Taxacom: strict cladists war against paraphyletic taxa

[Mikhail Daneliya]

Thank you Leslie!
There have already been several datasets, which employed a number of both
nuclear and mitochondrial genes. All confirm the origin of Baikal radiation
from Gammarus. Seems to be quite solid for now.

Sincerely,
Mikhail


On Sat, 13 Dec 2025, 00:54 Leslie Watling, <watling at hawaii.edu> wrote:

> Always interested in amphipods and the Baikal fauna is remarkable.
> The problem that you detail might be resolved with better genetic data. I
> have been working with a group of people on octocorals and they have found
> when using a lot more genetic data that some relationships in the group,
> that were based on a couple of mitochondrial genes, do not hold up. More
> specifically, they are using ultra-conserved elements from the nuclear
> genome, thousands of gene fragments. In some ways, it is not surprising
> because research is now showing that in some groups the mitochondrial genes
> and the nuclear genes are evolving at different rates. So, if the Baikal
> fauna looks like Gammarus due to a mitochondrial gene, those amphipods
> might not look like Gammarus when a large array of nuclear gene fragments
> are used.
>
> Best,
> Les Watling
> Professor Emeritus
> School of Life Sciences
> University of Hawaii
>
> Professor Emeritus
> School of Marine Sciences
> University of Maine
>
>