Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 14, 537-543, Copyright © 1997 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
J Gatesy
Recent phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences suggest that cetaceans
(whales) and hippopotamid artiodactyls (hippos) are extant sister taxa.
Consequently, the shared aquatic specializations of these taxa may be
synapomorphies. This molecular view is contradicted by paleontological data
that overwhelmingly support a monophyletic Artiodactyla (even-toed
ungulates) and a close relationship between Cetacea and extinct mesonychian
ungulates. According to the fossil evidence, molecular, behavioral, and
anatomical resemblances between hippos and whales are interpreted as
convergences or primitive retentions. In this report, competing
interpretations of whale origins are tested through phylogenetic analyses
of the blood-clotting protein gene gamma- fibrinogen from cetaceans,
artiodactyls, perissodactyls (odd-toed ungulates), and carnivores (cats,
dogs, and kin). In combination with published DNA sequences, the
gamma-fibrinogen data unambiguously support a hippo/whale clade and are
inconsistent with the paleontological perspective. If the phylogeny favored
by fossil evidence is accepted, the convergence at the DNA level between
Cetacea and Hippopotamidae is remarkable in its distribution across three
genetic loci: gamma-fibrinogen, the linked milk casein genes, and
mitochondrial cytochrome b.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
More DNA support for a Cetacea/Hippopotamidae clade: the blood-clotting protein gene gamma-fibrinogen
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA. gatesy@mullis.biosci.arizona.edu
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