Revision of a revised phylogenetic analysis of Leucheria Lag. sensu lato (Asteraceae; Nassauvieae) with remarks on theoretical aspects of phylogenetics and phylogenomics

Mark Alan Hershkovitz

Presented here is a revised analysis of a previous phylogenetic analysis of the Leucheria Lag. s. l. crown group (Asteraceae; Nassauvieae), which was, in turn, a reanalysis of an earlier analysis of Leucheria s. stricto. Leucheria s. l. includes Polyachyrus Lag, and the crown group includes Oxyphyllum Phil. The present analysis adds several more recently published sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), plastome (cpDNA) rpl32-trnL(UAG) intergenic spacer (rpl32- trnL), and trnL(UAA) intron plus trnL(UAA)-trnF(GAA) intergenic spacer (trnL-trnF). While this revised analysis adds little to existing phylogenetic resolution, it provides considerable refinement and/or corroboration of existing evidence for phylogenetic relations and species taxonomy. The evidence also provides a platform for timely review of the mathematical nature of phylogenetic trees, data set incongruence, data support, operations of phylogenetic reconstructive methods, the relation between organisms and genomes, and biological and evolutionary epistemology.