A Bayesian approach to dynamic homology of morphological characters and the ancestral phenotype of jawed vertebrates

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Abstract

Phylogenetic analysis of morphological data proceeds from a fixed set of primary homology statements, the character-by-taxon matrix. However, there are cases where multiple conflicting homology statements can be justified from comparative anatomy. The upper jaw bones of placoderms have traditionally been considered homologous to the palatal vomer-dermopalatine series of osteichthyans. The discovery of 'maxillate' placoderms led to the alternative hypothesis that 'core' placoderm jaw bones are premaxillae and maxillae lacing external (facial) laminae. We introduce a BEAST2 package for simultaneous inference of homology and phylogeny, and find strong evidence for the latter hypothesis. Phenetic analysis of reconstructed ancestors suggests that maxillate placoderms are the most plesiomorphic known gnathostomes, and the shared cranial architecture of arthrodire placoderms, maxillate placoderms and osteichthyans is inherited. We suggest that the gnathostome ancestor possessed maxillae and premaxillae with facial and palatal laminae, and that these bones underwent divergent evolutionary trajectories in placoderms and osteichthyans.

Data availability

Taxon sources, character list, the data matrix in nexus format and the BEAST2 xml file are available for review at https://figshare.com/s/e40652290467d2a436fd.

Article and author information

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Benedict King

Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands

For correspondence
benking315@gmail.com

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9489-8274
Martin Rücklin

Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Vidi 864.14.009)

Benedict King
Martin Rücklin

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.