Time and time again: unisexual salamanders (genus Ambystoma) are the oldest unisexual vertebrates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The age of unisexual salamanders of the genus Ambystoma is contentious. Recent and ancient evolutionary histories of unisexual Ambystoma were proposed by a few separate studies that constructed phylogenies using mitochondrial DNA markers (cytochrome b gene vs. non-coding region). In contrast to other studies showing that unisexual Ambystoma represent the most ancient unisexual vertebrates, a recent study by Robertson et al. suggests that this lineage has a very recent origin of less than 25,000 years ago.

Results

We re-examined the phylogenetic relationship of the unisexuals to A. barbouri from various populations using both mitochondrial markers as well as the complete mitochondrial genomes of A. barbouri and a unisexual individual from Kentucky. Lineage dating w

SUBMITTER: Bi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3020632 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature