Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
phylogeny, evolution, freshwater crayfish, Parastacidae, Crustacea decapoda
College
Life Sciences
Department
Plant and Wildlife Sciences
Abstract
Freshwater crayfish of the family Parastacidae consist of 14 genera distributed in the Southern Hemisphere: nine are endemic to Australia, one to Madagascar, one to New Zealand, and three to South America (southern Chile and Brazil). Although this family has been studied for several years (e.g. Huxley, 1880), the evolutionary relationships among the taxa are still unclear (Crandall et al., 1999). Recently, Crandall et al. (2000) demonstrated the utility of combining mitochondrial (16S) and nuclear (18S and 28S) ribosomal genes to resolve deep and shallow phylogenetic relationships among crayfish. Thus, a more extensive molecular study, using these regions and additional genes could allow us to resolve the phylogenetic relationships among the 14 Parastacidae genera. Moreover, a robust phylogeny will also be useful for addressing another important question concerning to the center of origin of the family.
Recommended Citation
Carlson, Michael Jonathan and Crandall, Dr. Keith A.
(2014)
"Phylogeny and Evolution of the Freshwater Crayfish Family Parastacidae (Crustacea decapoda),"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014:
Iss.
1, Article 972.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/972