Title: Hemichordates and deuterostome evolution: robust molecular phylogenetic support for a hemichordate + echinoderm clade
Abstract: 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.
Publication Year: 1999
Publication Date: 1999-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 147
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