Lab 1 Phylogenetic Systematics

Cladistics
Three major schools: -Cladistics (Phylogenetic Systematics) -Traditional (Evolutionary Systematics)
Goal: Produce testable hypotheses of genealogical relationships among natural evolutionary groups of organisms.

-Numerical (Phenetics)

Cladograms

DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION

(Darwin and Wallace 1850s)
Darwin and Wallace 1859 The notion that species evolve over time, and that descent from common ancestors explains why we see the nested pattern that we do. Current thought is that we should make the names of groups reflect the pattern of descent. It also has provided a context for interpreting the different characteristics that we see not just as more similar or less similar, but as the result of change over time from the same ancestor.

CHARACTER STATES
Plesiomorphy: an ancestral character Symplesiomorphy: shared ancestral character Apomorphy: a derived character Autapomorphy: unique derived character Synapomorphy: shared derived character

Source: http://palaeos.com/phylogeny/glossary.html

CLADOGRAMS
Diagrams used to show potential relationships between taxa. Any tree represents a HYPOTHESIS of relationships. Any tree may, or may not reflect the actual historical relationships between taxa.
Source: http://biology.fullerton.edu/biol402/phylolab_new.html

HOMOLOGY
Homology is the similarity in the characteristics of different taxa that results from shared ancestry. Example of Homology:

HOMOLOGY AND NONHOMOLOGY EXAMPLE

Bat wings and bird wings are analogous as flight structures, but NOT homologous as wings (the forelimbs of birds and bat ancestors were modified independently into wings) Bat and birds wings are homologous as forelimbs

Monophyletic?

Lets see an example

We want to know if fishes comprise a natural (monophyletic) group: Do all fish species share a more common ancestor with each other that they do with other vertebrates? Testing hypotheses about evolution requires several steps

Begin by Identifying Characters

Characters can be any features of an organism that is informative.
Must occur within the group of taxa under consideration (ingroup), but not in the outgroup (outgroup is a closely related groups of organisms that does not share any of the distinguishing characteristics of the ingroup) Should show variation. A character that does not differ between taxa is not informative.

Construct data matrix

Construct data matrix (DNA)

Construct data matrix

Use data to test different hypotheses of relationships

Plot the changes in each character on the proposed tree. This is called character mapping.

4 limbs mammary glands boney jaws 4 limbs boney jaws amnion

gills

A. Cladogram showing fish as a

natural group. Tree length = 9.

Note that if this cladogram represents the pattern of descent of these taxa, then jaws, bones, and limbs must have evolved twice.

Alternative hypothesis
Plotting the changes in characters on an alternative tree promotes a different understanding of the evolution of these characters. * How many alternative hypotheses are there? 9! = 362880

mammary glands

amnion
no adult gills 4 limbs boney

B. Cladogram showing alternative

hypothesis of fish as a non-natural group; Tree length = 7.
gills

According to this tree, some of the taxa must have lost adult gills at some point.

jaws

According to this tree, jaws, bones, and 4limbs evolved only once.

PARSIMONY
Parsimony in systematics means choosing the simplest possible explanation for the changes seen in the characters under consideration. This means that the hypothesis of relationships requiring the fewest evolutionary events, or changes, should be favored over more complicated alternatives.

So, which do we choose?

4 limbs mammary glands boney

How many changes?

jaws 4 limbs boney jaws

amnion

gills

How many changes?

mammary glands amnion no adult gills 4 limbs boney

jaws
gills

So, which do we choose?

4 limbs mammary glands boney

How many changes?

jaws 4 limbs boney jaws

amnion

gills

How many changes?

mammary glands amnion no adult gills 4 limbs boney

jaws
gills

HOMOPLASY
(NOT HOMOLOGOUS CHARACTER)
The recurrence of similar traits (features) in different groups NOT due to common descent Lets see next the different processes that serve as sources of homoplasies and some examples

SOURCES OF HOMOPLASY
Convergent Evolution structure that appears similar can evolve in groups which are not closely related Parallelism taxa undergo similar changes in commonly derived structures, leading to evolution of similar characters Character Reversals the re-establishment of an ancestral state through the loss of an evolutionary novelty

Lab Today
-Go through frog example -Try the fish example in class (Opportunity to ask me questions!!!) -Homework on blackboard !!!!