RE: Whale phylogenetics and evolution

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@umd.edu>]

I seriously recommend EVERYONE take a look at this paper! A wonderful synthesis 
of recent research on the origin and diversification
of whales, and a great model for review papers.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email: tholtz@umd.edu   Phone: 301-405-4084
Office: Centreville 1216                        
Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
Fax: 301-314-9661               

Faculty Director, Science & Global Change Program, College Park Scholars
http://www.geol.umd.edu/sgc
Fax: 301-314-9843

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
                        Building 237, Room 1117
                        University of Maryland
                        College Park, MD 20742 USA
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] On Behalf Of Ben 
> Creisler
> Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2013 1:36 AM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Whale phylogenetics and evolution
> 
> From: Ben Creisler
> bcreisler@gmail.com
> 
> 
> A non-dino paper that may be of interest:
> 
> 
> John Gatesy, Jonathan H. Geisler, Joseph Chang, Carl Buell, Annalisa Berta, 
> Robert W. Meredith, Mark S. Springer & Michael R.
> McGowen
> (2013)
> A phylogenetic blueprint for a modern whale.
> Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66(2): 479-506
> http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.10.012
> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790312004186
> 
> 
> The emergence of Cetacea in the Paleogene represents one of the most profound 
> macroevolutionary transitions within Mammalia.
> The move from a terrestrial habitat to a committed aquatic lifestyle 
> engendered wholesale changes in anatomy, physiology, and
> behavior. The results of this remarkable transformation are extant whales 
> that include the largest, biggest brained, fastest
swimming,
> loudest, deepest diving mammals, some of which can detect prey with a 
> sophisticated echolocation system (Odontoceti - toothed
> whales), and others that batch feed using racks of baleen (Mysticeti - baleen 
> whales). A broad-scale reconstruction of the
> evolutionary remodeling that culminated in extant cetaceans has not yet been 
> based on integration of genomic and paleontological
> information. Here, we first place Cetacea relative to extant mammalian 
> diversity, and assess the distribution of support among
> molecular datasets for relationships within Artiodactyla (even-toed 
> ungulates, including Cetacea). We then merge trees derived
from
> three large concatenations of molecular and fossil data to yield a composite 
> hypothesis that encompasses many critical events in
the
> evolutionary history of Cetacea. By combining diverse evidence, we infer a 
> phylogenetic blueprint that outlines the stepwise
> evolutionary development of modern whales. This hypothesis represents a 
> starting point for more detailed, comprehensive
> phylogenetic reconstructions in the future, and also highlights the 
> synergistic interaction between modern (genomic) and
traditional
> (morphological + paleontological) approaches that ultimately must be 
> exploited to provide a rich understanding of evolutionary
history
> across the entire tree of Life.