MOLECULAR EVIDENCE ON PRIMATE PHYLOGENY FROM DNA-SEQUENCES

Evidence from DNA sequences on the phylogenetic systematics of primate s is congruent with the evidence from morphology in grouping Cercopith ecoidea (Old World monkeys) and Hominoidea (apes and humans) into Cata rrhini, Catarrhini and Platyrrhini (ceboids or New World monkeys) into Anthropoidea, Lemuriformes and Lorisiformes into Strepsirhini, and An thropoidea, Tarsioidea, and Strepsirhini into Primates. With regard to the problematic relationships of Tarsioidea, DNA sequences group it w ith Anthropoidea into Haplorhini. In addition, the DNA evidence favors retaining Cheirogaleidae within Lemuriformes in contrast to some morp hological studies that favor placing Cheirogaleids in Lorisiformes. Wh ile parsimony analysis of the present DNA sequence data provides only modest support for Haplorhini as a monophyletic taxon, it provides ver y strong support for Hominoidea, Catarrhini, Anthropoidea, and Strepsi rhini as monophyletic taxa. The parsimony DNA evidence also rejects th e hypothesis that megabats are the sister group of either Primates or Dermoptera (flying lemur) or a Primate-Dermoptera clade and instead st rongly supports the monophyly of Chiroptera, with megabats grouping wi th microbats at considerable distance from Primates. In contrast to th e confused morphological picture of sister group relationships within Hominoidea, orthologous noncoding DNA sequences (spanning alignments i nvolving as many as 20,000 base positions) now provide by the parsimon y criterion highly significant evidence for the sister group relations hips defined by a cladistic classification that groups the lineages to all extant hominoids into family Hominidae, divides this ape family i nto subfamilies Hylobatinae (gibbons) and Homininae, divides Homininae into tribes Pongini (orangutans) and Hominini, and divides Hominini i nto subtribes Gorillina (gorillas) and Hominina (humans and chimpanzee s). A likelihood analysis of the largest body of these noncoding ortho logues and counts of putative synapomorphies using the full range of s equence data from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes also find that hum ans and chimpanzees share the longest common ancestry. (C) 1994 Wiley- Liss, Inc.