Building large trees by combining phylogenetic information: A complete phylogeny of the extant Carnivora

Article Abstract:

There has been an increase in phylogenetic studies but the research effort across tax has been unevenly distributed. However existing data can be re-examined to give a more complete estimate of phylogeny. A supertreee technique and matrix representation using parsimony analysis (MRP) has been developed, by taking a complete phylogeny from all 271 extant species of the Carnivora. The phylogeny shows that some Mustelinae and Canidae lineages contain more species than expected for their age, demonstrating the utility of the tree for studies of macroevolution.

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The grand game of metazoan phylogeny: Rules and strategies

Article Abstract:

Recent efforts to arrive at a higher-level phylogeny of the invertebrates are assessed, with a focus on cladistic studies of morphology and embryology. Recent cladistic analyses of the Metazoa have ben useful in emphasizing the relative worth of different phylogenetic hypotheses, but to maximize the heuristic value of cladistic analyses more attention to various methodological issues is required.

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Conodont affinity and chordate phylogeny

Article Abstract:

A review of current wisdom on the conodonts Promissum pulchrum and Clydagnathus windsorensis is presented. Evidence suggests that the interpretation of the conodonts on a chordate model is justified.

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