While the monophyly of winged insects (Pterygota) is well-supported, phylogenetic relationships among the most basal extant pterygote lineages are problematic. A robust phylogeny for basal pterygote lineages is required to elucidate the evolution of the subimago, the origin of flight, and other important evolutionary innovations. The three competing hypotheses are: 1) Ephemeroptera as the most basal pterygote lineage, sister group to Odonata + Neoptera; 2) Odonata as the most basal pterygote lineage, sister group to Ephemeroptera + Neoptera; and 3) Ephemeroptera + Odonata (Paleoptera) sister group to Neoptera. A broad range of taxa from each of these lineages was sequenced for multiple genes, and each hypothesis was evaluated based on these molecular and morphological data. Our results demonstrate that each hypothesis is extremely sensitive to the particular analytical parameters employed under different methods of phylogenetic analysis. Based on these analyses, we suggest that it still ambiguous whether Paleoptera is monophyletic.
Species 1: Odonata (dragonfly, damselfly)
Species 2: Ephemeroptera (mayfly)
Species 3: Neoptera
Keywords: molecular systematics, phylogenetics
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