Pegasoferae
Pegasoferae is a proposed clade of mammals based on genomic research in molecular systematics by Nishihara, Hasegawa and Okada (2006).
To the surprise of the authors, their data led them to propose a clade that includes bats (order Chiroptera), carnivores such as cats and dogs (order Carnivora), horses and other odd-toed ungulates (order Perissodactyla) and pangolins (order Pholidota) as springing from a single evolutionary origin within the mammals. The name Pegasoferae was coined from the name of the mythological flying horse Pegasus to refer to bats and horses, and the term Ferae, encompassing carnivorans and pangolins. According to this, the odd-toed ungulates' closest living relatives are the carnivorans. Earlier theories of mammalian evolution would, for example, have aligned bats with the insectivores (order Eulipotyphla) and horses with the even-toed ungulates (order Artiodactyla).
Some subsequent molecular studies published shortly after Nishihara, et al. (e.g. Matthee et al., 2007; Springer et al., 2007; Kitazoe et al., 2007) have failed to support it. The most recent research (Zhou et al., 2011) concluded that "Pegasoferae [...] does not appear to be a natural group."
Cladogram
References
- Zhou, X. et al. (2011). "Phylogenomic analysis resolves the interordinal relationships and rapid diversification of the Laurasiatherian mammals". Systematic Biology. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syr089. http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/09/03/sysbio.syr089.abstract. Retrieved 03 October 2011. (Advance Access; published online 07 September 2011)
- Matthee, C. A.; Eick, G. et al.; Willows-Munro, S; Montgelard, C; Pardini, AT; Robinson, TJ (2007). "Indel evolution of mammalian introns and the utility of non-coding nuclear markers in eutherian phylogenetics". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 42 (3): 827–837. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.10.002. PMID 17101283.
- Kitazoe, Y. et al. (2007). Hahn, Matthew. ed. "Robust time estimation reconciles views of the antiquity of placental mammals". PLoS ONE 18 (2(4)): e384. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000384. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000384. Retrieved 04 October 2011.
- Springer, M.S.; Burk-Herrick, A.; Meredith, R.; Eizirik, E.; Teeling, E.; O'Brien, S.J.; Murphy, W.J. (2007). "The adequacy of morphology for reconstructing the early history of placental mammals". Systematic Biology 56 (4): 673–684. doi:10.1080/10635150701491149. PMID 17661234.
- Nishihara, H.; Hasegawa, M.; Okada, N. (2006). "Pegasoferae, an unexpected mammalian clade revealed by tracking ancient retroposon insertions". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103 (26): 9929–9934. doi:10.1073/pnas.0603797103. PMC 1479866. PMID 16785431. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1479866.
External links