only twice within Gelechioidea, though the evolution of larval food substrate use frequently reverses. To avoid an unnecessary further proliferation of names, it is recommended that no further family group names are introduced within the Gelechioidea, unless based on a rigorous analysis of inter‐relationships.     

Mitochondrial phylogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of Neuropterida

Neuroptera (lacewings) and allied orders Megaloptera (dobsonflies, alderflies) and Raphidioptera (snakeflies) are predatory insects and together make up the clade Neuropterida. The higher‐level relationships within Neuropterida have historically been widely disputed with multiple competing hypotheses. Moreover, the evolution of important biological innovations among various Neuropterida families, such as the origin, timing and direction of transitions between aquatic and terrestrial habitats of larvae, remains poorly understood. To investigate the origin and diversification of lacewings and their allies, we undertook phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial genomes of all families of Neuropterida using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods. We present a robust, fully resolved phylogeny and divergence time estimation for Neuropterida with strong statistical support for almost all nodes. Mitochondrial sequence data are typified by significant compositional heterogeneity across lineages, and parsimony and models assuming homogeneous rates did not recover Neuroptera as monophyletic. Only a model accounting for compositional heterogeneity (i.e. CAT‐GTR) recovered all orders of Neuropterida as monophyletic. Significant findings of the mitogenomic phylogeny include recovering Raphidioptera as sister to Megaloptera plus Neuroptera. The sister family of all other lacewings are the dusty‐wings (Coniopterygidae), rather than Nevrorthidae. Nevrorthidae are instead returned to their traditional position as the sister group of the spongilla‐flies (Sisyridae) and closely related to Osmylidae. Our divergence time analysis indicates that the Mesozoic was indeed a ‘golden age’ for lacewings, with most families of Neuropterida diverging during the Triassic and Jurassic and all extant families present by the Early Cretaceous. Based on ancestral character state reconstructions of larval habitat we evaluate competing hypotheses regarding the life style of early neuropteridan larvae as either aquatic or terrestrial.     

Regeneration strategy of mangroves along the Kenya coast: a first approach

In June 1990 a research project sponsored by DANIDA and AWF was carried out by botany students of Nairobi University to investigate the regeneration strategy of mangroves at Gazi bay and Mida creek. Statistical analysis of 449 quadrats (5 × 5 m) sampled along 35 line transects in 4 mangrove forests showed that mangrove seedlings follow the same distribution pattern in the intertidal zone as their parent trees. In other words, mangrove seedlings mainly develop within a well-defined species specific zone. These distribution zones for the various mangrove trees and their seedlings are defined in terms of elevation above the mean low water level of spring tides.Through assigning mangrove seedlings in the intertidal zone to the categories (i) fixed or not-fixed, and (ii) covered or not-covered, evidence was found that propagule dispersal followed both the self-planting theory and the stranding theory. The self-planting theory appeared to be the major mechanism of propagule dispersal in undisturbed mangrove forests, whilst the stranding theory proved to be predominant in colonizing over-exploited and cleared mangrove forests.It is concluded that re-afforestation of mangrove seedlings in the intertidal zone will be most successful when the seedlings are planted in their specific distribution zones under fixed conditions.