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The Filago group (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae) comprises eleven genera, mainly distributed in Eurasia, northern Africa and northern America: Ancistrocarphus, Bombycilaena, Chamaepus, Cymbolaena, Evacidium, Evax, Filago, Logfia, Micropus, Psilocarphus and Stylocline. The main morphological character that defines the group is that the receptacular paleae subtend, and more or less enclose, the female florets. The aims of this work are, with the use of three chloroplast DNA regions (rpl32‐trnL intergenic spacer, trnL intron, and trnL‐trnF intergenic spacer) and two nuclear DNA regions (ITS, ETS), to test whether the Filago group is monophyletic; to place its members within Gnaphalieae using a broad sampling of the tribe; and to investigate in detail the phylogenetic relationships among the Old World members of the Filago group and provide some new insight into the generic circumscription and infrageneric classification based on natural entities. Our results do not show statistical support for a monophyletic Filago group. The traditional generic circumscription of most of the genera, as well as the traditional infrageneric classification of the genus Filago, do not correlate with the inferred phylogenetic relationships. A monophyletic circumscription of Filago and a new subgeneric treatment for this genus are proposed, this involving description of a new subgenus (Filago subg. Crocidion Andrés‐Sánchez & Galbany, subg. nov.) and four new combinations (Filago subg. Pseudevax (DC.) Andrés‐Sánchez & Galbany, comb. et stat. nov.; Filago discolor (DC.) Andrés‐Sánchez & Galbany, comb. nov.; Filago gaditana (Pau) Andrés‐Sánchez & Galbany, comb. et stat. nov. and Filago griffithii (A. Gray) Andrés‐Sánchez & Galbany, comb. nov.). The genera Cymbolaena, Evacidium and Evax are synonymised under Filago. Several incongruences found between chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequence analyses, as well as a notable degree of intraspecific sequence variation in all regions sequenced are documented and discussed.

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The Inula complex (Asteraceae: Inulinae) is a monophyletic group which comprises eight genera distributed in Eurasia and Africa: Amblyocarpum, Carpesium, Chrysophthalmum, Inula, Pentanema, Rhanteriopsis, Telekia, and Varthemia. With the aim to shed light on the circumscription of these genera, phylogenetic analyses were performed with 293 new DNA sequences (ITS region from nrDNA and three plastid spacers from cpDNA: rps16–trnQ, rpl32–trnL, ndhF–rpl32). It is concluded that both Inula and Pentanema are paraphyletic and that generic delimitations within the Inula complex need to be revised. Based on the results of the analyses, together with morphological and karyological data, we argue that the best solution is a new circumscription of the genus Pentanema including an amended description and 24 new combinations of former Inula species. Resurrection of the names Codonocephalum, Monactinocephalus and Vicoa is proposed to preserve the monophyly of the genera included in the Inula complex. Incongruences between nrDNA and cpDNA are documented and discussed.

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To test whether there are differences between living lineages of domestic guinea pigs Cavia porcellus, we studied 118 specimens from six breeds collected along six Andean countries as well as 15 from the wild cavy species (Cavia tschudii). The mean weight and body length of 15 adult wild cavies (295 AE 31 g, 242 AE 8.3 mm) were significantly smaller than 25 creole guinea pigs from Bolivia and Chile (639 AE 157 g, 287 AE 23.7 mm, respectively). Eighteen laboratory/pet guinea pigs (including the English Pirbright breed) were also smaller (900 AE 173 g, 308 AE 21 mm) than 25 improved ones from Peru (Tamborada breed, 1241 AE 75.4 g, 317 AE 12 mm) and Ecuador (Auqui breed, 1138 AE 65.5 g, 307 AE 8 mm). Similar size increases appeared in the first axis of a principal component analysis of six skeletal measurements, recovering 84% of total variation. Phylogenetic and haplotype analyses of complete cytochrome b gene sequences consistently joined all 22 domestic individuals (13 shared unambiguous substitutions, 100% bootstrap in 1000 replicates), probably from a single first ancient domestication in the western Andes. Six laboratory/ pet sequences were also joined within a common branch (six shared substitutions, 96% bootstrap), probably from a documented European second phase. By contrast, those from improved Auqui joined a northern creole subgroup (one shared substitution, 84% bootstrap), and those from Nativa and improved Tamborada clustered together and with a southern creole subgroup (four shared substitutions, 86% bootstrap); this suggests at least two independent modern events during a more complex third phase, producing two improved guinea pigs selected for size and meat. Cavia tschudii sequences showed some unexpected geographic variation.

Despite the recent publication of several phylogenies focused on Rhinantheae, which has been expanded to include three Asian endemic genera, few studies so far have dealt with particular genera within the tribe. Here, we focus on Odontites and related genera because of the high morphological variability of the group and its unclear generic boundaries. Phylogenetic analyses were performed for nrDNA (ITS) and cpDNA (trnK region and rps16 intron) datasets, using Bayesian and Parsimony analyses. Our results cast doubt on the inclusion of Pterygiella and related genera within the Rhinantheae and support the paraphyly of Phtheirospermum, making it necessary to propose three new combinations to avoid it. Odontites is recircumscribed to include Bartsiella, Bornmuellerantha, and Macrosyringion, but not Odontitella. Within Odontites, five distinct lineages are identified. These are distinguishable either by morphological synapomorphies or by a combination of several character states. Most of the Odontites species are regarded as monophyletic. In the O. vernus and O. luteus complexes, some taxonomic changes are made to avoid paraphyly, which results in three new combinations. Supplementary MaterialElectronic Supplement (Appendix S1; Fig. S1) and DNA sequence alignment files are available in the Supplementary Data section of the online version of this article at