Biology:Archelosauria

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Short description: Clade comprising turtles, birds and crocodilians

Archelosaurs
Temporal range: 260–0 Ma
Possible Capitanian records.
Proganochelys Quenstedti.jpg
Proganochelys quenstedti
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Sauria
Clade: Archelosauria
Crawford et al., 2015[1]
Subgroups

Archelosauria is a clade grouping turtles and archosaurs (birds and crocodilians) and their fossil relatives, to the exclusion of lepidosaurs (the clade containing lizards, snakes and the tuatara). The majority of phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data (e.g. DNA and proteins) have supported a sister-group relationship between turtles and archosaurs. On the other hand, Archelosauria had not been historically supported by most morphological analyses, which have instead found turtles to either be descendants of parareptiles, early-diverging diapsids outside of Sauria, or close relatives of lepidosaurs within the clade Ankylopoda. Some recent morphological analyses have also found support for Archelosauria.

Classification

Multiple sequence alignments of DNA and protein sequences and phylogenetic inferences have shown that turtles are the closest living relatives to birds and crocodilians.[2][3][4] There are about 1000 ultra-conserved elements in the genome that are unique to turtles and archosaurs, but which are not found in lepidosaurs.[5] Other genome-wide analyses also support this grouping.[6][7]

Archelosauria was named in a 2015 article by Crawford et al. The name is meant to evoke the archosaurs and chelonians (turtles), the two living subgroups of the clade. Crawford et al. defined Archelosauria as the clade formed by the descendants of the most recent common ancestor of Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile crocodile) and Testudo graeca (the Greek tortoise).[1] A 2021 article by Joyce et al. modified the definition to specifically exclude the lizard Lacerta agilis from the group.[8]

Below is the phylogeny from Crawford et al., showing interrelationships of Testudines at family level down to Durocryptodira. Archelosauria was grouped within Sauria (the clade formed by archosaurs and lepidosaurs), as the sister branch to Lepidosauria, the clade containing lizards, snakes and the tuatara.[1]

Sauria
Lepidosauria

Sphenodon

Squamata

Anolis

Python

Archelosauria
Testudines
Pleurodira

Chelidae

Pelomedusoides

Pelomedusidae

Podocnemididae

Cryptodira
Trionychia

Carettochelys

Trionychidae

Durocryptodira

Archosauria

Crocodylus

Gallus

Analyses based on morphological data have generally recovered turtles either as non-diapsid reptiles nested within Parareptilia (a group of basal reptiles that lived from the Carboniferous to the Triassic), as early-diverging diapsids outside of Sauria, or as close relatives of Lepidosauria. The hypothetical clade formed by turtles and lepidosaurs to the exclusion of archosaurs is known as Ankylopoda.[8] A 2022 analysis by Simões et al. found a monophyletic Archelosauria using only morphological data for the first time, thus agreeing with most molecular analyses. Archelosauria was diagnosed by two unambiguous synapomorphies (shared derived traits): a sagittal crest on the supraoccipital bone, and the lack of an entepicondylar foramen on the humerus. A cladogram adapted from their analysis is shown below:[9]

Neodiapsida

Younginiformes

Eunotosaurus

Coelurosauravus

Sauria
Lepidosauromorpha

Sphenodontia

Squamata

Archelosauria
Testudines

Pappochelys

Odontochelys

Kayentachelys

Proganochelys

Archosauromorpha

Ichthyosauromorpha

Sauropterygia

Thalattosauria

Protorosauria

Allokotosauria

Rhynchosauria

Prolacerta

Archosauriformes

Wolniewicz et al (2023) also found evidence for an expanded Archelosauria containing the three Mesozoic marine reptile clades of uncertain placement:[10]

Neodiapsida

Lepidosauromorpha

Coelurosauravus

Choristodera

Archelosauria

Testudines

Thalattosauria

Sauropterygia

Ichthyosauromorpha

Archosauromorpha

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Crawford, N. G.; Parham, J. F.; Sellas, A. B.; Faircloth, B. C.; Glenn, T. C.; Papenfuss, T. J.; Henderson, J. B.; Hansen, M. H. et al. (2015-02-01). "A phylogenomic analysis of turtles" (in en). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 83: 250–257. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.10.021. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 25450099. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790314003819. 
  2. Shen, X.-X.; Liang, D.; Wen, J.-Z.; Zhang, P. (2011-12-01). "Multiple Genome Alignments Facilitate Development of NPCL Markers: A Case Study of Tetrapod Phylogeny Focusing on the Position of Turtles" (in en). Molecular Biology and Evolution 28 (12): 3237–3252. doi:10.1093/molbev/msr148. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 21680872. https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/molbev/msr148. 
  3. Tzika, A. C.; Helaers, R.; Schramm, G.; Milinkovitch, M. C. (2011). "Reptilian-transcriptome v1.0, a glimpse in the brain transcriptome of five divergent Sauropsida lineages and the phylogenetic position of turtles" (in en). EvoDevo 2 (1): 19. doi:10.1186/2041-9139-2-19. ISSN 2041-9139. PMID 21943375. 
  4. Chiari, Y.; Cahais, V.; Galtier, N.; Delsuc, F. (2012). "Phylogenomic analyses support the position of turtles as the sister group of birds and crocodiles (Archosauria)" (in en). BMC Biology 10 (1): 65. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-10-65. ISSN 1741-7007. PMID 22839781. 
  5. Crawford, N. G.; Faircloth, B. C.; McCormack, J. E.; Brumfield, R. T.; Winker, K.; Glenn, T. C. (2012-10-23). "More than 1000 ultraconserved elements provide evidence that turtles are the sister group of archosaurs". Biology Letters 8 (5): 783–786. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0331. PMID 22593086. 
  6. Wang, Z. (27 March 2013). "The draft genomes of soft-shell turtle and green sea turtle yield insights into the development and evolution of the turtle-specific body plan". Nature Genetics 45 (701–706): 701–6. doi:10.1038/ng.2615. PMID 23624526. 
  7. Field, D. J.; Gauthier, J. A.; King, B. L.; Pisani, D.; Lyson, T.; Peterson, K. J. (July–August 2014). "Toward consilience in reptile phylogeny: miRNAs support an archosaur, not lepidosaur, affinity for turtles". Evolution & Development 16 (4): 189–196. doi:10.1111/ede.12081. PMID 24798503. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Joyce, W. G.; Anquetin, J.; Cadena, E.-A.; Claude, J.; Danilov, I. G.; Evers, S. W.; Ferreira, G. S.; Gentry, A. D. et al. (2021). "A nomenclature for fossil and living turtles using phylogenetically defined clade names". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 140 (1): 5. doi:10.1186/s13358-020-00211-x. Bibcode2021SwJP..140....5J. 
  9. Simões, T. R.; Kammerer, C. F.; Caldwell, M. W.; Pierce, S. E. (2022). "Successive climate crises in the deep past drove the early evolution and radiation of reptiles". Science Advances 8 (33): eabq1898. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abq1898. PMID 35984885. Bibcode2022SciA....8.1898S. 
  10. Wolniewicz, Andrzej S; Shen, Yuefeng; Li, Qiang; Sun, Yuanyuan; Qiao, Yu; Chen, Yajie; Hu, Yi-Wei; Liu, Jun (2023-08-08). Ibrahim, Nizar. ed. "An armoured marine reptile from the Early Triassic of South China and its phylogenetic and evolutionary implications". eLife 12: e83163. doi:10.7554/eLife.83163. ISSN 2050-084X. PMID 37551884. 

Wikidata ☰ Q19595522 entry