Molecular phylogeny of<scp>G</scp>eoplaninae (<scp>P</scp>latyhelminthes) challenges current classification: proposal of taxonomic actions

Abstract

Despite likely being the most diverse group within the T ricladida, the systematics of land planarians ( G eoplanidae) has received minor attention. The most species‐rich ingroup, the subfamily G eoplaninae, is restricted to the N eotropics. The systematics of G eoplaninae remains uncertain. Unique features supporting the genera are scanty; moreover, parts of the known species have been poorly described, making comparative studies difficult. Likewise the evolutionary relationships among land planarians remain insufficiently understood. In the present study, a phylogenetic hypothesis for selected taxa of G eoplaninae based on the molecular data is presented and discussed in the light of morphological features. Our phylogenetic inference is based on the fragments of three nuclear regions (18 S , 28 S rDNA and EF ‐1α) and a mitochondrial marker (cytochrome oxidase I ) for which we considered three optimality criteria (parsimony, maximum likelihood and B ayesian inference). Although our data provide little support for most basal nodes, our phylogenetic trees show a number of well‐supported clades, unveiling morphologically homogeneous groups. According to these results, we propose to separate G eoplana into B arreirana (formerly considered a subgenus), C ratera gen. n., I mbira gen. n., M atuxia gen. n., O bama gen. n. and P araba gen. n., emend the diagnoses of B arreirana , G eoplana , N otogynaphallia , P asipha and X erapoa and review the classification of the species within these genera. For G eoplana goetschi sensu M arcus, (1951), a new name is proposed.