01691nas a2200157   4500008004100000245013600041210006900177260000800246300001100254490000700265520114700272100002401419700002301443700001801466856004901484       2007                        eng d00aConvergent evolution of gigantism in damselflies of Africa and South America? Evidence from nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data0 aConvergent evolution of gigantism in damselflies of Africa and S  cFeb  a339-460 v423 aExtreme large body size is rare in modern Zygoptera (damselflies). Only the South and Central American damselfly family Pseudostigmatidae and one African species, Coryphagrion grandis, share the morphological trait of gigantism. By means of phylogenetic analyses using two mitochondrial markers (16S rDNA and ND1) and one nuclear marker (EF1) in combination with an existing morphological data set, we trace the evolution of gigantism in damselflies. Individual and combined data sets were analyzed using the maximum parsimony, minimum evolution and maximum likelihood algorithms. Regardless of the algorithm used and the data set analyzed all principal tree topologies support a monophyly of the damselfly taxa displaying giant body size. This supports the view that the evolution of gigantism in damselflies from Africa and South America is not the result of convergent evolution due to strikingly similar habitat preferences, but rather the result of close genealogical relationship. Because modern odonates evolved before the split of Africa from Gondwanaland, the proposed phylogeny suggests that C. grandis represents a Gondwana relict.1 aGroeneveld, Linn, F1 aClausnitzer, Viola1 aHadrys, Heike  uhttps://worldodonata.myspecies.info/node/24102694nas a2200145   4500008004100000245007000041210006800111260000800179520223100187100001902418700002002437700002402457700001802481856004902499       2009                        eng d00aA phylogenomic approach to resolve the basal pterygote divergence0 aphylogenomic approach to resolve the basal pterygote divergence  cAug3 aOne of the most fascinating Bauplan transitions in the animal kingdom was the invention of insect wings, a change which also contributed to the success and enormous diversity of this animal group. However, the origin of insect flight and the relationships of basal winged insect orders are still controversial. Three hypotheses have been proposed to explain the phylogeny of winged insects: (i) the traditional Palaeoptera hypothesis (Ephemeroptera+Odonata, Neoptera), (ii) the Metapterygota (Ephemeroptera, Odonata+Neoptera) and (iii) the Chiastomyaria hypothesis (Odonata, Ephemeroptera+Neoptera). Neither phylogenetic analyses of single genes nor even multiple marker systems (e.g. molecular markers + morphological characters) have yet been able to conclusively resolve basal pterygote divergences. A possible explanation for the lack of resolution is that the divergences took place in the mid-Devonian within a short period of time, and attempts to solve this problem have been confounded by the major challenge of finding molecular markers to accurately track these short ancient internodes. Although phylogenomic data are available for Neoptera and some wingless (apterygote) orders, they are lacking for the crucial Odonata and Ephemeroptera orders. We adopt a multi-gene approach including data from two new EST projects - from the orders Ephemeroptera (Baetis sp.) and Odonata (Ischnura elegans) - to evaluate the potential of phylogenomic analyses in clarifying this unresolved issue. We analyzed two data sets that differed in represented taxa, genes and overall sequence lengths: maxspe (15 taxa, 125 genes, 31,643 amino acid positions), maxgen (8 taxa, 150 genes, 42,541 amino acid positions). Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses both place the Odonata at the base of the winged insects. Furthermore, statistical hypotheses testing rejected both the Palaeoptera and the Metapterygota hypotheses. The comprehensive molecular data set developed here provides conclusive support for odonates as the most basal winged insect order (Chiastomyaria hypothesis). Data quality assessment indicates that proteins involved in cellular processes and signaling harbor the most informative phylogenetic signal.1 aSimon, Sabrina1 aStrauss, Sascha1 avon Haeseler, Arndt1 aHadrys, Heike  uhttps://worldodonata.myspecies.info/node/208