Evolution of Afrotropical freshwater crab lineages obscured by morphological convergence

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dc.contributor.authorDaniels S.R.
dc.contributor.authorCumberlidge N.
dc.contributor.authorPerez-Losada M.
dc.contributor.authorMarijnissen S.A.E.
dc.contributor.authorCrandall K.A.
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-15T15:57:21Z
dc.date.available2011-05-15T15:57:21Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.description.abstractWe use sequence data derived from six DNA gene loci to examine evolutionary and biogeographic affinities among all freshwater crab families. With an emphasis on the Afrotropical fauna that includes Africa, Madagascar, and the Seychelles, we test the proposed Gondwanan cladogenesis of the group. Phylogenetic results demonstrate that contemporary distribution patterns of freshwater crab lineages are incongruent with the expected area cladogram of continental fragmentation. Instead, our phylogenetic estimate and divergence time estimation indicate a post-Gondwanan, early Cretaceous cladogenesis for freshwater crabs implying that the acquisition of a freshwater lifestyle was achieved more recently. A dispersal hypothesis as opposed to vicariance appears to best explain the contemporary distribution pattern of this group. However, our results do not explicitly disprove a Gondwanan origin for the Afrotropical freshwater crabs. Alarmingly, these results suggest that most of the currently recognized freshwater crab families are unreliable taxonomic groupings since virtually no Afrotropical freshwater crab families formed monophyletic units thus obscuring inferred biogeographic relationships. Convergence in characters associated with the terminal segment of the mandibular palp is clearly a pervasive obstacle in the taxonomy of this group. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
dc.description.versionArticle
dc.identifier.citationMolecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
dc.identifier.citation40
dc.identifier.citation1
dc.identifier.issn10557903
dc.identifier.other10.1016/j.ympev.2006.02.022
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/10357
dc.subjectfresh water
dc.subjectanimal
dc.subjectarticle
dc.subjectbiological model
dc.subjectBrachyura
dc.subjectclassification
dc.subjectevolution
dc.subjectgenetics
dc.subjecthistology
dc.subjecttropic climate
dc.subjectAnimals
dc.subjectBrachyura
dc.subjectEvolution
dc.subjectFresh Water
dc.subjectModels, Biological
dc.subjectTropical Climate
dc.subjectDecapoda (Crustacea)
dc.titleEvolution of Afrotropical freshwater crab lineages obscured by morphological convergence
dc.typeArticle
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