Phylogenetic Analysis of Chalcidoidea with Morphological and Molecular Data

300 taxa were scored for 233 morphological characters, resulting in 66,645 observations. This dataset supports the first combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis of the megadiverse Chalcidoidea superfamily, covering 22 families and 268 genera. The analysis was conducted by John M. Heraty and published in 2020.

Use Cases

• Map life-history traits onto the new phylogeny to study evolutionary patterns across 22 families.
• Analyze the 233 morphological character states to validate proposed changes in higher classification, such as the revised status of Eriaporidae.
• Combine the morphological matrix with the 18S and 28S ribosomal molecular sequences to test phylogenetic hypotheses using parsimony and likelihood methods.
• Study the monophyly of specific groups like Eulophidae or Eucharitidae using the scored character data for 300 taxa.

Strengths

• Includes 66,645 observations derived from 233 morphological characters for 300 taxa.
• Combines morphological data with molecular sequences from ribosomal 18S (2105 bp) and 28S D2-D5 (1812 bp) regions.
• Covers a broad taxonomic scope, including 22 chalcidoid families and 268 genera within 78 subfamilies.

Limitations

• The dataset is static, representing a specific phylogenetic analysis from a 2020 publication and does not include ongoing updates.
• Sample data and raw column structure are unavailable, limiting immediate usability for custom computational analysis.
• Focus is on higher-level classification; it may not include detailed species-level data for all estimated 500,000 Chalcidoidea species.

Provenance

Source

Dryad digital repository.

Collection Method

Data was compiled using the mx systematics workbench, scoring morphological characters and combining with molecular sequences for phylogenetic analysis.

Freshness

Last updated 2020-06-24.