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Hemichordates and deuterostome evolution: robust molecular phylogenetic support for a hemichordate + echinoderm clade
Author(s) -
Bromham Lindell D.,
Degnan Bernard M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
evolution and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1525-142X
pISSN - 1520-541X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1525-142x.1999.99026.x
Subject(s) - echinoderm , biology , deuterostome , clade , phylogenetic tree , evolutionary biology , chordate , phylogenetics , zoology , paleontology , genome , genetics , gene
SUMMARY Hemichordates were traditionally allied to the chordates, but recent molecular analyses have suggested that hemichordates are a sister group to the echinoderms, a relationship that has important consequences for the interpretation of the evolution of deuterostome body plans. However, the molecular phylogenetic analyses to date have not provided robust support for the hemichordate + echinoderm clade. We use a maximum likelihood framework, including the parametric bootstrap, to reanalyze DNA data from complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear 18S rRNA. This approach provides the first statistically significant support for the hemichordate + echinoderm clade from molecular data. This grouping implies that the ancestral deuterostome had features that included an adult with a pharynx and a dorsal nerve cord and an indirectly developing dipleurula‐like larva.