What is it about?
We sequenced the entire mitochondrial DNA of a couple of key cephalopod species and added this to all the existing data to provide a more robust tree of life than had been previously provided.
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Why is it important?
We don't understand the early history of the squids and cuttlefishes - probably because they evolved very rapidly. In this paper, we actually find some resolution that makes sense!
Perspectives
The great thing about this paper is it uses comparatively few data, but yields a phylogeny that is extremely similar to one published a month or so later (Tanner et al.) using huge amounts of data. Our way was much quicker and cheaper and now it's had some validation by a meatier study, our method might be a much easier way to investigate some of the branches in the tree that still aren't resolved.
Louise Allcock
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Whole mitochondrial genome of the Ram’s Horn Squid shines light on the phylogenetic position of the monotypic order Spirulida (Haeckel, 1896), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, April 2017, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.01.011.
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