The DNA was from the living species. Fossil species allow (among other things) us to calibrate the phylogenetic tree, allowing us to date the tree, estimate divergence times and reconstruct ancestral states to determine how traits have evolved over time.

I hope I have explained this clearly @gilbert.lol.

It’s important to remember that phylogenetic trees can vary in their branching pattern based on the method of analysis and the amount of - and quality of data available. More/better molecular data and a more complete fossil record will help to confirm whether these assumptions are indeed correct.

In terms of extant (still living) species. It appears that the whistling ducks (Dendrocygninae) appeared first, then the stiff tailed ducks (Oxyurinae) which occur at the split between them and the geese and swans, then the rest of the ducks appeared.

Over the course of the evolutionary history of the Anseriformes (the family ducks, geese and swans belong to) a wide range of forms have appeared and gone extinct. In terms of what we refer to as “modern forms” it appears - at least from the fossil record, that ducks appeared first.

And is the result of changes in genes (genotype) and physical traits (phenotype) influenced by environmental pressures and adaptations to different ecological niches. 2/2

Not quite! The evolution in Pokemon is more like metamorphosis, relatively rapid changes in form (think caterpillars to butterfly, tadpole to frog). Species evolve and diversify into new forms through speciation, which occurs over millions of years 1/2

Sorry, I realise this wasn’t made clear in the last post - I was reaching my BS char limit. Annoyingly the slide resolution isn’t very clear upon upload either, as it’s shown on the tree on the right of slide 5. It appears to have been the ducks, due to the earliest appearance of crown-group taxa.

Many thanks to all of my collaborators. If you would like to know more then please message me at @gleneth93.bsky.social, send an email to [email protected]... or find me on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/.... Thank you for taking the time to view this presentation! #birds #BOUasm25
6/6

Bayesian phylogenetic analyses place moa-nalos in Anatinae and Alopochen in Tadorninae, confirm Cairinini’s non-monophyly as convergence, and date crown Anatidae to the Early Miocene (~19 Ma). The monophyly of several other clades was confirmed, the resurrection of Tachyerini is supported.
5/6

A novel total evidence dataset and associated phylogenetic analyses were utilized, based on 209 morphological characters (e.g., external soft tissue and cranial), as well as 13.4 kb of mitochondrial sequence data for 75 anatid taxa (72 extant, 3 fossil) and 3 non-anatid outgroup taxa.
4/6

Asteriornis shares features of Galliformes & Anseriformes, depending on phylogenetic analysis it is either placed as sister to Galloanserae or is placed within the super clade, supports the hypothesis that modern birds were around before the K/T extinction.

3/6

Historically the phylogeny of Anatidae has been studied using morphological evidence, but molecular data (primarily mitochondrial sequence data) has become increasingly available.

2/6

Again… you dropped the mouse AGAIN?!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to work with you on this and the Smew account. The team are great and they were incredibly helpful as I learned the review process. I am looking forward to our continuous collaborations on additional accounts!