['It has been hypothesized that rapid divergence in centromere sequences accompanies rapid karyotypic change during speciation. However, the reuse of breakpoints coincident with centromeres in the evolution of divergent karyotypes poses a potential paradox. In distantly related species where the same centromere breakpoints are used in the independent derivation of karyotypes, centromere-specific sequences may undergo convergent evolution rather than rapid sequence divergence. To determine whether centromere sequence composition follows the phylogenetic history of species evolution or patterns of convergent breakpoint reuse through chromosome evolution, we examined the phylogenetic trajectory of centromere sequences within a group of karyotypically diverse mammals, macropodine marsupials (wallabies, wallaroos and kangaroos).', 'The evolution of three classes of centromere sequences across nine species within the genus Macropus (including Wallabia) were compared with the phylogenetic history of a mitochondrial gene, Cytochrome b (Cyt b), a nuclear gene, selenocysteine tRNA (TRSP), and the chromosomal histories of the syntenic blocks that define the different karyotype arrangements. Convergent contraction or expansion of predominant satellites is found to accompany specific karyotype rearrangements. The phylogenetic history of these centromere sequences includes the convergence of centromere composition in divergent species through convergent breakpoint reuse between syntenic blocks.'] Are species-specific shifts in centromere sequence composition coincident with breakpoint reuse in karyotypically divergent lineages?