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RANDOM TREES AND THE COMPARATIVE METHOD: A CAUTIONARY TALE
Author(s) -
Abouheif Ehab
Publication year - 1998
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.1558-5646.1998.tb01845.x
Subject(s) - biology , phylogenetics , phylogenetic tree , comparative biology , phylogenetic comparative methods , evolutionary biology , comparative method , regression , zoology , statistics , mathematics , genetics , linguistics , philosophy , gene
One of the toughest problems facing comparative biology is the paucity of robust phylogenetic hypotheses for many taxonomic groups. Martins (1996) proposed a method to analyze comparative data in the absence of a known phylogeny using randomly generated trees. Before applying this method, however, researchers should be aware that (1) parameter estimates derived from this method essentially assume a star phylogeny, and thus, estimate the same evolutionary regression or correlation coefficient as traditional cross‐species analyses; and (2) statistical conclusions derived from this method may be so conservative as to mask evolutionary patterns, such as Rensch's rule, and should be interpreted with caution.