Automated Integration of Trees and Traits: A Case Study Using Paired Fin Loss Across Teleost Fishes.

ABSTRACT: Data synthesis required for large-scale macroevolutionary studies is challenging with the current tools available for integration. Using a classic question regarding the frequency of paired fin loss in teleost fishes as a case study, we sought to create automated methods to facilitate the integration of broad-scale trait data with a sizable species-level phylogeny. Similar to the evolutionary pattern previously described for limbs, pelvic and pectoral fin reduction and loss are thought to have occurred independently multiple times in the evolution of fishes. We developed a bioinformatics pipeline to identify the presence and absence of pectoral and pelvic fins of 12,582 species. To do this, we integrated a synthetic morphological supermatrix of phenotypic data for the pectoral and pelvic f

SUBMITTER: Jackson LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6005059 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature