A Molecular Supertree of the Artiodactyla

Abstract

Despite the size of the order and the conservation importance of many of its members, no complete species-level phylogeny of extant artiodactyls (sensu stricto) exists. Matrix Representation with Parsimony, which has been used already in reconstructions of primate and carnivore phylogeny, was used to build a supertree of the order. Owing to a lack of data, only 171 of the 220 extant species could be included in the analysis. Forty-eight molecular source trees contributed to building a supertree, with a current (morphological) taxonomy used to provide a backbone. The resulting supertree largely reflects a consensus of recent molecular work; however, resolution of the tree varies across families reflecting areas of current uncertainty. A discussion of the structure of the tree, and of its possible limitations, is presented.