Integrating comparative morphology and development into evolutionary research

2023/06/01 by Julius Jeiter, Erik Smets · 14 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Biology #Botanical Research and Applications #Comparative biology #Comparative method #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Linguistics #Morphology (biology) #Philosophy #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Plant and animal studies #Taxon #Zoology

paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/tax.12983

published in Taxon 72(4), 724-732 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2023/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Abstract Comparative morphology was for many years the main source of information for systematic studies. As a result of the molecular revolution in evolutionary botanical research in the early 1990s, we can now rely on a system of classification based primarily or exclusively on DNA. Nevertheless, we would like to emphasise the importance of morphology in this era of molecular phylogenetics. We argue that comparative morphology, using the latest technologies and developmental studies, is a modern and important scientific discipline that is essential to better understand evolution of the angiosperms and many other taxa. This paper also offers a guideline for emerging morphologists and phylogeneticists aiming to include morphology in their research.

Citations

• An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV
• An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II
• An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III

Cited by

• Comparative morphology at a crossroads
• An updated phylogeny of Boraginales based on the Angiosperms353 probe set: a roadmap for understanding morphological evolution
• Open access and digital morphology data in evolutionary biology: expanding frontiers of knowledge
• Mitochondrial Genome and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Narrownose Smooth-Hound Shark Mustelus schmitti Springer, 1939. [europepmc]
• Open access and digital morphology data in evolutionary biology: expanding frontiers of knowledge. [europepmc]

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• Comparative morphology at a crossroads
• The Evolution of Morphological Diversity
• Morphological evolution in a time of phenomics
• Reconstructive evolutionary morphology: Tracing the historical process of modifications of complex systems driven by natural selection through changing ecological conditions
• Integrating fossils and molecular data in plant phylogeny