Studies on Squamate phylogeny by complete mtDNA sequences

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I determined complete nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial genomes from representatives of several squamate families and conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses using nucleotide or amino acid sequences of mitochondrial genes. Squamate mitochondrial genomes thus sequenced had the typical gene organization that had been found for most other vertebrates, except in that Komodo monitor had peculiar gene rearrangements in its mitochondrial DNA. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that 1) extant snakes and lizards are monophyletic to each other, 2) Iguania does not represent the eariest lizard lineage, and 3) the blind snake is a sister lineage to other more advanced snakes. These findings add independent phylogenetic information to the conventional evolutionary view mostly based on morphology. I am interested in obtaining more data to understand higher phylogenetic relationships of reptiles.