Systematic Biology Volume 66, Number 4 July 2017 - Back Cover
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Source: Systematic Biology - June 16, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
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Source: Systematic Biology - June 16, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Systematic Biology - Editorial Board
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Source: Systematic Biology - June 16, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Systematic Biology Volume 66, Number 4 July 2017 - Front Cover
(Source: Systematic Biology)
Source: Systematic Biology - June 16, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Conserving Phylogenetic Diversity Can Be a Poor Strategy for Conserving Functional Diversity
AbstractFor decades, academic biologists have advocated for making conservation decisions in light of evolutionary history. Specifically, they suggest that policy makers should prioritize conserving phylogenetically diverse assemblages. The most prominent argument is that conserving phylogenetic diversity (PD) will also conserve diversity in traits and features (functional diversity [FD]), which may be valuable for a number of reasons. The claim that PD-maximized ( “maxPD”) sets of taxa will also have high FD is often taken at face value and in cases where researchers have actually tested it, they have done so by measu...
Source: Systematic Biology - June 8, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
More on the Best Evolutionary Rate for Phylogenetic Analysis
AbstractThe accumulation of genome-scale molecular data sets for nonmodel taxa brings us ever closer to resolving the tree of life of all living organisms. However, despite the depth of data available, a number of studies that each used thousands of genes have reported conflicting results. The focus of phylogenomic projects must thus shift to more careful experimental design. Even though we still have a limited understanding of what are the best predictors of the phylogenetic informativeness of a gene, there is wide agreement that one key factor is its evolutionary rate; but there is no consensus as to whether the rates de...
Source: Systematic Biology - June 8, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Lineage Diversity and Size Disparity in Musteloidea: Testing Patterns of Adaptive Radiation Using Molecular and Fossil-Based Methods
AbstractAdaptive radiation is hypothesized to be a primary mechanism that drives the remarkable species diversity and morphological disparity across the Tree of Life. Tests for adaptive radiation in extant taxa are traditionally estimated from calibrated molecular phylogenies with little input from extinct taxa. With 85 putative species in 33 genera and over 400 described extinct species, the carnivoran superfamily Musteloidea is a prime candidate to investigate patterns of adaptive radiation using both extant- and fossil-based macroevolutionary methods. The species diversity and equally impressive ecological and phenotypi...
Source: Systematic Biology - May 31, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Crowds Replicate Performance of Scientific Experts Scoring Phylogenetic Matrices of Phenotypes
AbstractScientists building the Tree of Life face an overwhelming challenge to categorize phenotypes (e.g., anatomy, physiology) from millions of living and fossil species. This biodiversity challenge far outstrips the capacities of trained scientific experts. Here we explore whether crowdsourcing can be used to collect matrix data on a large scale with the participation of nonexpert students, or “citizen scientists.” Crowdsourcing, or data collection by nonexperts, frequently via the internet, has enabled scientists to tackle some large-scale data collection challenges too massive for individuals or scientific teams a...
Source: Systematic Biology - May 29, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Combined Analysis of Extant Rhynchonellida (Brachiopoda) using Morphological and Molecular Data
AbstractIndependent molecular and morphological phylogenetic analyses have often produced discordant results for certain groups which, for fossil-rich groups, raises the possibility that morphological data might mislead in those groups for which we depend upon morphology the most. Rhynchonellide brachiopods, with more than 500 extinct genera but only 19 extant genera represented today, provide an opportunity to explore the factors that produce contentious phylogenetic signal across datasets, as previous phylogenetic hypotheses generated from molecular sequence data bear little agreement with those constructed using morphol...
Source: Systematic Biology - May 8, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Resolving Rapid Radiations within Angiosperm Families Using Anchored Phylogenomics
AbstractDespite the promise that molecular data would provide a seemingly unlimited source of independent characters, many plant phylogenetic studies are still based on only two regions, the plastid genome and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). Their popularity can be explained by high-copy numbers and universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers that make their sequences easily amplified and converted into parallel datasets. Unfortunately, their utility is limited by linked loci and limited characters resulting in low confidence in the accuracy of phylogenetic estimates, especially when rapid radiations occur. In another...
Source: Systematic Biology - May 4, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Resolving Relationships among the Megadiverse Butterflies and Moths with a Novel Pipeline for Anchored Phylogenomics
AbstractThe advent of next-generation sequencing technology has allowed for thecollection of large portions of the genome for phylogenetic analysis. Hybrid enrichment and transcriptomics are two techniques that leverage next-generation sequencing and have shown much promise. However, methods for processing hybrid enrichment data are still limited. We developed a pipeline for anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) read assembly, orthology determination, contamination screening, and data processing for sequences flanking the target “probe” region. We apply this approach to study the phylogeny of butterflies and moths (Lepidopt...
Source: Systematic Biology - May 4, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
A Metric on Phylogenetic Tree Shapes
We describe several metrics based on the same core characterization, and illustrate how to extend the metric to incorporate trees ’ branch lengths or other features such as overall imbalance. Our approach allows us to construct addition and multiplication on trees, and to create a convex metric on tree shapes which formally allows computation of average tree shapes. (Source: Systematic Biology)
Source: Systematic Biology - May 2, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Gene-Tree Reconciliation with MUL-Trees to Resolve Polyploidy Events
Polyploidy can have a huge impact on the evolution of species, and it is a common occurrence, especially in plants. The two types of polyploids —autopolyploids and allopolyploids—differ in the level of divergence between the genes that are brought together in the new polyploid lineage. Because allopolyploids are formed via hybridization, the homoeologous copies of genes within them are at least as divergent as orthologs in the parental species that came together to form them. This means that common methods for estimating the parental lineages of allopolyploidy events are not accurate, and can lead to incorrect inferenc...
Source: Systematic Biology - April 28, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
