The origin of mitochondria was a crucial event in eukaryote evolution. A recent report claimed to provide evidence, based on branch length variation in phylogenetic trees, that the mitochondrion came late in eukaryotic evolution. Here, we reinvestigate their claim with a reanalysis of the published data. We show that the analyses underpinning a late mitochondrial origin suffer from multiple fatal flaws founded in inappropriate statistical methods and analyses, in addition to erroneous interpretations.
Keywords: endosymbiosis; major evolutionary transitions; origin of mitochondria.
© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.