Phylogenetic position of interstitial polychaete taxa of supposedly paedomorphic origin using mitogenomic data

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Günter Purschke; Professor Dr. Torsten H. Struck
• Subject Area: Evolution, Anthropology
• Term: from 2010 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 175978761

Several annelid taxa are prominent members of marine interstitial habitats. While the phylogenetic positions of some taxa are well supported, positions of others within Annelida are highly controversial, based on both morphological and nuclear rRNA data. Especially, the position of the former archiannelidan taxa Dinophilidae, Protodriloidae, Protodrilidae, Saccocirridae, Polygordiidae and Nerillidae is still largely unresolved. Paedomorphic evolution, the retention of larval and/or juvenile ancestral character traits in adult descendants, has been proposed for all of them except for Polygordiidae. Paedomorphosis has also been proposed as being the major process in the permanent colonization of the marine interstitium by annelids, but also by other metazoan taxa. However, other scenarios are also possible and have been suggested. To further investigate the importance of paedomorphosis in the colonization of the interstitial environment the phylogenetic positions of the former archiannelidan taxa will be analyzed using a mitogenomic approach based on mitochondrial genomes from these as well as additional annelid taxa to ensure a representative coverage of annelid biodiversity.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants