Morphology versus molecules: resolution of the positions of Nymphalis, Polygonia, and related genera (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Abstract

The debate on whether to combine different data sets for simultaneous analysis has continued to the present day unabated. We have studied the effects of combining one morphological data set with four molecular data sets (two mitochondrial gene sequences and two nuclear gene sequences) for a group of butterflies belonging to the tribe Nymphalini using partitioned Bremer support. We particularly focus our attention on a group of species belonging to the genera Aglais, Inachis, Roddia, Nymphalis, Kaniska, and Polygonia. We find that, despite significant incongruence between most data partitions, all data partitions contribute positively to the support of most nodes in the most parsimonious trees found for the combined data set. We also find that the morphological data set resolves one particular node (Kaniska basal to Polygonia) with good support, while the molecular data sets are ambiguous about the existence of this node. We suggest that partitioned Bremer support allows one to critically appraise the robustness of each node in a given tree and thereby identify nodes that may change with the addition of new data and nodes that are likely to remain unchanged with new data. We also suggest that morphological data are still crucial to our being able to understand the relationships of extant organisms, despite published views to the contrary. Based on our results we suggest that Inachis should be synonymized with Aglais, Roddia with Nymphalis, and Kaniska with Polygonia.

Phylogeny ofMaculineablues (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) based on morphological and ecological characters: evolution of parasitic myrmecophily

“…), especially in elucidating the terminal relationships within individual lineages. Since morphological and molecular evidence are two autonomous sources of data for reconstructing phylogenies (Freudenstein et al, 2003), the confrontation and combination of different data matrices may corroborate or falsify the validity of the present results (see Vane-Wright, 2003;Wahlberg and Nylin, 2003).…”

Threat status in butterflies and its ecological correlates: how far can we generalize?

“…In order to decide which species to contrast with each other we used phylogenetic information from recent molecular studies when available (Brunton 1998;Wahlberg and Zimmermann 2000;Zimmermann et al 2000;Wahlberg and Nylin 2003;Kandul et al 2004;Simonsen 2005;Weingartner et al 2006;U. Kodandaramaiah & N. Wahlberg, unpublished Coenonympha phylogeny), and in other cases we had to rely on traditional classification (Higgins 1975).…”

Coherence, correspondence, and the renaissance of morphology in phylogenetic systematics

“…Indeed, several authors (e.g. Sullivan, 1996;Baker et al, 1998;Carpenter and Wheeler, 1999;Baker and Gatesy, 2002;Edgecombe et al, 2002;Giribet et al, 2002;Meier and Wiegmann, 2002;Schulmeister et al, 2002;Stach and Turbeville, 2002;Lundberg and Bremer, 2003;Wahlberg and Nylin, 2003;Freitas and Brown, 2004;Wahlberg et al, 2005;Crowe et al, 2006;Bybee et al, 2008;Hermsen and Hendricks, 2008) have demonstrated the synergistic effects (e.g. increased levels of resolution and ⁄ or support of clades) of combining morphological and molecular data, and the contribution of these analyses for studies of classification, character evolution, and associating extant and fossil taxa.…”