Models in Phylogeny Reconstruction

About this book

The last ten years have seen radical changes and controversy surrounding the methods used, problems to be addressed, and conclusions drawn in phylogenetic reconstruction. Views about the role of models in phylogenetic reconstruction range from their being minimal to central to the process. The predominant change has been broad acceptance of the use of cladistics for reconstructing relationships between taxa. However, the assumptions and data underlying the cladistic method remain in dispute, with different information originating from molecular, developmental, and evolutionary biologists.

Models in Phylogeny Reconstruction examines models from a wide range of fields, at the same time providing illustrations of modern methods of classification and phylogeny reconstruction. As a result, information from development studies emerges as a significant factor in cladogram construction.

Contents

1: The lessons of history
2: Explanation, description, and the meaning of 'transformation' in taxonomic evidence
3: Species and history
4: Models, modules, and molecules in morphogenesis
5: Partial truths: a review of the use of concepts in the evolutionary sciences
6: Morphogenetic cascades, genetic forms, and taxonomy
7: Rational taxonomy and the natural system as exemplified by segmentation and phyllotaxis
8: Methods for rooting cladistic trees
9: Ontogeny, rooting, and polarity
10: Null or minimal models
11: Three-item consensus: empirical test of fractional weighting
12: The role of models in reconstructing evolutionary trees
13: An empirical example of parsimony behaviour
14: DNA characters and cladistics: the optimization of functional history
15: Intraspecific phylogenetics: problems and solutions
16: Estimating evolutionary rates for discrete characters
17: Inferring evolutionary processes from molecular phylogenies
18: Cladograms and trees in biodiversity

Customer Reviews

Biography

Edited by Robert W. Scotland, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Darrell J. Siebert, Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, London, and David M. Williams, Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, London