Fig. 3

Evolutionary history of Hepatozoon based on the fragment of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene was inferred by using the maximum likelihood method and Tamura 3-parameter model [34]. The tree with the highest log likelihood (− 1031.63) is shown. The percentage of trees in which the associated taxa clustered together is shown next to the branches. Initial tree(s) for the heuristic search were obtained automatically by applying the neighbour-joining and BioNJ algorithms to a matrix of pairwise distances estimated using the Tamura 3 parameter model, and then selecting the topology with the superior log likelihood value. The rate variation model allowed for some sites to be evolutionarily invariable ([+ I], 64.45% sites). The tree is drawn to scale, with branch lengths measured in the number of substitutions per site. This analysis involved 46 nucleotide sequences. The codon positions included were 1st + 2nd + 3rd + Noncoding. All positions containing gaps and missing data were eliminated (complete deletion option). In the final dataset, there were 314 positions. The nucleotide sequence of Cryptosporidium parvum was used as an outgroup. Evolutionary analyses were conducted in MEGA v. 11 [33]