Are molecular data supplanting morphological data in modern phylogenetic studies?

Abstract

Morphological data have long served as major sources ofinformation for inferring phylogenetic relationships amongtaxa. With the advent of polymerase chain reaction and modernmolecular approaches to phylogenetics, DNA has become amajor source for phylogenetic inference. Combined analyses ofmolecular and morphological (CAMM) data are not unusual.Studies examining the relative utility of morphological andmolecular data derived from plants and animal groups havebeen performed (e.g. Sanderson & Donoghue, 1989), but theresults of this research were limited by the relative noveltyof molecular data to phylogenetics at the time. Differencesof opinions exist among systematic biologists concerning theutility of morphological data (Scotland