Taxa in disguise

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In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.

While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of life. E.g. four-footed animals have evolved from piscine ancestors, yet are not generally considered fish. The four footed animals can thus be said to be "fish in disguise". In many cases, the paraphyly can be resolved by re-classifying the taxon in question under the parent group, but in bacteriology renaming groups may have serious consequences as it may cause confusion over the identity of pathogens, and is generally avoided for some groups.

The bacterial genus Shigella is the cause of bacillary dysentery, a potentially severe infection that claim the lives of over a million people annually. The genus (S. dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. boydii, S. sonnei) have evolved from the common intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli, rendering that species parephyletic. E. coli itself can also cause serious dysentery, but the difference in the genetic makeup between the E. coli and Shigella causes different medical conditions and symptoms.

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