Abstract
One of the most disputed issues in avian phylogeny is the origin of the ratites, the large flightless birds of the Southern Hemisphere (reviewed in refs 1–3). It is still not generally agreed whether the ostriches, rheas, emus and cassowaries, and probably kiwis, form a natural, monophyletic group, although much recent evidence supports this view4–6. Also, their phylogenetic relationship with the other avian orders remains unresolved; comparative protein sequence studies might shed new light on this problem. Therefore, we determined the amino acid sequence of the eye lens protein α-crystallin A in ostrich, rhea and emu, and in representatives of 13 other avian orders. Comparison of these sequences with known α A sequences of mammals, reptiles, frog and dogfish provides strong evidence that the ratites, as a monophyletic assemblage, represent the first offshoot of the avian line.
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Stapel, S., Leunissen, J., Versteeg, M. et al. Ratites as oldest offshoot of avian stem—evidence from α-crystallin A sequences. Nature 311, 257–259 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/311257a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/311257a0
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