Origin and evolution of the major lineages of Bryozoa: Nuclear rDNA based high-level phylogeny of Stenolaemata, Gymnolaemata and Phylactolaemata
Final Report Abstract
Bryozoa are one of the morphologically most diverse animal groups with a very ambiguous taxonomy. A number of fundamental questions with respect to bryozoan evolution was unanswered, especially those concerning the origin and composition of this animal group. The presented molecular phylogenetic study used parsimony, distance, maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods to analyse four ribosomal genes (12S, 18S, 18S, and 288) of 50 bryozoans species and allowed following conclusions. Here studied Gymnolaemata (Cheilostomata and Ctenostomata), Cheilostomana, and Cyclostomata are monophyletic groups. Ctenostomata are a paraphyletic group. All recently recognized suborders of Cheilostomata are artificial groups. Cheilostomata is a monophyletic group. The assumption about the basal position of Ctenostomata in bryozoan phylogeny was rejected. The phylogenetic distances between and within Cyclostomata and Gymnolaemata support the hypothesis of the Triassic origin of Cyclostomata and complete extinction of Paleozoic Stenolaemata. Obtained genetic date and phylogenetic analyses combined with morphologic (SEM) study of paleontological and recent material allowed taxonomic revision of the genus Electra. Three new genera (Arbocuspis, Arbopercula, Osbumea) were erected and four new species, two of them are fossil, were described (Electra scuticifera, Electra omanensis, Electra triaurata, Osbumea aquitanica).
Publications
- (2008). Electra scuticifera sp. nov.: Redescription of Electra pilosa from New Zealand as a new species (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata). Schriften des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins für Schleswig-Holstein 70, 91-98
Elena A. Nikulina
- (2010). Three new genera of Electridae (Bryozoa): Arbopercula. Osbumea, and Arbocuspis. Schriften des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins für Schleswig-Holstein 72, 25-28
Elena A. Nikulina
- (2010). Two new species of Electra (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata) from the Miocene of the Aquitaine Basin, France. Geobios43, 219-224
Elena Nikulina, Paul D. Taylor
- (2012). A New Species of the Genus Electra (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata) from Southern Oman, Arabian Sea. In: A. Ernst et al. (eds.), Bryozoan Studies 2010. Lecture Notes in Earth System Sciences 143, 203-216
Elena A. Nikulina, Andrew N. Ostrovsky, Michel Claereboud
- (2012). Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis Confirms the Species Status of Electra verticiltata (Ellis and Seiender 1786). In: A. Ernst et al. (eds.), Bryozoan Studies 2010. Lecture Notes in Earth System Sciences 143, 217-236
Elena A. Nikulina, Hans De Blauwe, Oscar Reverter-Gil
