The evolution of Endopterygota - reconstructing the phylogeny of the most successful lineage of organisms with phylogenomic and morphological data

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Endopterygota (= Holometabola) is the most successful lineage of living organisms in terms of species number (ca. 800,000). Strong efforts have been made recently to reconstruct its phylogeny. However, different molecular data sets and morphological characters still yield conflicting phylogenetic reconstructions and apparently the evolution of the group is far from being understood. For the reconstruction of a robust backbone of the holometabolan phylogeny extensive sequence data will be compiled (EST data) and analysed separately and in combination with extensive morphological data sets. The obtained branching pattern will enable us to reconstruct the evolution of different character complexes, such as for instance larval head structures associated with feeding, or the thoracic locomotor apparatus. Scenarios for the early evolution of endopterygote insects will be discussed. Morphological characters will be examined and documented by PhD students and co-workers.The main issues of the project are 1) The interrelationships of the holometabolan orders; 2) The evolution of different character complexes in Endopterygota and the groundplan of the lineage; 3) The assessment of data quality and information content of molecular and morphological data.