@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref15520, author = {Philippe Gaubert and W. Chris Wozencraft and Pedro Cordeiro-Estrela and G?raldine Veron}, title = {Mosaics of Convergences, Noise and Misleading Morphological Phylogenies: what's in a Viverrid-like Carnivoran?}, year = {2005}, keywords = {}, doi = {10.1080/10635150500232769}, url = {}, pmid = {}, journal = {Systematic Biology}, volume = {54}, number = {6}, pages = {865--894}, abstract = {Adaptive convergence in morphological characters has been considered responsible for incorrect reconstruction of evolutionary history between taxa. However, convergence patterns have rarely been thoroughly investigated, and the processes by which phylogenetic relationships may be misled by morphological convergence remains unclear. To further explore convergence characterization, we undertook a case study on the morphological evolution of viverrid-like feliformians (Nandinia, Cryptoprocta, Fossa, Eupleres, Prionodon). These taxa have a history of little systematic agreement despite extensive morphological investigations, but recent molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that viverrid-like morphotypes appeared at least three times independently during feliformian evolution. We built the largest morphological matrix concerning the Suborder Feliformia to date: a total of 349 characters grouped into four anatomical partitions for all species of Viverridae and viverrid-like taxa plus representatives of the Felidae, Hyaenidae, Herpestidae, and one Malagasy mongoose. We evaluated phylogenetic signal, convergence and noise in morphological characters through several approaches, most of which done in the framework of a synthetic molecular tree: (a) tree-length distribution (g1), (b) partitioned Bremer support, (c) RI values and their distribution, (d) respective contributions of diagnostic synapomorphies at the nodes for each partition, (e) patterns of shared convergences among viverrid-like taxa and other feliformian lineages, (f) tree-length differences among alternative hypotheses, and (g) successive removal of convergent character states from the original matrix. In addition, the lability of complex morphological structures was assessed by mapping them onto the synthetic molecular tree. The unconstrained morphological analysis yielded phylogenetic groupings that closely reflected traditional classification. Most of the nodes in the morphological tree were poorly supported, and conflicted with the DNA-based tree topology. The use of a synthetic molecular tree (constraint) combined with our thorough morphological investigations revealed the mosaics of convergences likely to have contributed to the historical uncertainty over viverrid classification. It also exemplified that complex morphological structures could be submitted to reversible evolutionary trends. On the other hand, the morphological matrix proved useful in characterizing several feliformian clades with diagnostic synapomorphies. These results support the classification of viverrid-like taxa into three distinct families: Nandiniidae (Nandinia), Prionodontidae (Prionodon), and the newly defined Eupleridae (including Cryptoprocta, Fossa, Eupleres plus all ?mongoose-like? Malagasy taxa). No clearly ?phylogenetically misleading? data subsets could be identified, and the great majority of morphological convergences appeared to be non-adaptive. The multiple approaches used in this study revealed that the most disruptive element with regards to morphological phylogenetic reconstruction was noise, which blured the expression of phylogenetic signal. This study demonstrates the crucial need to consider independent (molecular) phylogenies in order to produce reliable evolutionary hypotheses and should promote a new approach of the definition of morphological characters in mammals.} }

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