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Phylogenetic utility of the geometric model of the body form in leeches (Clitellata: Hirudinida)

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Abstract

Architectonics of the leech body constitute a source of promorphological characters which have been used for modeling. A geometric model of the leech body form was applied in a phylogenetic analysis for the estimation of the utility of morphometric data in the reconstruction of the history of Hirudinida. A cladistic analysis included species representing all main ecological groups of leeches. In the analysis the morphometric data were used as non-discretized mean values and as mean values coded with the gap-weighting method. Obtained phylogenetic trees were compared with cladograms generated based on combined data sets including discrete qualitative morphological characters as well as known molecular phylogenies of leeches. The study demonstrates that the morphometric characters provide additional evidence for the confirmation of monophyletic groups within Hirudinida. Thus, the morphometric data resulting from the geometric model of the leech body form appeared to be applicable for the reconstruction of leech phylogeny.

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Acknowledgements

We specially thank Dr Jolanta Szlachciak for her comments that improved the quality of this study, and two anonymous reviewers for providing suggestions that helped us to correct the manuscript. We also thank all researches who lent or gave us many leech specimens difficult to collect.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego St. 5, 10-718, Olsztyn, Poland

    Joanna M. Cichocka & Aleksander Bielecki

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Cichocka, J.M., Bielecki, A. Phylogenetic utility of the geometric model of the body form in leeches (Clitellata: Hirudinida). Biologia 70, 1078–1092 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2015-0121

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