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SUPERGROUP EXCAVATA

The Excavata includes taxa that are photosynthetic, parasitic, symbiotic and heterotrophic.  Many of the taxa lack mitochondria, and, therefore, seemed to conform to the requirements of an archaic premitochondrial ancestor of all eukaryotes.  This theory, called the Archezoa Hypothesis, was created by Cavalier-Smith (1983).  [Go to Domain Eukarya for an elaboration on the Archezoa Hypothesis.]

The former archezoa began to find homes in interesting and unexpected places.  Patterson (1999) and Simpson and Patterson (1999) defined a striking structural similarity that many of the former archezoan taxa possessed, a feeding groove called an excavate.  The excavate was a groove that ran longitudinally on the cell surface and was associated with at least one recurrent flagellum, which set up currents in the groove that served to concentrate suspended particles and move them to a cytostome.  Simpson (2003) identified seven such groups that had such an excavate apparatus: the Core Jakobids, Malawimonas, Trimastix, Carpediemonas, Retortomonads, Diplomonads, and the Heterolobosids (amoeboflagellates).   Many of the excavate taxa were mitochondriate and had clear affinities with taxa that did not bear an excavate.  So, by 2003 (Simpson 2003 and Cavalier-Smith 2003) at least 10 groups (I interpret it as 11 groups) had been identified as excavate taxa (see Table 1).

For further information, go to the Evolution of the Eukaryotic Supertree.

Earlier, Patterson (1999) had already shown the fundamental relationship between the kinetoplastids, euglenids, heteroloboseids, and acrasid cellular slime molds.  He defined them on the basis of mitochondria with swollen or discoid cristae and similar flagellar structures.  Even Margulis and Schwartz (1999) united these taxa into the same phylum.

Cavalier-Smith (2002) created the taxon Excavata (which he called an infrakingdom) to house all of the taxa in Table 1.  Supergroup analyses (e.g. Baldauf 2003) confirmed association of such taxa.  However, the discicristate taxa still emerge as a coherent group, a clade that I interpret as the Kingdom Discicristatae.   [I maintain that Animals and Fungi are separate kingdoms even though they occupy the same supergroup, Unikonta.  I  interpret the differences between the discicristates and euexcavates to be of the same magnitude and, therefore, retain their separation as kingdoms within the supergroup Excavata.]  The remaining taxa occupy a different clade which I interpret as the Kingdom Euexcavatae.

The Excavata still has some nagging problems.  For example, the Jakobids, which I have placed in the Euexcavata, actually emerge in both lines, and therefore, form an artificial phylum.  The affinities of Carpediemonas are unclear and need work.  Also, the strange and enigmatic Stephanopogon is one series of question marks.  So, with these provisions, I present the Supergroup Excavata and its two kingdoms: Discicristatae and Euexcavatae.

REFERENCES.

This page is maintained by Jack R. Holt: 04/22/2008