Are crocodiles really monophyletic?—Evidence for subdivisions from sequence and morphological data

McAliley, L. Rex; Willis, Ray E.; Ray, David A.; White, Paul S.; Brochu, Christopher A.; Densmore, Llewellyn D.

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.012

Cited by 87 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This study is the first to estimate divergence time between all pairs of established and putative sister species from the genera Mecistops and Osteolaemus. Not surprisingly, the estimated divergence timing for Mecistops and Osteolaemus lineages was highly congruent (see figure 4; electronic supplementary material, table S5 and figures S2 -S4), indicating a regional vicariant process, and further this timing is congruent with the earliest fossil appearance of Mecistops in Africa, stratigraphically dated to the Late Miocene [62,69,70]. While no samples were available for genetic analysis from Nigeria, our molecular divergence dates and morphological classification of one skull from Nigeria and four skulls from Cameroon to the West and Central species, respectively, and the molecular identification of one Cameroon skull to the Central species, coincide well with the formation of the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) and/or the Benue Trough as the likely biogeographic barrier.…”

Section: Mecistopsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…For example, COI sequences from zoo Mecistops revealed new haplotypes and demonstrated that they all originated exclusively from West Africa (M. H. Shirley 2013, unpublished data). Incidentally, previous studies focusing on the molecular systematics of Mecistops [62] or using multiple Mecistops individuals in phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses [41] never detected multiple Mecistops species because they exclusively sampled zoo individuals.…”

Section: Mecistopsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rigorous approaches to species delimitation have significant implications for African crocodilian systematics and conservation

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accurate species delimitation is a central assumption of biology that, in groups such as the Crocodylia, is often hindered by highly conserved morphology and frequent introgression. In Africa, crocodilian systematics has been hampered by complex regional biogeography and confounded taxonomic history. We used rigorous molecular and morphological species delimitation methods to test the hypothesis that the slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus) is composed of multiple species corresponding to the Congolian and Guinean biogeographic zones. Speciation probability was assessed by using 11 mitochondrial and nuclear genes, and cranial morphology for over 100 specimens, representing the full geographical extent of the species distribution. Molecular Bayesian and phylogenetic species delimitation showed unanimous support for two Mecistops species isolated to the Upper Guinean and Congo (including Lower Guinean) biomes that were supported by 13 cranial characters capable of unambiguously diagnosing each species. Fossil-calibrated phylogenetic reconstruction estimated that the species split + 6.5-7.5 Ma, which is congruent with intraspecies divergence within the sympatric crocodile genus Osteolaemus and the formation of the Cameroon Volcanic Line. Our results underscore the necessity of comprehensive phylogeographic analyses within currently recognized taxa to detect cryptic species within the Crocodylia. We recommend that the community of crocodilian researchers reconsider the conceptualization of crocodilian species especially in the light of the conservation ramifications for this economically and ecologically important group.

show abstract

Section: Mecistopsmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Mecistopsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rigorous approaches to species delimitation have significant implications for African crocodilian systematics and conservation

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, consistent phylogenetic support of relationships within and among the various clades is rare (Brochu, 2001;McAliley et al, 2006), hampering accurate analysis of character transitions. It is beyond the scope of this paper to add yet another hypothesis of crocodyliform phylogeny.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The epipterygoid of crocodyliforms and its significance for the evolution of the orbitotemporal region of eusuchians

Holliday¹,

Witmer²

2009

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

166

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT-A broad survey of crocodyliform archosaurs and their outgroups was conducted to explore the evolutionary and morphological patterns of the orbitotemporal region, which is a highly apomorphic but poorly understood portion of the head. Data were gathered on the topological similarity and phylogenetic congruence of the epipterygoid, laterosphenoid, and temporal region as a whole, including relevant osteological correlates and such inferred soft tissues as the trigeminal nerves and jaw musculature. Despite the complete suturing of the palatocranial junction, the epipterygoid remained a consistent cranial element throughout crocodyliform evolution, only to be replaced by the topologically analogous, but developmentally neomorphic lateral bridge of the laterosphenoid during the early evolution of eusuchians. These changes led to a unique morphology of the region surrounding the exit of the trigeminal nerve. Mesoeucrocodylian taxa exhibit a diversity of epipterygoid morphologies including waisted (e.g., Araripesuchus), overlapping (e.g., Sarcosuchus), and isolated (e.g., Goniopholis, Leidyosuchus) forms. The isolated form, in which the epipterygoid is uncoupled from the pterygoid and does not to cover the cavum epiptericum laterally, represents a key transition to the extant condition of loss of the epipterygoid. Changes in the epipterygoid coincide with the migration of M. pseudotemporalis superficialis onto the laterosphenoid outside of the dorsotemporal fossa and the topological change in the intermuscular path of the maxillary nerve, both of which are apomorphies found in extant crocodylians. These data reflect a diverse and potentially homoplastic distribution of orbitotemporal morphologies among mesoeucrocodylians and indicate that the epipterygoid was only recently eliminated in crocodyliform evolution.

show abstract

“…Bioinformatics cannot be ignored, it consists million of genetic sequences information database and various valuable analyzing tools (Mount, 2004). We observed mtDNA are popular and widely used in Crocodylian phylogenetic studies, together with their sequences information deposited in GenBank (see McAliley et al, 2006;Li et al, 2007;Meganathan et al, 2010;Meganathan et al, 2011;Meredith et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFIC PRIMERS FOR INTER SPECIES PHYLOGENY RELATIONSHIP ON Crocodilian sp

Jayanto

Daryono

2015

KLS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Poaching, trafficking, and illegal product trading are classic activities which frequently faced by Crocodilian group. To overcome, laws need supporting methods for a decision of these all activities which threaten crocodile species. This will require species identification that associated to taxonomy classification. Crocodilian species are very similar in morphology. This may result to a false identification especially when working on incomplete specimen. Currently, twenty-four existing Crocodilian species are continuously revised to improve the precise placement and/or acceptance of certain species on Crocodilian classification. Herein we address this issue using Cytochrome-b. The idea was to obtain genus specific primer from Cytochrome-b and then tested the precision of the designed primers using bioinformatics tools' Primer-BLAST and CLC sequence Viewer 6. The designed primers showed a highly specificity on species level. The phylogenetic tree constructed by is relatively precise compared to reported phylogenetic trees. These specific primers together with the genus specific primers may give valuable and important support for the effective and efficient identification of Crocodilian group.

show abstract

Are crocodiles really monophyletic?—Evidence for subdivisions from sequence and morphological data

Cited by 87 publications

References 47 publications

Rigorous approaches to species delimitation have significant implications for African crocodilian systematics and conservation

Rigorous approaches to species delimitation have significant implications for African crocodilian systematics and conservation

The epipterygoid of crocodyliforms and its significance for the evolution of the orbitotemporal region of eusuchians

DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFIC PRIMERS FOR INTER SPECIES PHYLOGENY RELATIONSHIP ON Crocodilian sp

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About