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

L. Rex McAliley; Ray E Willis; David A Ray; P. Scott White; Christopher A Brochu; Llewellyn D Densmore

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.012

Back

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

Journal article

Peer reviewed

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

L. Rex McAliley, Ray E Willis, David A Ray, P. Scott White, Christopher A Brochu and Llewellyn D Densmore

Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, Vol.39(1), pp.16-32

2006

DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.012

PMID: 16495085

View Online

Abstract

Recently, the phylogenetic placement of the African slender snouted crocodile, Crocodylus cataphractus, has come under scrutiny and herein we address this issue using molecular and morphological techniques. Although it is often recognized as being a “basal” form, morphological studies have traditionally placed C. cataphractus within the genus Crocodylus, while molecular studies have suggested that C. cataphractus is very distinct from other Crocodylus. To address the relationship of this species to its congeners we have sequenced portions of two nuclear genes ( C-mos 302 bp and ODC 294 bp), and two mitochondrial genes ( ND6-tRNA glu - cytB 347 bp and control region 457 bp). Analyses of these molecular datasets, both as individual gene sequences and as concatenated sequences, support the hypothesis that C. cataphractus is not a member of Crocodylus or Osteolaemus. Examination of 165 morphological characters supports and strengthens our resurrection of an historic genus, Mecistops (Gray 1844) for cataphractus.

C-mos

Crocodylus

Crocodylus cataphractus

Mecistops

Mitochondrial control region

Mitochondrial ND6

ODC

Systematics

Details

Title: Subtitle: Are crocodiles really monophyletic?—Evidence for subdivisions from sequence and morphological data
Creators: L. Rex McAliley - Texas Tech University
Ray E Willis - Texas Tech University
David A Ray - Texas Tech University
P. Scott White - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Christopher A Brochu - University of Iowa
Llewellyn D Densmore - Texas Tech University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, Vol.39(1), pp.16-32
Publisher: Elsevier Inc
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.012
PMID: 16495085
ISSN: 1055-7903
eISSN: 1095-9513
Language: English
Date published: 2006
Academic Unit: Earth and Environmental Sciences; University College Courses
Record Identifier: 9984229172502771

Metrics

43 Record Views

76 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details