Supergroup (biology)

A supergroup, in evolutionary biology, is a large group of organisms that share one common ancestor and have important defining characteristics. It is an informal, mostly arbitrary rank in biological taxonomy that is often greater than phylum or kingdom, although some supergroups are also treated as phyla. Since the decade of 2000's, the eukaryotic tree of life (abbreviated as eToL) has been divided into 5–8 major groupings called 'supergroups'. These groupings were established after the idea that only monophyletic groups should be accepted as ranks, as an alternative to the use of paraphyletic kingdom Protista. In the early days of the eToL six traditional supergroups were considered: Amoebozoa, Opisthokonta, "Excavata", Archaeplastida, "Chromalveolata" and Rhizaria. Since then, the eToL has been rearranged profoundly, and most of these groups were found as paraphyletic or lacked defining morphological characteristics that unite their members, which makes the 'supergroup' label more arbitrary. Currently, the addition of many lineages of newly discovered protists (such as Telonemia, Picozoa, Hemimastigophora, Rigifilida...) and the use of phylogenomic analyses have brought a new, more accurate supergroup model. These are the current supergroups of eukaryotes: TSAR, constituted by Telonemia and the SAR clade (Stramenopiles, Alveolata and Rhizaria). It is estimated to occupy up to half of all eukaryotic diversity, since it includes multiple major groups such as diatoms, dinoflagellates, seaweeds, ciliates, foraminiferans, radiolarians, and the apicomplexan and oomycete parasites. It essentially contains the majority of "Chromalveolata". Haptista (also treated as a phylum), previously in "Chromalveolata", comprising the haptophyte algae and centrohelids. Cryptista (also treated as a phylum), previously in "Chromalveolata", comprising the cryptomonads, katablepharids and the enigmatic Palpitomonas. Archaeplastida (also treated as a kingdom), constituted by the lineages that acquired chloroplasts through primary endosymbiosis: Chloroplastida (green algae and land plants), Rhodophyta, Glaucophyta and Rhodelphis.