Abstract
We report complete sequences of the cytochrome b, 12S rRNA, and protamine P1 genes from 18 of the 21 extant species of dasyurine marsupials (family Dasyuridae). Partial sequences are included for Pseudantechinus ningbing, but no data are available for Ps. mimulus or Phascolosorex doriae. Phylogenetic analyses of these sequences yield compatible gene trees with limited resolution. Simultaneous parsimony analysis of all three genes suggests the following: (a) a basal polytomy of eight lineages; (b) a sister-group relationship between “phascolosoricine” genera (Neophascogale and Phascolosorex, which are monophyletic) and Dasyums + Sarcophilus; (c) monophyly of Dasyurus viverrinus, D. albopunctatus, D. geoffroii, and D. spartacus apart from other quolls and Sarcophilus; and (d) sister-pairing of D. geoffroii and D. spartacus Previous attempts at unraveling the phylogenetic history of dasyurines have produced strikingly inconsistent results, due in part to differences in character systems examined, interpretations of character homology and independence, and analytical methods employed. We provide some evidence that the basal polytomy is the result of rapid cladogenesis and suggest that this episode of dasyurine evolution is temporally correlated with the onset of aridification following the New Guinean uplift of 15 million years ago.
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Krajewski, C., Young, J., Buckley, L. et al. Reconstructing the Evolutionary Radiation of Dasyurine Marsupials with Cytochrome b, 12S rRNA, and Protamine P1 Gene Trees. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 4, 217–236 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1027349725642
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1027349725642