Work

Molecular Phylogenetics of Mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: We report a molecular phylogeny for a nonavian dinosaur, extending our knowledge of trait evolution within nonavian dinosaurs into the macromolecular level of biological organization. Fragments of collagen alpha1(I) and alpha2(I) proteins extracted from fossil bones of Tyrannosaurus rex and Mammut americanum (mastodon) were analyzed with a variety of phylogenetic methods. Despite missing sequence data, the mastodon groups with elephant and the T. rex groups with birds, consistent with predictions based on genetic and morphological data for mastodon and on morphological data for T. rex. Our findings suggest that molecular data from long-extinct organisms may have the potential for resolving relationships at critical areas in the vertebrate evolutionary tree that have, so far, been phylogenetically intractable.

Source: Science

DOI: 10.1126/science.1154284

Authors: Chris L. Organ, Mary H. Schweitzer, Wenxia Zheng, Lisa M. Freimark, Lewis C. Cantley, John M. Asara

Institutions: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Harvard University, North Carolina State University

Language: English

Topic: Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology

Subfield: Paleontology

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Award: Evolution of BMP Genes 2 and 4 in Archosaurs