Fig 4. Calculated uncorrected pairwise genetic distances for 212 concatenated nuclear-encoded proteins (dataset 1).

Mean group distances for different taxonomic ranks in three nonbilaterian phyla (Cnidaria, Ctenophora, and Porifera) and the bilaterian phylum Chordata. The interspecific protein distance of 9.6% between H. hongkongensis and T. adhaerens (right) is comparable to mean group distances between genera within families in the Ctenophora. With respect to the Cnidaria, the placozoan distance is even comparable to the mean group distance between families within orders. Measured distances for families within orders in Ctenophora and genera within families in Porifera indicate that classical morphological taxonomies are incongruent with the calculated genetic distances in these two phyla (see also S9–S14 Figs). The internal phylogeny of these two phyla appears to be in urgent need of further reevaluation with the inclusion of molecular data (compare [57–60]). Measured distances in chordates fall way below distances calculated for the nonbilaterian taxa for all levels of comparison. Numbers in brackets are total taxa in the final matrix of 212 concatenated proteins. For calculated distances, see S8 Data.