title: Phylogenomic analyses of a Mediterranean earthworm family (Annelida: Hormogastridae).
abstract: Earthworm taxonomy and evolutionary biology remain a challenge because of their scarce distinct morphological characters of taxonomic value, the morphological convergence by adaptation to the uniformity of the soil where they inhabit, and their high plasticity when challenged with stressful or new environmental conditions. Here we present a phylogenomic study of the family Hormogastridae, representing also the first piece of work of this type within earthworms. We included seven transcriptomes of the group representing the main lineages as previously-described, analysed in a final matrix that includes twelve earthworms and eleven outgroups. While there is a high degree of gene conflict in the generated trees that obscure some of the internal relationships, the origin of the family is well resolved: the hormogastrid Hemigastrodrilus appears as the most ancestral group, followed by the ailoscolecid Ailoscolex, therefore rejecting the validity of the family Ailoscolecidae. Our results place the origin of hormogastrids in Southern France, as previously hypothesised.
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, BIOSI 1, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Nováis 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mnovo@ccia.uned.es.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Novo
authors.affiliation: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, IB-USP, São Paulo, CEP 05508-090, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sónia C S
authors.initials: SCS
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Nováis 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Marchán
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, BIOSI 1, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ José Antonio Nováis 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Darío J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Díaz Cosín
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004777:Environment; D005602:France; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000145:classification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Gene conflict; Next generation sequencing; Oligochaeta; Phylogeny; Transcriptomics