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American Zoologist 1998 38(6):859-866; doi:10.1093/icb/38.6.859
© 1998 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Deciphering Metazoan Phylogeny: The Need for Additional Molecular Data1

DAMHNAIT MCHUGH2,3
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Correspondence: 2E-mail: dmchugh{at}mail.colgate.edu

SYNOPSIS. Our interpretation of the evolution of development, morphology, and diversity of multicellular animals hinges on a clear understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of metazoans. Currently, the field of metazoan phylogeny is in a state of flux, with new hypotheses of metazoan relationships emerging from analyses of 18S rDNA sequence data. Some of these analyses have been limited in the numbers of taxa analyzed, others, with numerous taxa analyzed, have not resolved deep level branching patterns, and all are hampered by properties of the 18S gene itself. Corroboration of the results from 18S rDNA analyses can come from additional molecular data sets, such as highly conserved nuclear coding genes, mitochondria gene order, or gene duplication events. The enormous task of data accumulation for additional molecular data from many representative taxa can most efficiently be undertaken in a coordinated, collaborative effort among different lab groups. Ultimately, a combined analysis of several independent data sets will be possible and may provide a more stable, robust phylogeny for the Metazoa.


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