Input data for inferring species distributions in Kyphosidae world-wide

Area of Science:

• * Evolutionary Biology
• * Systematics
• * Ichthyology

Background:

• * Understanding the evolutionary history of fish families like Kyphosidae is crucial for taxonomy and conservation.
• * Previous studies have established the need for detailed phylogenetic analysis within this group.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To provide comprehensive input data files and resulting phylogenetic topologies for the family Kyphosidae.
• * To enable detailed exploration and re-analysis of evolutionary relationships among Kyphosidae and closely related perciform families.

Main Methods:

• * Utilized seven nexus-files containing sequence alignments of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA (nDNA) markers.
• * Incorporated a matrix of recoded morphological character states from museum specimens.
• * Performed Bayesian and parsimonious analyses to infer phylogenetic relationships.

Main Results:

• * Generated and provided resulting phylogenetic topologies in newick-file formats.
• * Included input data files for Bayesian analysis and .xml files for exploring constrained relationships.
• * Data supports inference of relationships within Kyphosidae and between related families.

Conclusions:

• * The provided data and topologies facilitate in-depth investigation of Kyphosidae phylogeny.
• * Enables researchers to re-run analyses and examine detailed phylogenetic outcomes.
• * Contributes to a clearer understanding of perciform family relationships.