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SEARCHING FOR EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS IN THE SHAPE OF A PHYLOGENETIC TREE
Author(s) -
Kirxpatrick Mark,
Slatkin Montgomery
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1993.tb02144.x
Subject(s) - biology , phylogenetic tree , clade , genetic algorithm , evolutionary biology , branching (polymer chemistry) , phylogenetics , extinction (optical mineralogy) , phylogenetic comparative methods , tree (set theory) , paleontology , genetics , mathematics , materials science , gene , composite material , mathematical analysis
If all species in a clade are equally likely to speciate or become extinct, then highly symmetric and highly asymmetric phylogenetic trees are unlikely to result. Variation between species in speciation and extinction rates can cause excessive asymmetry. We developed six non‐parametric statistical tests that test for nonrandom patterns of branching in any bifurcating tree. The tests are demonstrated by applying them to two published phylogenies for genera of beetles. Comparison of the power of the six statistics under a simple model of biased speciation suggests which of them may be most useful for detecting nonrandom tree shapes.