Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 4, 99-116, Copyright © 1987 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
AR Wyss, MJ Novacek and MC McKenna
To a large extent, the mutual affinities of the mammalian orders continue
to puzzle systematists, even though comparative anatomy and amino acid
sequencing offer a massive data base from which these relationships could
potentially be adduced. In the present paper the consistency index--the
number of character states less the number of characters in a data set,
divided by the total number of changes in the character states on a
cladogram--was used to examine the relative resolving powers of recently
published morphological and molecular- sequence data. Consistency indices
were calculated for previously published alpha crystallin A chain and
myoglobin amino acid-sequence cladograms and for four original amino
acid-sequence cladograms (alpha crystallin A, myoglobin, and alpha and beta
hemoglobin); these were found to be comparable to the consistency indices
of morphologically based cladograms. Qualitative comparisons between the
morphologically based and molecularly based trees were also made; only
moderate congruence between the two was observed. Moreover, there was a
general lack of congruence between the cladograms specified by each of the
four proteins. Amino acid-sequence and morphological data agreed on the
placement of edentates as an early eutherian offshoot and on the grouping
of hyracoids, proboscideans, and sirenians. Otherwise there was only
limited congruence: morphology strongly supported the grouping of
lagomorphs and rodents and the alliance of pholidotes and edentates, but
sequence analyses did not. The placement of tubulidentates differed widely
among proteins. Morphology indicated the close association of sirenians
with proboscideans; proteins suggested a pairing of sirenians with
hyracoids. Sequence data did not identify many (morphologically
well-diagnosed) orders as monophyletic (e.g., Lagomorpha).(ABSTRACT
TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Amino acid sequence versus morphological data and the interordinal relationships of mammals
Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024.
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