|
In
the past 30 years, there have been over 3000 publications
dealing with some aspect of fleas (Lewis and Lewis, 1985),
but only one instance of a cladistic analysis (Linardi and
Guimaraes, 1993). The major obstacle in flea phylogenetics
has been their extreme morphological specializations associated
with ectoparasitism, and the inability to adequately homologize
morphological characters across taxa. The majority of characters
used for species diagnoses are based on the shape and structure
of their extraordinarily complex genitalia, and the presence
and distribution of setae and spines (Traub and Starcke, 1980;
Dunnet and Mardon, 1991).
We
have developed a preliminary morphological matrix which includes
primarily head and thoracic characters. We consider this to
be very preliminary, and will continue to evaluate characters
for phylogenetic utility. Thus far, we have minimized the
inclusion of genitalic characters since these will require
more careful evaluation. Of the 20 morphological characters,
15 are polymorphic in at least one family (though most would
not be polymorphic if scored at the generic level).
Parsimony
analysis generated 827 trees, the consensus of which is mostly
unresolved. The basal placement of Pulicidae and Ischnopsyllidae
+ Leptopsyllidae is congruent with ideas from classification.
Phylogeny
of the Siphonaptera based on Smit
Preliminary
phylogeny for the Siphonaptera based on the characters and
matrix given below.
Character
Matrix
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
| Boreidae
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
?
|
0 |
?
|
0 |
?
|
?
|
0 |
0 |
?
|
0 |
?
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
?
|
| Ancistropsyllidae
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Ceratophyllidae
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
| Ischnopsyllidae
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Leptoposyllidae
|
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Xiphiopsyllidae
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Chimaeropsyllidae
|
9 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Coptopsyllidae
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Ctenopthalmidae
|
9 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
| Hystrichopsyllidae
|
9 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pygiopsyllidae
|
9 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Stephanocircidae
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Malacopsyllidae
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Rhopalopsyllidae
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pulicidae
|
9 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Vermipsyllidae
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
 |
|
