title: Molecular phylogeny and evolution of the cone snails (Gastropoda, Conoidea).
abstract: We present a large-scale molecular phylogeny that includes 320 of the 761 recognized valid species of the cone snails (Conus), one of the most diverse groups of marine molluscs, based on three mitochondrial genes (COI, 16S rDNA and 12S rDNA). This is the first phylogeny of the taxon to employ concatenated sequences of several genes, and it includes more than twice as many species as the last published molecular phylogeny of the entire group nearly a decade ago. Most of the numerous molecular phylogenies published during the last 15years are limited to rather small fractions of its species diversity. Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses are mostly congruent and confirm the presence of three previously reported highly divergent lineages among cone snails, and one identified here using molecular data. About 85% of the species cluster in the single Large Major Clade; the others are divided between the Small Major Clade (∼12%), the Conus californicus lineage (one species), and a newly defined clade (∼3%). We also define several subclades within the Large and Small major clades, but most of their relationships remain poorly supported. To illustrate the usefulness of molecular phylogenies in addressing specific evolutionary questions, we analyse the evolution of the diet, the biogeography and the toxins of cone snails. All cone snails whose feeding biology is known inject venom into large prey animals and swallow them whole. Predation on polychaete worms is inferred as the ancestral state, and diet shifts to molluscs and fishes occurred rarely. The ancestor of cone snails probably originated from the Indo-Pacific; rather few colonisations of other biogeographic provinces have probably occurred. A new classification of the Conidae, based on the molecular phylogeny, is published in an accompanying paper.
authors.affiliation: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Systématique et Evolution, ISyEB Institut (UMR 7205 CNRS/UPMC/MNHN/EPHE), 43, Rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris, France. Electronic address: puillandre@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Puillandre
authors.affiliation: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Systématique et Evolution, ISyEB Institut (UMR 7205 CNRS/UPMC/MNHN/EPHE), 55, Rue Buffon, 75231 Paris, France. Electronic address: pbouchet@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bouchet
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama. Electronic address: tfduda@umich.edu.
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Duda
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, D-60596 Frankfurt, Germany. Electronic address: kauferstein@em.uni-frankfurt.de.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kauferstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Box 351800, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Electronic address: kohn@uw.edu.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Electronic address: olivera@biology.utah.edu.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Olivera
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Electronic address: maren.watkins@hsc.utah.edu.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA. Electronic address: MeyerC@si.edu.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D052078:Conus Snail / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography
keywords: 12SrRNA; 16SrRNA; Ancestral state reconstruction; COI; Conidae; Conus