[Taxacom] Ratites and frogs of New Zealand

[Ken Kinman]

John Grehan wrote:
    When it comes to groups such as the tuatara or the leiopelmatid frogs 
what Ken or anyone else has to do is contend with the apparent fact athat 
the nearest relatives are not in Australia, but western North America!
*********************************
John,
     WRONG!!!  The nearest relatives of Leiopelmatidae are NOT in western 
North America.  We now know that Family Ascaphidae is a relict of very 
primitive frogs, and Family Leiopelmatidae is a more advanced relict 
(although retaining some primitive features).  They are NOT sister groups!!! 
  Ascaphidae are like the monotremes of frogs.  Leiopelmatidae are like the 
marsupials of frogs.  All the rest of the frogs would be analagous to the 
placentals.  This is based on both molecular and morphological data sets.  
If you haven't yet abandoned that Trans-Pacific track for primitive frogs, 
you should do so immediately.

      Karl brings up a more realistic problem----the ratites of New Zealand. 
  However, I don't think it is as big an obstacle as has been made of it.  
Think about flightless rails populating islands all over the Pacific and 
elsewhere.  In my opinion, both ratites and rails are just prone to becoming 
flightless more easily than other bird groups.  The smallest known moas were 
turkey-sized, but their ancestors were no doubt smaller and perhaps even 
good fliers (at least as good as rails).  Anyway, that's how I look at the 
whole ratite controversy---the early ones were flying all over the place 
(just look at the lithornithids).  And even *if* New Zealand's ratites were 
flightless when they arrived, there is always the rafting alternative.  I 
think more people are ready to increasingly challenge the role of vicariance 
in any of New Zealand's modern biota, and just because vicariance seems a 
simpler explanation doesn't mean it happened that way.  You have to keep on 
your toes or mother nature will fool you by taking a path that doesn't 
*seem* parsimonious.
    ----Cheers,
            Ken Kinman

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