We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Character Evolution in Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria).
- Authors
Cartwright, Paulyn; Nawrocki, Annalise M.
- Abstract
The diversity of hydrozoan life cycles, as manifested in the wide range of polyp, colony, and medusa morphologies, has been appreciated for centuries. Unraveling the complex history of characters involved in this diversity is critical for understanding the processes driving hydrozoan evolution. In this study, we use a phylogenetic approach to investigate the evolution of morphological characters in Hydrozoa. A molecular phylogeny is reconstructed using ribosomal DNA sequence data. Several characters involving polyp, colony, and medusa morphology are coded in the terminal taxa. These characters are mapped onto the phylogeny and then the ancestral character states are reconstructed. This study confirms the complex evolutionary history of hydrozoan morphological characters. Many of the characters involving polyp, colony, and medusa morphology appear as synapomorphies for major hydrozoan clades, yet homoplasy is commonplace.
- Subjects
MOLECULAR phylogeny; NUCLEOTIDE sequence; RIBOSOMAL DNA; NUCLEIC acids; HYDROZOA; BIOLOGICAL evolution
- Publication
Integrative & Comparative Biology, 2010, Vol 50, Issue 3, p456
- ISSN
1540-7063
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/icb/icq089