 The phylogeny of the teleosts has been subject to long debate , without consensus on either their phylogeny or the timing of the emergence of the major groups before the application of modern DNA @-@ based cladistic analysis . Near et al . ( 2012 ) explored the phylogeny and divergence times of every major lineage , analysing the DNA sequences of 9 unlinked genes in 232 species . They obtained well @-@ resolved phylogenies with strong support for the nodes ( so , the pattern of branching shown is likely to be correct ) . They calibrated ( set actual values for ) branching times in this tree from 36 reliable measurements of absolute time from the fossil record . The teleosts are divided into the major clades shown on the cladogram , with dates , following Near et al . 
