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Synteny and Evolution

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
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Phylogeny

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Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...

Convergent Evolution

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Updated: Jan 6, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

Synapomorphies Behind Shared Derived Characters: Examples from the Great Apes' Genomic Data.

Evgeny V Mavrodiev¹

¹University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, Museum Road and Newell Drive, Dickinson Hall, 301, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. evgeny@ufl.edu.

Acta Biotheoretica

|October 5, 2019

Summary

Phylogenetic systematics relies on shared derived characters (synapomorphies). This study challenges this by showing relationships can be recovered even without these standard characters, suggesting a relational interpretation is key.

Keywords:

Average consensus Cladistics Synapomorphies Three-taxon statement Three-taxon statement analysis

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Last Updated: Jan 6, 2026

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Molecular Phylogenetics
Systematics

Background:

Phylogenetic systematics, particularly cladistics, is a cornerstone of modern biology.
The definition of monophyletic groups traditionally relies on shared derived characters (synapomorphies).
The sufficiency of the common understanding of synapomorphy is questioned.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate that the conventional understanding of synapomorphy is insufficient.
To advocate for Nelson's relational interpretation of synapomorphy.
To show that phylogenetic relationships can be recovered without relying on standard shared derived characters.

Main Methods:

Analysis of three-taxon statements (3TA) and three-taxon statement average consensus analysis (3TS-ACA).
Utilizing genomic data from apes.
Excluding standard shared derived molecular characters from alignments.

Main Results:

The phylogenetic relationship (Pongo (Gorilla (Homo, Pan))) with Hylobatidae as a sister taxon was successfully recovered.
This recovery was achieved even when all evident standard shared derived molecular characters were excluded.
Conventional methods like Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian Inference failed under these conditions.

Conclusions:

The study supports Nelson's relational interpretation of synapomorphy over the conventional shared derived character definition.
Phylogenetic relationships may be established through mechanisms independent of standard shared derived characters.
This finding has significant implications for phylogenetic inference and the understanding of evolutionary history.