TY - JOUR
T1 - The Tree of Life and a New Classification of Bony Fishes
AU - Betancur-R, Ricardo
AU - Broughton, Richard E.
AU - Wiley, Edward O.
AU - Carpenter, Kent
AU - López, J. Andrés
AU - Li, Chenhong
AU - Holcroft, Nancy I.
AU - Arcila, Dahiana
AU - Sanciangco, Millicent
AU - Cureton, James C.
AU - Zhang, Feifei
AU - Buser, Thaddaeus
AU - Campbell, Matthew A.
AU - Ballesteros, Jesus A.
AU - Roa-Varon, Adela
AU - Willis, Stuart
AU - Borden, W. Calvin
AU - Rowley, Thaine
AU - Reneau, Paulette C.
AU - Hough, Daniel J.
AU - Lu, Guoqing
AU - Grande, Terry
AU - Arratia, Gloria
AU - Ortí, Guillermo
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - The tree of life of fishes is in a state of flux because we still lack a comprehensive phylogeny that includes all major groups. The situation is most critical for a large clade of spiny-finned fishes, traditionally referred to as percomorphs, whose uncertain relationships have plagued ichthyologists for over a century. Most of what we know about the higher-level relationships among fish lineages has been based on morphology, but rapid influx of molecular studies is changing many established systematic concepts. We report a comprehensive molecular phylogeny for bony fishes that includes representatives of all major lineages. DNA sequence data for 21 molecular markers (one mitochondrial and 20 nuclear genes) were collected for 1410 bony fish taxa, plus four tetrapod species and two chondrichthyan outgroups (total 1416 terminals). Bony fish diversity is represented by 1093 genera, 369 families, and all traditionally recognized orders. The maximum likelihood tree provides unprecedented resolution and high bootstrap support for most backbone nodes, defining for the first time a global phylogeny of fishes. The general structure of the tree is in agreement with expectations from previous morphological and molecular studies, but significant new clades arise. Most interestingly, the high degree of uncertainty among percomorphs is now resolved into nine well-supported supraordinal groups. The order Perciformes, considered by many a polyphyletic taxonomic waste basket, is defined for the first time as a monophyletic group in the global phylogeny. A new classification that reflects our phylogenetic hypothesis is proposed to facilitate communication about the newly found structure of the tree of life of fishes. Finally, the molecular phylogeny is calibrated using 60 fossil constraints to produce a comprehensive time tree. The new time-calibrated phylogeny will provide the basis for and stimulate new comparative studies to better understand the evolution of the amazing diversity of fishes.
AB - The tree of life of fishes is in a state of flux because we still lack a comprehensive phylogeny that includes all major groups. The situation is most critical for a large clade of spiny-finned fishes, traditionally referred to as percomorphs, whose uncertain relationships have plagued ichthyologists for over a century. Most of what we know about the higher-level relationships among fish lineages has been based on morphology, but rapid influx of molecular studies is changing many established systematic concepts. We report a comprehensive molecular phylogeny for bony fishes that includes representatives of all major lineages. DNA sequence data for 21 molecular markers (one mitochondrial and 20 nuclear genes) were collected for 1410 bony fish taxa, plus four tetrapod species and two chondrichthyan outgroups (total 1416 terminals). Bony fish diversity is represented by 1093 genera, 369 families, and all traditionally recognized orders. The maximum likelihood tree provides unprecedented resolution and high bootstrap support for most backbone nodes, defining for the first time a global phylogeny of fishes. The general structure of the tree is in agreement with expectations from previous morphological and molecular studies, but significant new clades arise. Most interestingly, the high degree of uncertainty among percomorphs is now resolved into nine well-supported supraordinal groups. The order Perciformes, considered by many a polyphyletic taxonomic waste basket, is defined for the first time as a monophyletic group in the global phylogeny. A new classification that reflects our phylogenetic hypothesis is proposed to facilitate communication about the newly found structure of the tree of life of fishes. Finally, the molecular phylogeny is calibrated using 60 fossil constraints to produce a comprehensive time tree. The new time-calibrated phylogeny will provide the basis for and stimulate new comparative studies to better understand the evolution of the amazing diversity of fishes.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876529549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/currents.tol.53ba26640df0ccaee75bb165c8c26288
DO - 10.1371/currents.tol.53ba26640df0ccaee75bb165c8c26288
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84876529549
SN - 2157-3999
JO - PLoS Currents
JF - PLoS Currents
IS - APR 2013
M1 - ecurrents.tol.53ba26640df0ccaee75bb165c8c26288
ER -