GEPHE SUMMARY Print
Gephebase Gene
Entry Status
Published
GepheID
GP00001938
Main curator
Courtier
PHENOTYPIC CHANGE
Trait Category
Trait State in Taxon A
presence of teeth
Trait State in Taxon B
absence of teeth
Ancestral State
Taxon A
Taxonomic Status
Taxon A
Latin Name
Common Name
whales
Synonyms
whales; cetaceans; whale; whales, dolphins, and porpoises
Rank
order
Lineage
Show more ... data; Craniata; Vertebrata; Gnathostomata; Teleostomi; Euteleostomi; Sarcopterygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Mammalia; Theria; Eutheria; Boreoeutheria; Laurasiatheria; Cetartiodactyla
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon A an Infraspecies?
No
Taxon B
Latin Name
Common Name
baleen whales
Synonyms
baleen whales
Rank
suborder
Lineage
Show more ... niata; Vertebrata; Gnathostomata; Teleostomi; Euteleostomi; Sarcopterygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Mammalia; Theria; Eutheria; Boreoeutheria; Laurasiatheria; Cetartiodactyla; Cetacea
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon B an Infraspecies?
No
GENOTYPIC CHANGE
Presumptive Null
Yes
Molecular Type
Aberration Type
Molecular Details of the Mutation
multiple frameshift mutations
Experimental Evidence
Authors
Deméré TA; McGowen MR; Berta A; Gatesy J
Abstract
The origin of baleen in mysticete whales represents a major transition in the phylogenetic history of Cetacea. This key specialization, a keratinous sieve that enables filter-feeding, permitted exploitation of a new ecological niche and heralded the evolution of modern baleen-bearing whales, the largest animals on Earth. To date, all formally described mysticete fossils conform to two types: toothed species from Oligocene-age rocks ( approximately 24 to 34 million years old) and toothless species that presumably utilized baleen to feed (Recent to approximately 30 million years old). Here, we show that several Oligocene toothed mysticetes have nutrient foramina and associated sulci on the lateral portions of their palates, homologous structures in extant mysticetes house vessels that nourish baleen. The simultaneous occurrence of teeth and nutrient foramina implies that both teeth and baleen were present in these early mysticetes. Phylogenetic analyses of a supermatrix that includes extinct taxa and new data for 11 nuclear genes consistently resolve relationships at the base of Mysticeti. The combined data set of 27,340 characters supports a stepwise transition from a toothed ancestor, to a mosaic intermediate with both teeth and baleen, to modern baleen whales that lack an adult dentition but retain developmental and genetic evidence of their ancestral toothed heritage. Comparative sequence data for ENAM (enamelin) and AMBN (ameloblastin) indicate that enamel-specific loci are present in Mysticeti but have degraded to pseudogenes in this group. The dramatic transformation in mysticete feeding anatomy documents an apparently rare, stepwise mode of evolution in which a composite phenotype bridged the gap between primitive and derived morphologies; a combination of fossil and molecular evidence provides a multifaceted record of this macroevolutionary pattern.
RELATED GEPHE
Related Haplotypes
No matches found.
EXTERNAL LINKS
COMMENTS
Cladistic analyses suggest that functional teeth were lost in the common ancestor of crown-group Mysticeti. The amelogenin (AMEL) gene contains various gene null mutations in various species. it is possible that frameshift mutations and/or stop codons will be discovered in the unsequenced protein-coding regions of one or more of these extracellular matrix protein (EMP) genes. A second possibility is that one or more of these genes were initially silenced by mutations in a regulatory gene region on the ancestral mysticete branch, and that mutations in protein-coding regions accumulated subsequently on descendant branches within crown-group Mysticeti. A third possibility is that a different enamel- or tooth-specific gene was knocked out in the common ancestor of mysticetes and that AMBN ENAM and AMEL acquired molecular cavities on descendant branches within crown-group Mysticeti. Alternatively enamel may have been lost independently in several mysticete lineages rather than once in the common ancestor of crown mysticetes.
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