The root of the problem, basal relationships in Parasitiformes

Molecular biology, and specifically DNA sequencing has revived the area of deep phylogeny in Acari, by adding large amounts of new data to help address questions in this area. But analyses of DNA sequences have generated phylogenies at odds with traditional, morphology based, classifications. Building on early work by Lindquist, progress has been made to alleviate one of the main draw-backs of current morphology based classifications: the paucity of comparable characters across all Parasitiformes. New characters, such as palp and leg chaetotaxy in the larvae, appear comparable across all orders, and by proposing a single segmental pattern across all taxa in the lineage I may have eliminated one more character used to dispute the unity of the superorder Parasitiformes. Molecules and morphology are not yet in agreement, but we are getting closer.