| Abstract: | The phylogeny of 67 populations representing 45 species of Aulacoseira Thwaites was estimated by maximum parsimony methods using a combination of nucleotide sequence data and qualitative and quantitative morphological characteristics of the silica cell wall gathered primarily from original observation by LM and SEM. A new type of character using continuous quantitative variables that describe the ontogenetic‐allometric trajectories of cell wall characteristics over the life cycle (size range) of diatoms is introduced. In addition to the 45 Aulacoseira species, the phylogeny also incorporated one Miosira Krammer, Lange‐Bertalot, and Schiller species and two outgroup species (Melosira varians Agardh and Stephanopyxis nipponica Gran & Yendo). Fifteen species, represented by 24 populations, also contained molecular data from the nuclear genome (18S rDNA), and 11 of these species (18 populations) contained data from the chloroplast genome (rbcL) as well, which were sequenced or downloaded from GenBank. The phylogeny of Aulacoseira is composed of five major clades: 1) an A. crenulata (Ehrenburg) Thwaites and A. italica (Ehrenburg) Simonsen clade, which is the most basal; 2) an A. granulata (Ehrenburg) Simonsen complex clade; 3) an A. ambigua (Grunow) Simonsen clade; 4) an A. subarctica (O. Müller) Haworth and A. distans (Ehrenburg) Simonsen clade; and 5) an A. islandica (O. Müller) Simonsen clade that also contained endemic species from Lake Baikal, Siberia and many extinct Aulacoseira taxa. Monophyly of Aulacoseira can only be achieved if Miosira is no longer given separate generic status. |
