(030717 revised, 030320 created)
Discontinuous and Allopatric Parallel Evolution
Eupacyhs glyptopterus (No. 6 in the figure), Cathaicus brandti (No.4) and Acathaicus alexandrae (No. 1) reveal considerable morphological similarity, especially in the black stout body and remarkable macrocephaly. These are shown by gray color in the tree. Cathaicus (No.4) and Eupachys (No.6) are clustered with the morphologically dissimilar and beautifully decorated Coptolabrus (No.3; shown by red color in the tree) and Acoptolabrus (Nos. 5 & 7; shown by green color in the tree), respectively, and are independent from Acathaicus (No.1) (the top cluster in the tree). They inhabit allopatrically. The tree suggests that the three macrocephalic species emerged in phylogenetically independent lineages by allopatric parallel evolution.