1627Accesses
220Citations
20Altmetric
3Mentions
Summary
The phylogeny of the major groups of tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) has until recently been poorly understood. Cladistic analyses of morphological data are producing new hypotheses concerning the relationships of the major groups, with a focus on the identification of monophyletic groups. Molecular phylogenies support some of these views and dispute others. Geological dates of the major evolutionary branching points are recalculated on the basis of the cladograms and new fossil finds.
This is a preview of subscription content,log in via an institution to check access.
Access this article
Subscribe and save
- Get 10 units per month
- Download Article/Chapter or eBook
- 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
- Cancel anytime
Buy Now
Price includes VAT (Japan)
Instant access to the full article PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Archer M, Flannery TF, Ritchie A, Molnar RE (1985) First Mesozoic mammal from Australia-an Early Cretaceous monotreme. Nature 318:363–365
Ax P (1987) The phylogenetic system. Wiley, Chichester
Benton MJ (1984a) The relationships and early evolution of the Diapsida. Zool Soc London Symp 52:575–596
Benton MJ (1984b) Is a dog more like a lizard or a chicken? New Scient 103(1417):18–19
Benton MJ (1985) Classification and phylogeny of the diapsid reptiles. Zool J Linn Soc 84:97–164
Benton MJ (1987) Mass extinctions among families of nonmarine tetrapods: the data. Mém Soc Géol France 150:21–37
Benton MJ (1988) Mass extinctions in the fossil record of reptiles: paraphyly, patchiness, and periodicity (?). In: Larwood GP (ed) Extinction and survival in the fossil record. Systemactics Association Special Volume 34. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 269–294
Benton MJ (1989) Patterns of evolution and extinction in vertebrates. In: Allen KC, Briggs DEG (eds) Evolution and the fossil record. Belhaven, London, pp 218–241
Benton MJ (1990) Origin and interrelationships of dinosaurs. In: Dodson P, Osmólska H, Weishampel D (eds) The Dinosauria. University of California Press, Berkeley (in press)
Benton MJ, Clark J (1988) Archosaur phylogeny and the relationships of the Crocodylia. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 295–338
Bishop MJ, Friday AE (1987) Tetrapod relationships: the molecular evidence. In: Patterson C (ed) Molecules and morphology in evolution: conflict or compromise? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 123–139
Bishop MJ, Friday AE (1988) Estimating the interrelationships of tetrapod groups on the basis of molecular sequence data. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 33–58
Bonaparte JF (1982) Classification of the Thecodontia. Géobios, Mém Spéc 6:99–112
Carroll RL (1982) Early evolution of reptiles. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 13:87–109
Carroll RL (1987) Vertebrate paleontology and evolution. WH Freeman, San Francisco
Chatterjee S (1982) Phylogeny and classification of thecodontian reptiles. Nature 295:317–320
Cifelli RL, Eaton JG (1987) Marsupial from the earliest Late Cretaceous of western US. Nature 325:520–522
Clack JA, Holmes R (1988) The braincase of the anthracosaurArcheria crassidisca with comments on the interrelationships of primitive tetrapods. Palaeontology 31:85–107
Cracraft J (1986) The origin and early diversification of birds. Paleobiology 12:383–399
Cracraft J (1988) The major clades of birds. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 339–361
de Jong WW, Zweers A, Versteeg M, Dessauer HC, Goodman M (1985) α-crystallin A sequences ofAlligator mississippiensis and the lizardTupinambis teguixin: molecular evolution and reptilian phylogeny. Mol Biol Evol 2:484–493
Estes R, de Queiroz K, Gauthier J (1988) Phylogenetic relationships within Squamata. In: Estes R, Pregill G (eds) Phylogenetic relationships of the lizard families. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA, pp 119–282
Evans SE (1984) The classification of the Lepidosauria. Zool J Linn Soc 82:87–100
Evans, SE (1988) The early history and relationships of the Diapsida. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 221–260
Forey PL (1986) Relationships of lungfishes. J Morphol [Suppl] 1:75–91
Gaffney ES (1979) Tetrapod monophyly: a phylogenetic analysis, Bull Carnegie Mus Nat Hist 13:92–105
Gaffney ES (1980) Phylogenetic relationships of the major groups of amniotes. In: Panchen AL (ed) The terrestrial environment and the origin of land vertebrates. Systematics Association Special Volume 15. Academic Press, London, pp 593–610
Gaffney ES, Meylan PA (1988) A phylogeny of turtles. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 157–219
Gardiner BG (1982) Tetrapod classification. Zool J Linn Soc 74:207–232
Gardiner BG (1983) Gnathostome vertebrae and the classification of the Amphibia. Zool J Linn Soc 79:1–59
Gauthier JA (1986) Saurischian monophyly and the origin of birds. Mem Calif Acad Sci 8:1–55
Gauthier JA, Kluge AG, Rowe T (1988a) The early evolution of the Amniota. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 103–155
Gauthier JA, Kluge AG, Rowe T (1988b) Amniote phylogeny and the importance of fossils. Cladistics 4:104–209
Gauthier JA, Estes R, de Queiroz K (1988c) A phylogenetic analysis of Lepidosauromorpha. In: Estes R, Pregill G (eds) Phylogenetic relationships of the lizard families. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA, pp 15–98
Gingerich PD (1987) Evolution and the fossil record: patterns, rates, and processes. Can J Zool 65:1053–1060
Goodman M, Romero-Herrera AE, Dene H, Czelusniak J, Tashian RE (1982) Amino acid sequence evidence on the phylogeny of primates and other eutherians. In: Goodman M (ed) Macromolecular sequences in systematic and evolutionary biology. Plenum, New York, pp 115–191
Goodman M, Czelusniak J, Beeber JE (1985) Phylogeny of primates and other eutherian orders: a cladistic analysis using amino acid and nucleotide sequence data. Cladistics 1:171–185
Goodman M, Miyamoto MM, Czelusniak J (1987) Pattern and process in vertebrate phylogeny revealed by coevolution of molecules and morphologies. In: Patterson C (ed) Molecules and morphology in evolution: conflict or compromise? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 141–176
Gregory JW (1910) The orders of mammals. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 27:1–524
Harland WB, Holland CH, House MR, Hughes NF, Reynolds AB, Rudinck MJS, Satterthwaite GE, Tarlo LBH, Willey EC (eds) (1967) The fossil record. Geological Society of London
Heaton MJ, Reisz RR (1986) Phylogenetic relationships of captorhinomorph reptiles. Can J Earth Sci 23:402–418
Hecht MK, Ostrom JH, Viohl G, Wellnhofer P (eds) (1985) The beginnings of birds. Freunde des Jura-Museums, Eichstätt
Hopson JA, Barghusen HR (1986) An analysis of therapsid relationships. In: Hotton NH, Maclean PD, Roth JJ, Roth EC (eds) The ecology and biology of the mammal-like reptiles. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, pp 83–106
Janvier P (1984) Cladistics: theory, purpose, and evolutionary implications. In: Pollard JW (ed) Evolutionary theory: paths into the future, Wiley, Chichester, pp 39–75
Janvier P (1986) Les nouvelles conceptions de la phylogénie et de la classification des “agnathes” et des sarcopterygiens. Océanis 12:123–138
Kemp TS (1980) Origin of the mammal-like reptiles. Nature 283:378–380
Kemp TS (1982) The mammal-like reptiles and the origin of mammals. Academic Press, London
Kemp TS (1983) The relationships of mammals. Zool J Linn Soc 77:353–384
Kemp TS (1988a) Interrelationships of the Synapsida. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods vol 2: mammals. Systematics Association Special Volume 35B. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 1–22
Kemp TS (1988b) A note on the Mesozoic mammals, and the origin of therians. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 2: mammals. Systematics Association Special Volume 35B. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 23–29
Kemp TS (1988c) Haemothermia or Archosauria?: the interrlationships of mammals, birds and crocodiles. Zool J Linn Soc 92:67–104
Kermack DM, Kermack KA (1984) The evolution of mammlian characters. Croom Helm, London
Long JA (1989) A new rhizodontiform fish from the Early Carboniferous of Victoria, Australia, with remarks on the phylogenetic position of the group. J Vertebr Paleontol 9:1–17
Løtrup S (1985) On the classification of the taxon Tetrapoda. Syst Zool 34:463–470
Mayr E (1969) Principles of systematic zoology. McGraw Hill, New York
McKenna MC (1975) Toward a phylogenetic classification of the Mammalia. In: Luckett WP, Szalay FS (eds) Phylogeny of the primates. Plenum, New York, pp 21–36
McKenna MC (1987) Molecular and morphological analysis of higher-level mammalian relationships. In: Patterson C (ed) Molecules and morphology in evolution: conflict or compromise? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 55–93
Milner AR (1988) The relationships and origin of living amphibians. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 59–102
Miyamoto MM, Goodman M (1986) Biomolecular systematics of eutherian mammals: phylogenetic patterns and classification. Syst Zool 35:230–240
Novacek MJ (1982) Information for molecular studies from anatomical and fossil evidence on higher eutherian phylogeny. In: Goodman M (ed) Macromolecular sequences in systematic and evolutionary biology, Plenum, New York, pp 3–41
Novacek MJ, Wyss AR (1986) Higher-level relationships of the Recent eutherian orders: morphological evidence. Cladistics 2:257–287
Novacek MJ, Wyss AJ, McKenna MC (1988) The major groups of eutherian mammals. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 2: mammals. Systematics Association Special Volume 35B. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 31–71
Palmer AR (1983) The decade of North American geology 1983 geologic time scale. Geology 11:503–504
Panchen AL (1972) The interrelationships of the earliest tetrapods. In: Joysey KA, Kemp TS (eds) Studies in vertebrate evolution. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, pp 65–87
Panchen AL, Smithson TR (1987) Character diagnosis, fossils and the origin of tetrapods. Biol Rev 62:341–438
Panchen AL, Smithson TR (1988) The relationships of the earliest tetrapods. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 1–32
Patterson C (ed) (1987) Molecules and morphology in evolution: conflict or compromise? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Prothero DR, Manning E, Fischer MS (1988) The phylogeny of the ungulates. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 2: mammals. Systematics Association Special Volume 35B. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 201–234
Rage J-C, Janvier P (1982) Le problème de la monophylie des amphibiens actuels, a la lumière des nouvelles données sur les affinités des tétrapodes. Géobios, Mém Spéc 6:65–83
Reisz RR (1986) Pelycosauria. Handb Palaeoherpetol 17A:1–102
Rieppel O (1988a) The classification of the Squamata. In: Benton MJ (ed) The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, vol 1: amphibians, reptiles, birds. Systematics Association Special Volume 35A. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 261–293
Rieppel O (1988b) A review of the origin of snakes. Evol Biol 22:1–123
Romer AS (1966) Vertebrate paleontology, ed 3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Romero-Herrera AE, Lehmann H, Joysey KA, Friday AE (1978) On the evolution of myoglobin. Phil Trans R Soc (B) 283:61–163
Rosen DE, Forey PL, Gardiner BG, Patterson C (1981) Lungfishes, tetrapods, paleontology, and plesiomorphy. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 167:159–276
Rowe T (1988) Dentition, diagnosis, and origin of Mammalia. J Vertebr Paleontol 8:241–264
Schultze H-P (1986) Dipnoans as sarcopterygians. J Morphol [Suppl] 1:39–74
Shoshani J (1986) Mammalian phylogeny: comparison of morphological and molecular results. Mol Biol Evol 3:222–242
Simpson GG (1945) The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 85:1–350
Simpson GG (1961) Principles of animal taxonomy. Columbia University Press, New York
Simpson GG (1978) Early mammals in South America: fact, controversy, and mystery. Proc Am Phil Soc 122:318–328
Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973) Numerical taxonomy, WH Freeman, San Francisco
Wiley EO (1981) Phylogenetics, Wiley, New York
Wyss AR, Novacek MJ, McKenna MC (1987) Amino acid sequence versus morphological data and the interordinal relationships of mammals. Mol Biol Evol 4:99–116
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Department of Geology, University of Bristol, Queen's Road, BS8 1RJ, Bristol, UK
Michael J. Benton
- Michael J. Benton
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Benton, M.J. Phylogeny of the major tetrapod groups: Morphological data and divergence dates.J Mol Evol30, 409–424 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02101113
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
Share this article
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative